Honolulu Weekly

Students at Makaha Elementary School made a solemn pilgrimage to Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha (Land Shared In Friendship) to view the remains of the center’s traditional Hawaiian hale charred by what officials are calling a category-four premeditated arson, marking the third time arsonists have struck the center in four years.

Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha, an educational center situated on five acres of Waianae land, is dedicated to educating Leeward children in Hawaiian lifestyle and culture. According to Judy Seladis-Cocquio, Hoa ‘Aina’s administrative assistant, the fire began Sunday evening.

“Around 8:45 last night, I smelled smoke,” she said. “I could see a red glow coming from the hale. Sure enough, the hale was burning.”

The hale, a place for education and meditation, sustained an estimated $10,000 in damages, with three-quarters of the roof destroyed and most of the support structure ruined.

Firefighters who arrived within five minutes of the 911 call put out the fire and, upon investigation, said all evidence pointed towards a preconceived act: a pile of dried materials was placed on a bench inside the hale and set on fire. The three water hoses near the hale had disappeared, ensuring that residents could not easily quench the flames.

Seladis-Cocquio said she suspects the arson is linked to a week-long series of vandalism that included the theft of four roosters as well as orchid and ti leaf plants. Suspects in that incident also “drowned a hen and threw six eggs into the fishtank,” she said.

Despite the center’s security system, the vandals escaped undetected, indicating they were familiar with the alarm set-up.

Although the damage done by the fire only touched one building on the premise, the maliciousness of the arson has touched the emotions of hundreds.

Since 1987, all students at Makaha Elementary have studied agriculture, animal husbandry and conflict resolution at the farm. News of the fire brought nearly 600 students out to view the ashes and collectively question why.

“The elementary students are very distressed and really angry,” said Seladis-Cocquio.

However, teachers are using classroom time to help students cope with the incidents.

“They are teaching them to deal with anger, to talk about their feeling and solutions,” Seladis-Cocquio said.

The children are not the only people disheartened by the attack.

“[We’re] very frustrated, very tired,” she said.” But we want to focus on the positive. The community cares enough to ask, ‘What can we do?’” The support from former and current students and community has encouraged the directors to refurnish the hale.

One student expressed the sentiment of everyone involved: “We can’t give up. We have to rebuild.”

Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha (Land Shared In Friendship), [www.hoa-aina.org]

Annual farm open house, Sat 5/2. Proceeds will go toward renovating the hale.