Growing People

MA`O Organic Farms, in the historically marginalized rural community of Wai`anae, O`ahu, is the site of a groundbreaking youth leadership program that has impacted the lives of hundreds of Hawaiian youth. This 18-minute film provides an intimate look at the MA`O program through the stories of three of these youth, the sisters Miki, U`ilani and Sheila Arasato. While the struggles identified by each of them differ — low expectations, minimal healthy food options, negative stereotypes weighing down their community — each of the sisters finds at MA`O the tools to work toward a future that is personally, environmentally, and socially sustainable.

In an area with one of the largest populations of Native Hawaiians in the state, and yet burdened with high rates of unemployment, and low numbers of college graduates, the organic farming program at MA`O offers the Arasatos a link back to their cultural heritage, educating them and their peers about pre-colonial Hawaiian food practices. Simultaneously, the program supports them to lean forward into their own futures, as it provides financial support toward college. Throughout the film, we watch three young women becoming empowered young leaders, transforming their own visions of what their lives can be.