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Volu me 105 Issue 95
Keiki O Ka ‘Aina seeks UH student mentors
COURTESY OF SONYA ZABALA
A KOKA mentor cheers on his mentee during an Easter Fun Day activity. R AVEN SEVILLEJA Contributing Writer University of Hawai‘i students have an opportunity to help strengthen the bond between incarcerated parents and their families through a unique mentoring program. Students can volunteer
as mentors through Keiki O Ka ‘Aina’s latest program, Supporting Families Affected by Incarceration. Mentors are assigned mentees between the ages of four and 17 and participate in activities based on their preferences. “The most rewarding part of this program is when mentors
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and the children they are mentoring attend any of our free monthly events. I love watching them enjoying each other’s company and developing positive relationships,” said program coordinator Memory Ku. SFAI program recruiter and case manager Sonya Zabala has volunteered as a mentor and said she has witnessed the success of the program. “Most of the staff are volunteer mentors. We just love doing it. It’s not part of our job, it’s just something we do,” Zabala said. To commemorate the upcoming holiday for these families, Keiki O Ka ‘Aina Family Learning Centers will hold a Mother’s Day Fun Day on Saturday, May 7, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua. The Mother’s Day Fun Day, one of the monthly Keiki Fun Days, will give potential volunteers a closer look at the families participating in this program. “Mother’s Day Fun Day at the prison is all about the kids and their experience of being with their moms or grandmas. The event, as well as the program, is all about providing positive life opportunities for the children and a way for the moms and grandmas to stay connected with them. “When they do come out, they have reasons for living, for staying off drugs, and for seeking help. They have these reasons because they have their child there with them. We try to maintain these bonds between the parent and child,” Zabala said. KOK A’s free Keiki Fun Days may include activities like ice
skating, boxcar races, and catchand-release fishing. Both the mentors and staff brainstorm ideas for these activities, which are aligned with their interests. “These activities are engaging and exciting and open new worlds for [participants] as well. Our mentors share their interests with us and coordinate these events – that way we all collaborate,” Zabala said. UH’s Golden Key Club hosted the KOK A Easter Event on April 9, thanks to executive board member Kelly Park’s involvement with the mentoring program. Golden Key Co-Director of Academic and Community Activities Sianha Gualano, who coordinated the Easter Event, noticed the strong relationship between the mentors and their mentees. “It was really interesting to see how much the keiki like their mentors,” Gualano said. “I noticed that to get the keiki to open up to you, all you need to do is give them genuine attention. Listen
to what they have to say, because sometimes it can turn out to be real nuggets of wisdom.” Golden Key President Reid S. Kiyabu, who also volunteered with KOK A, recognized the value and reward of mentoring. “Each time you go through the same general process: the kids hesitate to get involved with the ‘new people,’ you run through the activities and, by the end, the kids come up to you, ask you questions and really get into what they’re engaged in,” Kiyabu said. KOKA is specifically seeking college students to volunteer as mentors and role models because they are furthering their education. “We love for our mentees to graduate from high school, and go on to higher education,” Zabala said. “When they get together, mentees know that they aren’t alone and that there are others in similar situations. We want to expose the children to life opportunities, better coping skills, and to develop their ability to reach out.”
KOKA mentors help children with incarcerated parents UH students act as role-models for at-risk youth
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