ABOUT ME Aloha, my name is Sunn Sarai Malaeapōmaikaʻialohamaikalani Richardson. I was born on October 18th, 2000 in the state of Washington. I am the youngest child of four boys and two girls. The names of my brothers are Kapena, Kaimohala, Skye, and Sage and my sisterʻs name is Starr. When I was eight years old, my family and I moved from Lakestevens, Washington to Nuʻuanu, Hawaiʻi. Puahiohio is the name of the wind of the upland of Nuʻuanu, which means “whirlwind” or “gust.” Ua Wa‘ahila is the name of the rain of Nuʻuanu and Mānoa valleys. A mountain close to my home that I feel is special to me is Tantalus or, Pu'u 'Ualaka'a. These names and places are extremely important to me because they surrounded me and watched as I grew older and matured.
For me, Mālama Honua means to take care of the earth by treating everything and every place with respect and protection. Our land is what provides us with everything we need to survive. We must treat it as if it were a loved one. Caring for the earth means leaving a place cleaner than it was when you arrived. It means picking up trash from the ground even it doesn’t belong to you. It’s quite simple actually. The earth is our home and we must maintain it and keep it healthy. The land, the ocean, the mountains, the flowers are all a part of the earth. It is our responsibility as Kanaka Maoli to help our land and ocean thrive. When I was a freshman, I began to paddle for school. I instantly fell in love with the sport, especially since we were in the ocean every day. I learned so much about the ocean and how much the paddling community values the water. When I started paddling, my relationship with the ocean grew stronger and stronger. I started to realize the ocean is what carries us through our practices and races. I began to grow a large amount of respect and love for the ocean. As a haumāna of papa Mālama Honua, my aspirations are to continue to learn the history of our land and ocean. Knowing the history of specific places of our ʻāina immediately makes me respect that place and treat it with nothing but aloha and care. I want to be able to take in as much knowledge as I can about the places we learn about and visit! I also hope to influence my future children to do the same. I want to raise them with a mindset of Mālama Honua so that they can continue to influence others as well. Aloha ʻāina means to love the land. With love comes care, respect, responsibility, etc. Aloha ʻāina is very similar to Mālama Honua. It means to get involved with projects that help sustain the land. For example, giving a helping hand with kalo patches, beach clean-ups, fishponds, etc. There are endless amounts of community service projects that I can be a part of in order to display aloha ʻāina. Involving myself in events like these will help me make this a good habit. As a Hawaiian, it is my responsibility to take action. Aloha ʻāina relates to Mālama Honua because it involves the same things. Keeping the land and oceans clean, working out in the kalo patch, influencing others to get involved with community service projects are all part of Aloha ʻāina and Mālama Honua. To me, they are almost the same thing. |