Mar. 23, 2018

Contributed by Kyle Galdeira

By painting a true picture of what it is like for a typical limited-resource family trying to survive in Hawai‘i for a month, participants representing key service providers took part in an interactive poverty simulation workshop with the goal of better understanding the issues facing multiple communities.

Nearly 100 attendees representing more than 40 organizations and departments encompassing the mental health, medical, education, social service and faith-based fields engaged in the workshop sponsored by Kamehameha Schools, and members of KS’ Wai‘anae Coast and Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i Region teams helped to coordinate and facilitate the interactive experience held in the KS Maui campus’ Nāmāhana Cafeteria on March 23.

“This is awesome, it’s the best way to learn: coming up with real scenarios that put us in the lives of the people we serve,” said Jeny Bissell, a registered nurse with the State Department of Health who has been working in the field for 30 years. “This exercise really puts us in touch with the population and helps me understand what they’re going through. The workshop should be a ‘must’ for any service provider helping the community.”

This particular workshop has been offered for more than 25 years across the country, and is designed to provide understanding of and compassion for those dealing with and working to overcome poverty.

Participants were given “identities” within their respective “families,” and worked through various situations by using 20-minute segments each representing a week. Four segments were run concurrently to make up a month’s worth of experiences including keeping a home secure, feeding the family and taking care of various expenses while also managing life’s “curve balls” including a childcare center closing for a month.

“We as service providers need to communicate with one another and work together because our families and our keiki depend on it,” said KS Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i Regional Director Venus Rosete-Medeiros. “The best way to reach out to the lāhui is to get out into the community and engage by spreading our wings and delving into the crucial issues, such as poverty.”

KS Wai‘anae Coast Regional Director Kalei Kailihiwa explains that her team has and continues to run these workshops in Nānākuli, Mā‘ili and Wai‘anae. Over the past 10 years, the 40-plus workshops have reached more than 1,000 attendees, including all new public school teachers in the region to provide a better understanding of issues facing their students and communities.

“These simulations are critical because some people (who serve the community) have never experienced first-hand what those dealing with poverty and other social issues actually face,” says Kahu Tasha Kama of Faith Action for Community Equity, which serves communities on Maui and O‘ahu. “For instance, sometimes the typical ‘man of the house’ provider system isn’t present, or in single-parent homes, other relatives and caretakers need to stay home to take care of the keiki.

“Poverty creates situations that are out of balance, and we need to understand that.”

We as service providers need to communicate with one another and work together because our families and our keiki depend on it. The best way to reach out to the lāhui is to get out into the community and engage by spreading our wings and delving into the crucial issues, such as poverty.
Venus Rosete-Medeiros, KS Regional Director - Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i

As the “owner” of the fictitious Dis N Dat Pawn Shop, KS Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i Regional Director Venus Rosete-Medeiros doles out “money” to participants in the poverty simulation workshop as they sold valuables in order to feed their families.

Jonathan Stenger, a project analyst with the KS Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i Region team, served as a kumu at the fictitious Akamai Public School. During the poverty simulation, students and their parents were faced with several challenging scenarios.