Help Us Meet our Match and Buy a Van to Connect Students, Kumu & Community to our Forests!!

Pilina ʻĀina, formerly Teaching Change, works with Hawaiʻi island schools and communities to provide immersive and empowering ʻāina-based learning opportunities and education resources that encourage, facilitate, and enhance relationships with ʻāina (land, ocean, that which feeds). These experiences, anchored in ʻāina and place, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), mālama and aloha ʻāina (caring for and loving the land) stewardship values, and Hawaiʻi culture, cultivate a deeper and personally transformative understanding of Hawaiʻi’s native ecosystems as ʻohana (family) and enable participants to fulfill their kuleana (responsibility) to these ʻāina through actively participating in restoration and conservation efforts.

One remaining crucial need for our programs is reliable 4x4 transportation to the ma uka (upland) forests of our rural piko (centers) ʻāina of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa, Laupāhoehoe & Hakalau. The Friends of Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge is willing to match donations towards a used van of up to $20,000. We estimate that we can purchase a reliable used van for $40,000 so we are reaching out to our ʻohana, friends and larger community who share our vision of strong and resilient communities living in reciprocity with ʻāina and a strong stewardship ethic deeply rooted in kuleana.

We would be extremely grateful and honored if you would support our program by making a monetary donation to help with our van fundraising campaign. There is no amount that is too small. Your donation would help our program serve 4,025 students, 420 kumu, their families and 1,180 community members over the next 4 years - 1,410 total people in 2024 alone.

Your contribution to the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests in support of the acquisition of a 4x4 van to get students, kumu and community to ʻāina via the Pilina ʻĀina program is tax-deductible (Non-Profit Tax ID#: 464119442).

Thank you for supporting our efforts to inspire keiki (children) and mākua (adults) to think very differently about their relationship to place and community, and for some students to pursue post-secondary education, professional internships, and careers in resource stewardship. Your contribution will also help spread education and awareness throughout the community about the importance of caring for our limited natural resources, particularly fresh water provided by the forest.

Below is a description of the programming Pilina ʻĀina provides:

‘Ohana Workdays and Community Events: Serving students of all ages and their ʻohana (families), we deliver biocultural stewardship opportunities to diverse communities that expand connections to place through community engagement within important conservation areas, including Walk for the Wild and Run for the Dry Forest events.

Biocultural Blitz & ʻŌhiʻa Trail Challenge at Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a: Serving 500 4th grade students, educators, and volunteers, we organize the annual Biocultural Blitz, an immersive, place-based event held in dry forest unit of the Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest, coupled with a self-led community challenge focused on ʻōhiʻa. This event provides learning about the highly endangered and culturally precious Hawaiian dry forest, and how to steward these ecosystems.

Annual Teacher Training Programs: Semester to year-long programs that provide new and veteran teachers immersive learning experiences focused on the development of hands-on, place-based, and culturally informed curricula for their students. These professional development programs integrate field and classroom activities, guest lectures, place-based service learning, and curriculum development, designed to: (i) help teachers confidently lead immersive experiences for their students, and (ii) create connection to outdoor places and their stewards. Teachers can earn professional development (PD) credits, with impassioned alumnae returning as Master Educators who receive additional PD credits to assist in subsequent Teacher Training Programs, establish communities of practice in their schools, and grow our peer-to-peer learning network.

Field Courses: We offer overnight, immersive, two-day Field Courses at Puʻuwaʻawaʻa Forest Reserve, Laupāhoehoe Forest Reserve & Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge for middle and high school students, and a seven-day Hawaiʻi Island Field Course for Waiʻanae Middle School, each including substantive engagement of stewards, nursery tours, seedling propagation, interpretive hikes, cultural storytelling, observation, wildfire management (e.g., fuel reductions through invasive species removal), collecting phenology data on native plants, and tree planting.

Holoholo Kīpuka Field Courses: Day-long Field Courses for 4th and 5th-graders in remarkable kīpuka (lava-created islands of forest) that explore natural history, biocultural resources, phenology, and climate change.

Spring, Summer, and Fall Intersession programs: Serving middle school to high school students and teachers, we deliver intensive multi-day programs that focus on reforestation, invasive species removal, native plant and bird identification, ecology and phenology, and Hawaiian cultural practice.