LIHUE — Armed with weed wackers, trash bags and bulldozers, more than 40 volunteers gathered Saturday at the abandoned Camp Faith property in Anahola for a cleanup geared at whipping the site into better shape. “It is an eye sore,”
LIHUE — Armed with weed wackers, trash bags and bulldozers, more than 40 volunteers gathered Saturday at the abandoned Camp Faith property in Anahola for a cleanup geared at whipping the site into better shape.
“It is an eye sore,” said Lorraine Rapozo, a long-time leader in the Anahola Hawaiian Homestead Association. “In its present condition, it is a hazard, and a danger because some of the buildings are so old they are ready to fall.”
The old Camp Faith property sits on five acres at Anahola Bay, adjacent to the Anahola River, on Native Hawaiian trust lands managed by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The lot has stood empty for more than three years after faltering in its original mission to host faith-based programming under a land permit to Lihue First Church.
The permit was revoked by DHHL in 2012.
The eight-hour cleanup organized by AHHA on Saturday is intended to mark the start of a series of monthly beautification events until the property is safe and hazard-free.
AHHA members Joey Navas and Tyus Peahu plan to oversee stewardship of Camp Faith going forward with the organization of a neighborhood watch at the property.
“Camp Faith is a property that our board has decided to take responsibility for,” said Kipukai Kualii, president of the AHHA board and a Kauai County councilman. “We have been putting funds aside every year at AHHA to be able to consistently steward our trust lands at Camp Faith, and on Saturday we organized our first of many clean up days. We know that our dedication to Camp Faith cannot be just one day, it has to be a year-round commitment of stewardship.”
Coming from off-island for the day to lend a hand was DHHL Deputy Director William Aila and his executive assistant Susan Richey.
“It was really refreshing to see our DHHL deputy working alongside our young men, supporting them in taking care of the land,” Rapozo said. “Bill is new to us, but coming to Kauai on his day off really meant a lot to us as a homestead association. We were able to discuss our existing projects, like Kumu Camp that is right next to Camp Faith, and our newest project to build green houses to increase farming by our homestead member families in Anahola. It was a good day.”
