Ka`ala Farms on `Oahu- Eric Enos

Eric Enos, Executive Director for Ka`ala Farms, speaking of the Ka`ala Cultural Learning Center in Waianae. Eric spoke of how Ka`ala Farms was started-- The project's founders spent years clearing overgrown brush to unveil lava-rock walls pieced together by hand centuries ago. Workers resurrected the prehistoric irragation system, sending water coursing from terrace to flooded terrace. Once again, Kalo plants stretch toward the sun, their broad leaves nodding in the breeze.
As today's students wade into the muddy lo'i to plant young kalo, their bare feet trace the footsteps of their ancestors. They listen to their kupuna in the shade of a hale na'auao thatched with pili grass. And they experience first hand the self-sustaining life of the traditional Hawaiian ahupua'a.
Seperated from the rest of the population by the Wai'anae mountain range, this stretch of the island has always drawn it's strength from within. In ancient times, defeated chiefs retreated here to regenerate. The area's largely native Hawaiian population is still known for it's fiesty spirit.
As waves of urbanization roll westward from Honolulu, Wai'anae holds out as a last stand. The residents of Wai'anae have a powerful sense of pride dispite the rumors of being one of the worst cities in Hawai'i. The work of the Ka'ala Cultural Learning Center is helping to reveal the true strength of Wai'anae and it's people. For more information visit http://www.kaalafarm.com/