This is a note I recently received this important letter from Mindi Reid about much needed aid for a school in Ka'iulani's name:
Aloha e Jennifer, I wanted to mention something to all of you involved in the Ka'iulani Project... something I think is important, as we serve to honor all those who have dedicated themselves to perpetuating Ka'iulani's story: there really should be some serious attention paid to the plight of the school named for the Princess... Princess Victoria Ka'iulani Elementary School, in Honolulu.
The school, while being amongst the most impoverished and struggling, is home to the only known portrait from the life of the Princess, and continues to honor her legacy in many unique ways. (There are also many other wonderful paintings and artistic representations of Ka'iulani at the school, including a large outdoor mural, and an amazing tiled wall which includes a poem about the Princess which brings tears to the eyes...; it was written by sixth graders back in the 1970s, which makes its sophistication all the more remarkable.)
But the school needs help, particularly in these hard times. The school was already under construction in 1898, so the Princess may have known of it - although she wouldn't know that it would be named in her honor a month after her passing. Archibald Cleghorn gave the life portrait of the Princess to Ka'iulani School himself before he died.
The present principal, Thomas Moon, is a wonderful man and I have had a number of conversations with him: he has such a heart for the heritage of the school, but it is an unbelievably difficult task to meet all its many needs, particularly with the ever-changing demographics and severe poverty of most of its keiki haumana.
I believe the Ka'iulani Project can be a truly great force for good as it grows and develops... and it will reach out to the community in new and unexpected ways. Drawing attention to and honoring Ka'iulani's namesake school should certainly be part of that process.
In friendship always, Mindi
Aloha e Jennifer, I wanted to mention something to all of you involved in the Ka'iulani Project... something I think is important, as we serve to honor all those who have dedicated themselves to perpetuating Ka'iulani's story: there really should be some serious attention paid to the plight of the school named for the Princess... Princess Victoria Ka'iulani Elementary School, in Honolulu.
The school, while being amongst the most impoverished and struggling, is home to the only known portrait from the life of the Princess, and continues to honor her legacy in many unique ways. (There are also many other wonderful paintings and artistic representations of Ka'iulani at the school, including a large outdoor mural, and an amazing tiled wall which includes a poem about the Princess which brings tears to the eyes...; it was written by sixth graders back in the 1970s, which makes its sophistication all the more remarkable.)
But the school needs help, particularly in these hard times. The school was already under construction in 1898, so the Princess may have known of it - although she wouldn't know that it would be named in her honor a month after her passing. Archibald Cleghorn gave the life portrait of the Princess to Ka'iulani School himself before he died.
The present principal, Thomas Moon, is a wonderful man and I have had a number of conversations with him: he has such a heart for the heritage of the school, but it is an unbelievably difficult task to meet all its many needs, particularly with the ever-changing demographics and severe poverty of most of its keiki haumana.
I believe the Ka'iulani Project can be a truly great force for good as it grows and develops... and it will reach out to the community in new and unexpected ways. Drawing attention to and honoring Ka'iulani's namesake school should certainly be part of that process.
In friendship always, Mindi
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