This was the second year Partners in Development Foundation received funding to do the Hoʻi i ka Mole Summer program and after hearing feedback from staff and families, we requested in the grant to add a site on the east side of Oʻahu. Kupa ʻAina farm is a program within Partners in Development Foundation that is in Maunawili on the grounds of Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center. We thought this site would be a great location for keiki and their mākua to learn from and experience plants first-hand.

The location of this site also allowed us to serve the families on the east side of the island and from another sister program, Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana, which is also an FCIL like Tūtū and Me Preschool. The sign up for this site was also filled within two minutes, just like the Waipahu site was. As with the Waipahu location, we increased the enrollment to 20 keiki and 20 mākua, instead just 15 keiki and 15 mākua, as it was initially stated in the grant application. This was done to accommodate the overwhelming number of families interested in signing up for the summer program.

The setting of the program was on a farm with plants like kalo, banana, kukui, and ‘ōlena. The preschool was set up under and around a twenty-by-twenty tent, so keiki and mākua were provided with shade on those hot summer days. One complaint about this location was the presence of mosquitoes. Mosquito repellant was purchased and available for keiki and mākua to use if needed. The curriculum and the materials provided for this site were the same as the Waipahu site. Parents at this site were also very pleased with the number of resources they were given and also the growth they saw in their keiki learning how to use the different tools in their backpack, like a magnifying glass and binoculars. This site had two of the guest speakers the Waipahu site had, Pua Pinto and Kaula Tauotaha, and the mākua were also grateful for the knowledge they shared about how to use plants as medicine and the Hawaiian moon phases.

This site also did not take a field trip to Papahana Kuaola but instead utilized the loʻi they had on the farm to learn more about kalo as well as the other plants that can be grown and eaten. Celeste Andres, project manager at Kupa ʻAina, was on-site during the summer program and shared her knowledge about the food grown on the farm and took them on walks around the farm to learn the names of each plant.

Overall, the families enjoyed having a summer program at this location. The farm was close enough to serve families living on the east side of Oʻahu and safe for keiki to walk around and explore on their own.