The Anahola Hawaiian Homes Association is joining the likes of Silicon Valley and the Pacific Missile Range Facility as the East Side town dedicates its own tech center. But instead of a parking lot full of BMWs and Porsches, Armani
The Anahola Hawaiian Homes Association is joining the likes of Silicon Valley and the Pacific Missile Range Facility as the East Side town dedicates its own tech center.
But instead of a parking lot full of BMWs and Porsches, Armani suits and glass towers the dedication ceremony was a cheerful gathering for Anahola kupuna and other homesteaders, three or four van loads of dignitaries including Sen. Daniel Inouye, Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona and Mayor Bryan Baptiste. A spread of lu’au foods marked the occasion of the dedication of the Anahola Technology Center.
The centerpiece of the event was a tract home redone in a bright green by Kauai High students and others that is housing the center. Inside a local area network of PCs donated by Native Hawaiian-owned defense contractor company Akimeka is hooked up to a server and ready for action.
The project is the first of its kind in Hawai’i to be located on Hawaiian Homesteading land.
Up to a dozen jobs are being created at the center for Native Hawaiians who live in the Anahola Hawaiian Homesteads area. The high-tech workers will be digitizing paper manuals for the Army and other federal government entities, making the manual easy to read on the Internet and on PCs, and cutting down on the mounds of paper used by the federal government.
Inouye spoke before about 50 people gathered in the carport of the facility. He lamented the high unemployment rate among Native Hawaiians, and said he hoped the new high-tech center is just the beginning of job creation for the local residents of Anahola, as well as Native Hawaiians across the state.
Inouye said he had been asked, “Why do you just take care of Lihu’e and Waimea with PMRF?” He said it was a good critique of his focus on developing Kaua’i’s high-tech industries in two strategic locations.
However, now it’s time for expansion with projects like the one at Anahola, one of a different magnitude than the work at PMRF, but one that will provide jobs that Native Hawaiians can be proud of, and jobs with a future.
“This is meaningful work, you’ll stand taller,” Inouye said.
Aiona said when he was growing up Native Hawaiians were stereotyped as lazy people.
“This project proves it wrong,” he said.
Aiona also pointed out a collaborative effort that put the tech center together in a quick four months.
He said he hoped the center would generate start-up capital for other similar projects that would benefit Native Hawaiians.
Peggy Cha, provost of Kaua’i Community College, said the college is planning to work closely with the Hawaiian Homestead Technology organization in bringing training and other help to the new center, which she sees as a long-term source of education for Anahola homesteaders.
State Rep. Mina Morita, who represents North Kaua’i, said the Anahola Technology Center, and the new family/youth center at the Anahola Clubhouse are great examples of combining 21st century skills with Native Hawaiian traditions and lifestyle.
She said it was important for Native Hawaiians to venture in the world of information technology and other high-tech areas.
Heading up the project is the Anahola Hawaiian Homes Association, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and the Hawaiian Homestead Technology organization.
The project is also linked to federal support for similar projects run by Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Also helping with the project are Alu Like, American Savings Bank, the Bank of Hawaii, County of Kaua’i, Department of Hawaiian Homelands, First Hawaiian Bank, the Hawaii Community Loan Fund, the Inter-Tribal Economic Alliance, the Weinberg Foundation, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, Sandwich Isles Communications, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Editor Chris Cook can be reached at mailto:ccook@pulitzer.net, or 245-3681 (ext. 227).
