From Hawaiʻi to Europe, Kamehameha students share aloha ʻāina

The Ambassadors of Aloha ʻĀina at KS Kapālama follow in the footsteps of Kamehameha II and traveled from Scotland to England to explore Hawaiʻi and British diplomacy.

Nov. 13, 2024

Every time they meet, the Ambassadors of Aloha ʻĀina at Kamehameha Schools Kāpalama start their sessions with pule and oli. Being intentional about their travel plans may not sound typical for a group of teenagers planning a European trip but for them, it is essential.

“Centering ourselves each and every day helped me to not just mentally prepare myself but strengthened our bond as a hui before all the amazing things we would experience on this trip,” sophomore Kamahaʻo Haumea-Thronas said.

As cultural ambassadors, these students carry forward King David Kalākaua’s vision of educating future ʻōiwi leaders through global diplomacy and cultural exchange. Founded in 2015 at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, the Ambassadors of Aloha ʻĀina program sends students to learn, connect and represent our lāhui abroad.

“We are emulating Kalākaua’s approach that you can go out in the world, be unapologetically Hawaiian, confident in your skills and ability to interact on a global stage to learn all you can, so you can come home and lift our lāhui to make our communities better,” kumu Jake Pacarro said.

An ambassador’s mindset

More than tourists in search of souvenirs, these haumāna prepare themselves academically and culturally. Following in the footsteps of Hawaiian aliʻi and alakaʻi, haumāna research figures like Liliʻuokalani and Kalākaua and learn new hula, mele and oli for their trips. When they return, they put on presentations and a hōʻike to share their learnings with their ʻohana, hoaloha and kāiaulu. By doing this, they continue the legacy of Hawaiians patriots abroad, who perpetuated ʻōiwi identity and culture as our representatives to a global audience.

“We act as a delegation of Hawaiʻi,” senior Noah Samson said. “We know that how we act and treat others – even what we wear – is a representation of our lāhui, so these trips are much deeper than just having fun. We have kuleana.”

For their 2024 trip, their journey from Scotland to England retraced the journey of Liholiho, who would become Kamehameha II. At the Museum of Scotland, Windsor Castle, Oxford University and other historic sites, they engaged with artifacts and documents significant to Hawaiian-British relations. The journey also included a cultural exchange with Indigenous students at the Glasgow Gaelic School, where they found similarities in the resurgence of traditional practices across cultures separated by oceans.

“Our kūpuna were out there in the world, these fearless ʻōiwi agents and leaders of their time,” junior Halaʻi Pacarro said. “It just goes to show that you can be Hawaiian anywhere and bring that aloha and ʻike with you wherever you go.”

The moment of mana

A highlight for many students was encountering the ahuʻula of Kamehameha I at the British Museum. Standing before the feather cloak – a gift to King George III – brought history to life in a powerful way. As the group descended into the museum’s basement, an intense stillness settled over them. In that quiet space, they felt the weight of history and kuleana in the room.

“We don't even know when the last time those items got to be in the presence of other kānaka Hawaiʻi,” Haumea-Thronas said. “You could just feel the mana – everyone collectively feeling so haʻaheo to be there in that moment.”

Kamalei Sataraka (left) and Emilie-Mae Placencia offer a hula to honor the ahuʻula of Kamehameha I.

Moved by the presence of this artifact, the students began to offer up pule, oli, mele and hula to honor this mea kūpuna. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. According to kumu and program lead Jsohnel Pacarro, it felt like their kūpuna led them to the museum for the life-changing experience.

“We talk about preparation, but our students took their training – not just from us, but from their kumu, their kūpuna, their kumu hula, everyone that brought them here to this moment – and stepped up and expressed their feelings,” Pacarro said.

Bring it back home

That moment marked a turning point for many on the trip, converging their Hawaiian ancestry with their place in the modern world. They realized it was their kuleana to carry this experience back home and share the impact of such an awe-inspiring moment with their communities.

“That’s when it clicked for us. We have a special purpose beyond just traveling and learning new things, but we actually have to take these things and apply them to uplift our lāhui,” senior Emilie-Mae Placencia said.

After leading this program for almost a decade, Pacarro calls these trips the “ultimate professional development,” as she learns alongside haumāna and builds deeper pilina with them. When her pupils take on their kuleana to carry their knowledge and culture forward, she sees her purpose is fulfilled.

“Being unapologetically Hawaiian is something that should be treasured, and sharing our culture across the world is our kuleana,” Placencia said. “That’s what our kūpuna did. That’s what our aliʻi did. That’s what we did.”

Through culturally rich experiences like these, Kamehameha Schools nurtures ʻōiwi leaders who are connected to their roots and confident in their Hawaiian identity. By engaging in global diplomacy, our haumāna gain a deeper understanding of ʻike kūpuna and aloha ʻāina as future changemakers of Hawaiʻi and beyond.