Kina 1

Kawehi Kina
POLS 302
Aunty Alama
I heard many stories about how mean and strict of a science teacher she was at Waihee
Elementary School. She would whack her students with a yardstick if they did not listen, make
you shame in front of the whole class, and pick on you if she knew you were not paying
attention. No matter how hard she was on her students, she was a great teacher. Her past students
have come up to me and were surprised to find out that Miss Ayers was my great aunt. The
stories they told me were unbelievable because I never encountered such discipline with her, but
her passion for education was memorable and her love for her family and community was great.
My aunt was a well-educated wahine who graduated from Kamehameha Schools for
Girls in 1942. She obtained her Bachelors degree from Brigham Young University in Utah and
earned her Masters degree from Colombia University in New York. She also spent some time at
Oxford University in England. Miss Ayers, or Aunty Alama, as I like to call her, was born and
raised in a small town called Waihee on the island of Maui. For me, Aunty Alama, who lived
next door to me, was an old tall Hawaiian Chinese lady with a hunched back who always wore a
muumuu.
Growing up, Aunty Alama would come over to my house about three or four times a
week to visit my papa. She would either come early in the morning or in the late afternoon.
When she would come over to my house, I had to be on my best behavior because she would
always tell me what I did wrong. From a very young age till I was about 13 years old, I could
always remember hearing Aunty Alama walking to my house. She always dragged her slippers
on the asphalt as she walked on the side of the road. I assumed it was because of her hunched
back that made her drag her feet because of the weight pulling her down. No matter where I was

Kina 2
in the house, be it in the front parlor or in the back bedroom, you could always hear her slippers.
If you did not hear her slippers, then you could hear her yell. Manaku! Im coming! she
screamed. Manaku was my papa and her older brother. As a child, hearing my aunts feet and her
yelling as she made her slow descent to my house made me laugh. I thought it was so funny to
hear this old lady who was going deaf, yell at another old man who was also going deaf. You
could just tell these two were related. As she walked through the front door, she would yell for
my papa and these two buggahs would be screaming at each other. Not with anger, but because
they were both going deaf, they could hardly hear each other. Hi Manaku! my aunt screamed.
WHAT? my papa yelled as he tried to understand what she said. HUH? she replied.
Eventually, they gave up and they both acted like they could hear each other. Their conversation
was always all over the place, but you could see that they enjoyed each others company. Before
my aunty would leave my house, she would be nele and look in all the rooms. I would usually
be on the computer and she would always yell, Eh, no sit close to da TV, you goin go blind.
You like see or what? I just laughed because she didnt know what a computer was. As she
made her way out the door, she yelled, Bye Manaku! Love you! You knew she was home
when you did not hear her slippers dragging. This of course was a memory that I hold so close to
me because in the next few years, our lives drastically changed.
When I became a freshman in high school, I decided to attend Lhainluna High School
and dormed. My papa and my two uncles attended Lhainluna and boarded when it was only an
all-boys school and I decided that it was time for me to be independent and dorm as well. During
my first three years at Lhainluna, there were many changes happening at home. My mother
lost the house I was raised in and she moved below our family house into a newer home. It was
devastating. That family home was everything. Aunty Alama would point to her chest and tell

Kina 3
me, my mother built this house, and me and Manaku grew up in it. Since I lived in Lhain
during that time, I could not see the pain of losing my family home that was affecting our whole
family. Our family was very small and to have something so precious taken from you was
devastating. My aunt however, was silent during this time, but she was not angry. Although, her
family home was taken from her, it was still there standing and holding all of her memories.
Eventually, my mom had lost the entire family property that my family house and the new house
was on. That made my heart drop. I am not sure how we lost the whole family property. My
mother would tell me that I was too young to understand and that I should not worry about it. But
my uncle (my mothers younger brother) explained to me that my dad has been stealing money
from our family and that we could not continue paying for the mortage. However, that
explanation was never confirmed, so I truly do not know how we lost our family property. My
uncles were fed up with my mother for not being able to keep the family house, and now the
family property. My motherss older brother disowned my mother and refuses to speak to her
and to my sister and I. My mothers younger brother did not speak to my mother after that, but
fortunately still spoke with my sister and I.
Aunty Alama at this time was getting very old and needed more care since she lived on
her own and did not drive. So my mother asked my aunty if we could move in with her since we
did not have a home. My aunt agreed, so we moved in and started to care for her.
Towards the end of my senior year, I got a life changing call from my mother. She told
me that Aunty Alama fell and broke her leg. My aunts leg was in a cast and she could no longer
walk. This was a difficult time for my mother. She lost her job in result of caring for Aunty
Alama and she now relied on unemployment to help pay the bills and food. When I graduated
high school a few months after my aunt could no longer walk, I moved back home. By the time I

