In the comfort and familiarity of our community, it feels like nothing could ever change around us. Things look the same, in turn they somehow feel the same, and if you are fortunate, you feel largely safe. I always said to myself that so long as I had such privileges, I would use my own community as a launch point for positive change.
What I never anticipated, however, was that I would live to see the complete decimation of a community very dear to me. The Hawaiian town of Lahaina was a place I spent much of my childhood. I visited often, but with family friends in the community, it was hardly touristic, and each visit was jumping into the colourful day to day life of the area. This wasn’t a vacation; it was another layer of my life.
This past summer I had the privilege of visiting the community and the people in it that are so very close to me. I never imagined that an unprecedented tragedy would unfold in front of me, and I would barely escape with my life. August 8 was an unsettling day nearly from the moment the clock struck midnight. The power had gone out and I was fresh out of the hospital after experiencing a difficult turn with my health.
The early morning hours had given way to the continued outage and high hurricane force winds. As the day progressed, I found myself on a hurried trek to the hospital, realizing that something was still not right with my health. It was while I was driving on the highway that I saw a plume of smoke in the heart of town and telephone poles falling like toothpicks on top of people trapped in their cars. The strength of civilization melted into the fire’s flames, and I sat in the car asking myself if I would be crushed by a pole or if the fire would engulf me? I tried to turn around and go back but the traffic was thick and the police blockades in the lane headed out of town did not feel as though they promised an escape. I sat in the car and asked myself if I were to die, why it had to be now and what the grief would do to the people I would leave behind.
As my car was being pushed by the wind into an intersection, I made peace with the fact that maybe this really was the end. I promised myself that if I survived, I would use my life to somehow make a change. No longer would I ever take life for granted.
Miraculously, I made it back to safety, but the town I loved, the homes and livelihoods of those dear to me were gone, and the ancestral lands of native Hawaiians were now tainted with pollution and tragedy. What many may not know about Lahaina, is that it was not a community constructed as a playground for tourists. Lahaina was the cultural heartland for native Hawaiians, a place that countless generations of all colours and creeds called home. It was not a community of flashy modern homes or touristic excess; it was a working-class community with an environment that nurtured and embraced diversity long before mainland North America had thought to do so.
It is for these reasons that I felt compelled to create a fundraiser in my own community to help those whose lives have been destroyed by this horrible fire. Countless individuals are near penniless and have nowhere to go. Their day-to-day life, common to them not unlike ours is to us, has been ripped away without any promise of a return. I acknowledge that the world has been struck with horrific events in the Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel, but for me this is not a one-off of trying to help others. This is the beginning of me making good on the promise I made on that fateful day in August. I believe I survived for a reason, and that reason is to help others.
As a young person fresh out of high school, I didn’t know how or where to begin my journey to give back so I reached out to our West Vancouver Mayor to see if he might have some ideas or be able to help in some way. From that meeting, Share Aloha was founded. Please join us Saturday November 25th at the Kay Meek Arts Centre to enjoy a night of music and storytelling with Hawaii’s favourite son, Henry Kapono. All proceeds from the event will be directed to The Henry Kapono Foundation and Maui Strong Fund, two worthwhile charities that have been helping the residents and businesses in Lahaina most in need.
TICKETS can be purchased here: https://kaymeek.com/events/henry-kapono-1125
Alexandra Del Mar is a recent high school graduate from West Vancouver. She has initiated a fundraiser to be held at the Kay Meek Arts Centre on Saturday November 25th, with all proceeds going to support the victims of the Maui wildfires that happened this past summer. Below, Alexandra shares her story on why she felt compelled to help and how her near death experience has changed her life.
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