Academy of the Sacred Heart

After a long day of travel, we've arrived in Waimea, Kauai! We enjoyed delicious brick oven pizza before settling in at our YWAM bunkhouse. 

This morning, we worshipped at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ele ele. What a beautiful building!

Children from St. John's Episcopal presented team members with handmade leis created from a traditional Hawaiian weave in royal Hawaiian colors of purple and gold. Church members from Na Ohana Haipule Iloko O Cristo (The Family in Christ Church). 

Today we brought the girls to Kanaka, the school where we will be serving this week, to see the gardens and the animals they tend to there. 

There are chickens EVERYWHERE on Kauai! We even found one at Kauai Coffee Company! 

Yesterday we began work at Kanaka school! They welcomed us with a tour before we broke ground in the garden. Unlike schools on the main land, here on the island we take off our shoes before entering the building.

What a warm welcome we received from the staff and a few students from KANAKA (Kula Aupuni Niihau A Kahelelani Aloha) Charter School, one of our community partners in Kekaha! 

Our first task in the raised garden beds was removing the vegetation.  The staff and students at KANAKA have been growing taro and sweet potatoes, two staples in their daily food supply.

Our biggest project this week is assembling a new play structure for the children at KANAKA Charter School! We started at ground zero with some foundational concrete blocks. They had to be carefully spaced and leveled. 

The ocean feels amazing after a long, hard day of work! Our young ladies enjoyed a swim and a little exploring at Salt Pond Beach on Monday evening.  This local beach was the perfect end to our day!

Pule is an integral part of Hawaiian life. We paused each morning before work and each day before lunch for pule. What a beautiful way to pray and ask for blessings on our work and food. 

The platforms were the first parts of the play structure to go up! Uncle Sal and Uncle Peter worked with our team to be sure everything lined up correctly. 

The staff and students at KANAKA tend the garden beds and grow vegetables for the school's meals. We helped remove clay dirt from the garden beds and replace it with new soil to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and other veggies. 

Painting is completed at the teaching tree at St. Paul's Episcopal Church! What a great place for Children's Ministry to take place!