Day 5: Dryland Forest Exploration by Anthony Ciallella

July 25th, 2019

Dryland Forest Exploration
by Anthony Ciallella

July 25th, day 5 of our exploration. After our whole GELS group ate a hearty breakfast at the Hawaiian Preparatory Academy we headed off to the dryland forest to further explore and connect with nature. 
After being introduced to the KUPU team, we ventured into the forest and spoke with Uncle Keoki who first sat down with the group to talk about his life and his connections to the land. One interesting comment he said was, “The trees can hear and remember the people that go near it.” This made me realize that all life is constantly looking at us and we need to have respect because truly the forests let us thrive and develop as a species. As we then further traversed our team was shown all the native trees including kaulima, lama, ohe makai, and halapepe.
 Subsequently, as a custom to be connected and accepted into the loving arms of the land, working in the field is highly requested. To fulfill that we went to pick aalii seeds which will be either stored in a seed bank or replanted back into the forest to increase the size and health of it. The picking of seeds helped build a stronger bond to the land and myself by realizing I was able to help our mentors from hours of work and also provide for and preserve the beautiful terrain around me. 
After our activities at the forest, we were lucky enough to listen to a closing song called "Listen to Her Heart" by Uncle Keoki. Though this song may have been only a few minutes of our time in the forest I felt my mind link to the factual lyrics of the story. They explained how humans need to give attention to “her” aka the Earth’s heart and to open our eyes to see what the human race has done to it. 

Overall this part of the day sincerely changed me and strengthened my will and passion to protect the world's gifts of nature and to push me to make a difference.
Anthony enjoying the sunset in Waimea.

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