Waikamoi Preserve: Our First Step into our Journey :)

During our 1st week of work we went to the fantastic Waikamoi Preserve. I was anxious and scared because it was our 1st week of work and I really didn't know what to expect. After the camp we had on Oahu I felt a little closer to our team, but I still didn't feel a strong bond.

Since the Waikamoi Preserve is really far from where everyone lives, we decided to meet at Wal-Mart. Going to the Waikamoi Preserve in the huge white van was super fun. From the car rides we learned more about each other and listened to music that everyone liked to listen to. There was a DJ machine thing that actually let you put in some beats and cool sounds to the song that was playing. We were jammin out to the music. :)

Our first day of work involved hiking up a trail about 1.5 miles. We met Pat Biley who was in charge of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and he seemed really mellow and relaxed. I was happy that we got someone nice for our first week of working. We did an oli of entrance and we gave leis to the gods to help us protect the land and to accept us for what we are doing. Pat showed our group the evil nasty plant we had to pick. It was the evil Kahili Ginger that wasn't native and was only given a Hawaiian name just cause. It was an invasive species that was brought by immigrants from New Zealand. We worked with partners in picking out these evil monsters using our pickaxe and our clippers. After work we had a lunch break. My Tuna Sandwich tasted like Steak from Outback because of the work we had accomplished.

After we repeated this cycle for the next two days, we went to somewhere new which was a boardwalk to view the different birds as well as the native plants. We went during bad weather so it was pouring with drops of water from the sky. The trees were so clear in my eyes and it was so beautiful. We cleared the trail so that no one would fall while walking the trail. At first I thought we would never be able to finish work because there were so many thorny plants and weeds. However, when work was finished I could see the change we had done to the trail and how much work we had accomplished with teamwork.

On our last two days of work we had to plant some native Hawaiian mints that we had gotten from one of Pat's friends. We got to visit her garden of beautiful plants such as the hybrid Silversword. I felt so emotional when seeing all the native plants because I could still see hope in Hawaii. Our whole team felt so happy while planting because we felt like we were making a small change to our environment. Although it was a small change it would slowly build up and make a huge impact in our environment.

We thanked Pat for giving us an opportunity to make a change as well as showing us what true native plants and trees were. Personally at first I thought the week would go so slow and it would just be intense labor that I wouldn't enjoy at all. However I thought the week went by so quickly and I just enjoyed every second I had with the Waikamoi Preserve. I learned so much from this week such as telling the difference between a Lehua and a Koa tree and how to pick Kahili Ginger the proper way.

As I look at our week overall I felt that our team bonded way more than what we had in the beginning of the week. We're all family now and we all added each other on Facebook :). Yay we're facebook official. We all know each other well now and nobody is shy around anyone anymore. Haha. Maui No Ka Oi is the best team ever. Chee Whooo!

- Jong Choi :D