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An organization of scholars affected by the Lahaina wildfire in August 2023 wrote and illustrated their own book, which they published with the help of the Lahaina Arts Guild.
Honokōwai Learning Hub was established shortly after the fires. This organization is committed to supporting keiki and offering an artistic outlet for their feelings and a comfortable space to express themselves through art and writing.
Teacher and volunteer DeAna Duncan encouraged students to write and illustrate her collaborative creation called “Makai Loves Books!”– and then arranged for the e-book to be published.
Duncan spent years as a teacher at one of Tennessee’s top schools, guiding students in the fields of visual arts, dance, and audiovisual production. Duncan, who is an artist herself, came out of early retirement after moving to West Maui and connecting with Lahaina Arts. Guild (LAG)/Lahaina Arts Society (LAS), where she began volunteering to teach art at King Kamehameha III Elementary School with famed artist Kirk Boes. Duncan said he fell in love with keiki, educators and, thankfully, the school itself. welcoming this new break in his life aimed at connecting young people with art.
“The day before the fire, Kirk and I had planned to go to the courthouse and take inventory of our art supplies as the new school year approached. We were excited to get back to catepassries with our keiki. That inventory never took place,” Duncan recalls. A few days after the fire, director Bill Smith let us know that he had no plans to finish LAS and LAG. We regrouped amidst the chaos and surprise and planned to meet our keiki at the network’s centers to offer them art and healing. “For them and for us. “
Thanks to donations of art supplies, about two weeks after the fire, the organization was able to begin offering art at select hotels and volunteering at the centers.
Robert Livermore, an instructor to King Kamehameha III, immediately began training keiki after the fire. He moved to Airport Beach and then to Nāpili Park Hub. He worked tirelessly with other educators and volunteers to make sure the keiki had a place to be informed. and being with friends. For weeks, they attended the park’s “school. “
Volunteer Rita McClintock helped organize more and discovered a booth that featured an indoor environment with normal schedules for families. The Koinonia Pentecostal Church in Honokōwai graciously opened its doors to the organization in early September. With the announcement of schools reopening in mid-October, Duncan said they were relieved to serve as a bridge to keep those keiki together until they could return to school. Many volunteers and parents helped along the way, in addition to Rita McClintock, Riley Bond, and Duncan’s educational partner, Zoe Mason. .
“We had between 14 and 20 keiki, from kindergarten to sixth grade. Our days were busy, but we started by sharing an e-book and writing in our journal,” she explains. “This organization has become a close-knit family. Each day, the keiki wrote in their journals and most of the time they wrote to express their gratitude to their friends and teachers. I used to call it our “one-room school. “The older keiki helped us with the younger ones and we read, we talked stories, we learned, and we created art together.
The children’s favorite stories were those of Peter H. Duncan says he was fascinated by the fact that he was the writer and illustrator of his books. She contacted Reynolds and he messaged the keiki.
“You’d think they’d have talked to a rock star,” Duncan laughed. “They wanted to show their appreciation for him, but they didn’t think they could do what he does too. I asked them, “Why not?” And so began our procedure of writing and illustrating their own book! »
Three other young people were interested in creating their own books: Makai, Ulysses, and Alena. Duncan gave them time every day to brainstorm and they made up their own story. They started with an outline and then the 3 of them wrote parts of the story. Once the story was finished, she gave them a list of the pages and the number of illustrations needed to complete the book. Ulysses and Makai created the characters with the help of Alena. They worked for 3 weeks on the book.
On the last day of the learning center before the keiki returned to school, there were many tearful farewells. Duncan promised his young artists and authors that he would write his e-book for them. True to his word, he digitally recreated his writings and illustrations. Lahaina Arts Guild covered the production costs and her creation, “Makai Loves Books,” was published through an online self-publisher.
Center families and volunteers will gather to sign e-books with the young authors at four p. m. on Tuesday, March 26 at Maui Kū’ia Chocolate, 78 Ulupono Street in Lahaina, to hand out scholars with their special e-books.
“I need to make sure I keep the promise I made to Alena, Ulysses and Makai,” Duncan said. “The resilience that these keiki have shown us is integral to the healing that is taking place here in Lahaina. They showed us that we are grateful to each other, we love to learn, and we can create something beautiful together, even in the darkest of times.