Kina 4
moved back, my aunt had her cast removed, but she still could not walk and she refused to do
rehab. Seeing this constant strain and stress put on my mother, I decided to step in and became
my aunts full time caregiver. I was gone for four years and I chose to take on this kuleana. It
was hard for me to adjust to this lifestyle because I just came out of high school and I was about
to start at the University of Hawaii Maui College. I had no experince in caring for an elderly
disabled person, especially a stubborn one. But I learned new things about her everyday while
caring for her. We both had to work together to make sure she was getting the care she needed.
Some days were long, but that is when you have to remind yourself who and why you are doing
what you do.
Some days my aunt would talk up a storm with me and tell me stories about her growing
up in Waihee and attending Kamehameha School for Girls. She would also tell me bits and
pieces of her life as a teacher. I enjoyed listening to her because she opened herself to me which
drew us closer together. If my aunt was sleeping, I would clean her room up, and come to my
surprise, I found many treasures. When I say treasures, I do not mean gold. I found maps of the
old Waihee plantation town, old pictures of buildings and places like the old Waihee Dairy,
history of Waihee and its people, and other historical documents about Hawaii and even about
the Hawaiian Kingdom. Some documents were written by my aunt as well. There were also old
newspaper articles about how involved my aunt was within the Waihee community and with
other communities as well. It was amazing. I told my mom what I found in her room and she told
me that Aunty Alama was a historian at the Bailey House Museum and it was not a surprise to
find documents laying around the house. I was filled with awe learning all this about the person
that I was dedicating my life to. My aunt, who has given so much of her time and knowledge to

Kina 5
the people of Waihee was truly an amazing person and it was an honor to be there right beside
her.
Caregiving was the hardest thing for me to do, but I learned so much by doing it. I
created this bond with my aunt who has given back to the community in so many ways and I felt
that it was the right thing to do. It was my naau that told me that I needed to take care of my
aunt. As months had gone by, my aunt and I had created a bond like no other. When I would be
absent from her care, she would ask my mom where I was and when I was coming back. She
could not prononuce my name, so she would ask where the girl? She would refuse to eat or
drink unless I was there. I remember one day, I was doing a project for school, so I asked my
mom if she could care for my aunt one day. As my mom was trying to feed her, all I heard was
grumbling from my aunt and my mom. And then I heard, Kawehi! Come here. I went to my
aunts room and found her putting her hand over her mouth. She refused to eat what my mom
was giving her. I gave my aunt the stare and she looked down and slowly opened her mouth.
My mom just laughed at the situation and she could not believe how strong our connection was
to each other. I cared for her for almost five years until she took her last breath on March 6,
2015. Caring for her was the hardest part in my life, but I have gained so much love and
appreciation for what she has done for others and how caregiving affects many people and
family everyday. Some days I felt alone, stressed, and depressed, but my aunt had taught me to
always love and to always have patience. If it was not for my Aunty Alama, I would not be
where I am today. This experience has opened my eyes even more to my community and I want
to continue my aunts work. I have decided that I am going to become a teacher to give back to
my community that has watched me grow and become an active leader. Many peope have
learned so much from my aunt during her time as a teacher, but for me, I have learned so much

Kina 6
being there for her and caring for her health and well-being. I owe what I have now to her and I
am forever grateful.