This KS Kaiāulu-sponsored voyaging program is bringing joy back to Lahaina families

Maui middle school students learned Hawaiian navigation history and skills during the Waʻa Moʻolau program offered by Hui o Waʻa Kaulua in Lahaina.

After the Maui fires, Jeff Balinbin couldn’t return to Lahaina beaches. The high school teacher was overcome with grief, unable to experience his favorite spots where he grew up playing and learning.

It wasn’t until he started teaching and assisting Hui o Waʻa Kaulua’s summer programming that he found the strength to come back.

“I couldn't come to Lahaina until this program,” Balinbin said. “Coming here every day, seeing the kids smiling, that’s like therapy for me.”

In the aftermath of the Maui fires, Hui o Waʻa Kaulua is persevering with a renewed purpose to serve their community. Despite losing their iconic 42-foot double-hull canoe Moʻolele in the blaze, the nonprofit organization continues to offer transformative programs that enable both kumu and haumāna of Lahaina to heal and reconnect with their hometown.

Headed by navigators Kalā Baybayan Tanaka and Timi Gilliom, Hui o Waʻa shares the knowledge and spirit of voyaging with their students through their “floating classroom.” Waʻa Moʻolau, supported by KS Kaiāulu, is just one of the sailing programs the hui offers. During the summer course, Maui middle and high schoolers spend time learning seamanship, waʻa construction and voyaging values, protocol and history. At the end of their session, students showcase their skills to their ʻohana, from knot tying and line throwing to CPR and mock man-overboard drills.

“It is such a privilege being able to support an organization like Hui O Waʻa. Seeing how engaged these young haumāna are and hearing their excitement about learning traditional skills brings so much hope and joy,” said Kapua Chang KSK’08, a project manager for the Community Engagement Division of KS Kaiāulu.

“Programs like this one are connecting young kānaka to the ʻike of their kūpuna, raising future ‘ōiwi leaders and teaching our youth how to achieve ea in themselves and their communities. These are the kinds of things that deserve to be shared and celebrated.”

Hui o Waʻa’s educational coordinator Nohea Farmer often jokes with colleagues that they are growing their future crew because this holistic programming teaches students a wider range of skills beyond sailing. On one huakaʻi, haumāna went to Honokōhau to learn how to harvest and preserve food, a waʻa-adjacent skill they can apply anywhere in life. They also learned ʻāina management and how upstream activities affect everything downstream, including the oceans they navigate.

Hui o Waʻa haumāna teach parents how to tie knots, an essential skill for voyaging crews.

“Not every kid wants to go sailing. We’re not all ocean people but what they are learning is life skills and the skills of their kūpuna,” Farmer said.

During their final demonstrations, a parent thanked Farmer for the program, raving about how much their son came out of his shell. She saw his confidence grow exponentially, excelling at tying knots and happily showing his parents the intricate ones he learned at their hōʻike.

Kaliko Teruya, whose family goes back generations in Lahaina and whose father lost their home in the calamity, was happy to be a part of the summer program before her first year at Lahainaluna High School. Already a water woman, she most enjoyed sailing on the smaller canoe they use since losing Moʻolele.

“Waʻa is important because that’s how our people came here,” Teruya said. “For me, this is the practice that is most deeply rooted in my culture.”

Kaliko Teruya (far right) shares the importance of water safety during Hui o Waʻa's hōʻike.

Her mother, Gretchen Losano, was proud to see the incoming freshman learning the rich legacy of voyaging. For the duo, staying rooted in this history of migration and knowledge exchange among Pacific peoples is essential to move forward.

“I’m grateful for her to have such a great cultural foundation because continuing these exchanges and being in community will help us grow and evolve,” Losano said. “Especially now, as we are all dealing with a lot of traumas, we are going to need it to move forward as a collective.”

Being there for the keiki is important to Farmer since the hui serves many Lahaina families. Checking in with their emotions and how they are doing is sometimes challenging but seeing them become more confident in themselves and their cultural heritage has been deeply cathartic. As the community grapples with loss, Hui o Waʻa teaches keiki not just how to navigate the ocean but how to navigate life’s biggest challenges with resilience and cultural pride.

“When the students go home excited to show their parents what they learned, it is healing for their families,” Farmer said. “That’s what drives me: bringing that joy back into their lives and into Lahaina.”

Haumāna practice mock man-overboard drills at Hanakaoʻo Beach in Lahaina.