Our interview was a success

          Today is my day for the daily blogpost and it was a big day. We started off our day by interviewing two kumu, Kumu Kawika and Kumu Mele during class and it was a big get off to our project. They brought to light problems with our school that at first, made Michael and I wonder how physics could be incorporated into the solution, but by the end of the interview we realized how important it would be to find a solution to these problems. One problem that my group and I got hooked on was one where it dealt not only with physics, but with our Hawaiian culture. There is a stream located near the main gate at the bottom of the hill that travels all the way back into Kamehameha School's ahupua'a and the problem is that it does not flow unless heavy rains hit the mountain. It is not exactly clear how physics can be involved within this solution, but it wouldn't be a perfect solution if there were no problems in finding it. We think we could include physics within the solution by using gravity and pressure to divert the water throughout the 'āina, over old lo'i and even up towards the hill where we can sustain ourselves with natural flowing water. Everyone I talked to so far have told me that this is a lot of work and that it's not going to happen before the school year ends but I, along with my group, believe that we could attack one specific problem right now but still have that option to go further in the future to fix and change whatever needs to be done. When I thought about this problem, I thought about Waipā on the island of Kaua'i and how it was once a barren wasteland but with the help of many people, it became a beautiful piece of land that is respected as a self sustaining 'āina and as a cultural learning place. This problem if followed through will be a hard one, no doubt about it, but if done correctly, physics would help the pua of Kamehameha Schools in a bigger way then ever imagined.