Guys' Day Out

This afternoon some of the guys from Hale Makua Wailuku went up to Iao Valley for a picnic. The guys chose to order lunch from their favorite local restaurant, Juan's Kitchen, and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery of Iao Valley.

Iao Valley is one of Maui's historic landmarks. In 1790, at the Battle of Kepaniwai, King Kamehameha clashed with Maui's army in his quest to unite the Hawaiian islands. Kamehameha defeated Maui's forces in a battle that ultimately changed the course of Hawaiian history.

Top photo: John "Chico" Cruz strikes a pose for the camera while taking in the scenic views in Iao Valley

Middle photo: Alan Camara and "Mils" Jocson talking story

Bottom photo:Peter Kaina Jr. sits and relaxes at a picnic table while activity team member, Maile Licos, takes another resident for a stroll around Iao Valley

Submitted by: Lynsey Capone, Activities Director

The Price Is Right Comes to Hale Makua

This afternoon residents at Hale Makua Wailuku were engaged in a game of the Price Is Right. Like the TV show residents were asked to guess what the prices of featured items were. While no one won a boat or a washing machine, residents had the opportunity to win more practical items, such as baked goods and bottled beverages.

Top photo: Residents look on as each item is showcased

Middle photo: Activities Assistant, Susie Lising, plays host Bob Barker and shows off items and records residents' best guesstimates of price

Bottom photo: Resident Polly Lowder got the right price of a sweet treat

Submitted by: Lynsey Capone, Activities Director

Blackjack

Several groups of Hale Makua Kahului residents spent the afternoon playing Blackjack. Not only is playing cards a fun way to pass the time, but there are also many benefits. Playing cards compels people to think about the game, the strategy, their odds of winning, etc. This helps to jog brain cells and increases concentration. The dual benefit of entertainment and honing intelligence makes card games a very popular activity with residents.

Top photo: Resident George Ishii with his winning had of 21!

Middle photo: Resident Lucy Demello gives a wave as the big chip holder of her table.

Bottom photo: Resident Bruno Wong checks his hand as he makes a comeback from not having any chips.

Residents Get Their Nails Done

This afternoon residents were treated to manicures. Manicure treatments help improve the look and feel of hands and fingernails, as well as clean, strengthen, shape, and make nails attractive. The other benefits associated with manicures include:

• Improvement of health and texture of hands and fingernails
• Prevention of hangnail formation
• Treats sore or broken skin that may be present around the nails
• Prevention of nail damage such as fragile tips, cuts or splits

Top photo: Resident Gloria Bediamol gets her nails painted by Activities Assistant, May

Bottom photo: Resident Yaeko Hasegawa has her nails filed by Activities Assistant, Annie

Pet Therapy

Twice a month at Hale Makua Kahului and at Hale Makua Wailuku, Dr. Shannon Dominguez of Haku Baldwin Center brings pets in to spend time with the residents. Studies have found that spending time with pets diminishes emotional pain, diminishes physical pain, reduces boredom, reduces anxiety, and makes people happy.

Haku Baldwin Center's vision is to foster therapeutic partnerships between people and animals which we believe promotes the growth and development of healing relationships among all living beings.

They engage in charitable, educational, and scientific work of a public nature involving the establishment and operation of an equestrian and animal center for therapeutic treatment, education and nurturing of challenged individuals.

National Honor Society Students Service Project

This past Saturday 30 National Honor Society Students from Baldwin High School participated in a service project at Hale Makua Kahului. Students helped with the landscaping and beautification of the resident courtyards on the East and North Neighborhoods, and created small vegetable and herb gardens, which the residents will tend to. The National honor Society students selected Hale Makua for their service project because they felt that it is important to interact with our kupuna and they wanted to do something that would put a smile on residents' faces.

Top photo: Alex Chun plants herbs and vegetables in what will be the resident garden on the East Neighborhood

Middle photo: from left to right, Emily Cantorn, Lauran Nouchi and Caitlin Curammeng plant flowers around an existing tree in the East Neighborhood

Bottom photo: Lelani Ventura and Kaitlin Inamasu plant flowers while Kasey Munetake tugs at a stubborn old root in the North Neighborhood courtyard

Healing Music

We were delighted to invite Gerit Williams into our Hale Makua ohana this past Wednesday. Gerit is a virtuoso acoustic guitarist with a truly unique sound that is bluesy, classical, flamenco, rock and eastern all rolled into one. One of the goals of our activities program is to promote cognitive stimulation, social interaction, and increase emotional expression and communication of feelings. Gerit plays at a special 528hz tuning that helps heal people with his music. Is has been shown in studies that the 528hz frequency helps to repair DNA in labratory tests. Music has also been shown to provide:

• Stress and anxiety reduction
• An outlet for expression of feelings
• An opportunity to maximize health and wellness
• Non-pharmacological management of pain and discomfort
• Memory recall, which contributes to reminisce
• Opportunities to interact socially with others

With this knowledge and the power of intention, Gerit truly entertained and healed with his musical talents. The residents enjoyed having him in their home, and hope to have him back soon. For more information about Gerit, you can check him out by clicking on one of the following links:Blog, Facebook, MySpace

Submitted by: Lynsey Capone, Activities Director

Eden Tree plaque Symbols of Recognition

The ten empty spaces on the Eden Tree plaque represent each of the Ten Principles of the Eden Alternative. The intention of these spaces is to provide us with ten opportunities to celebrate ongoing success and growth on our Luana journey. Because the Eden Registry is an honor society, each home has the honorable duty to determine when it is time to affix a symbol of recognition to their tree plaque. Each time a new symbol is added it is another opportunity to recognize and celebrate the hard work of transformational change.

Once the whole community agrees that we have developed a level of mastery with one of the Eden Principles, we will select a symbol of recognition that speaks to what they have learned and affix it to that spot on the tree plaque. Then we should celebrate before moving on to the next Principle. There is no particular order to go in, our community decides what best fits the path they have chosen on our Eden journey.

When ten symbols have been earned we should take time to enjoy them. What an accomplishment! After a while, however, we must be willing to take them down and display them beside the tree plaque, dated as to when the hard work of earning them was done. Then we'll need to dig in again, and ask what is the next level of mastery we can accomplish with each of the Principles? It is a journey, not a destination. We will now have another ten reasons to grow and celebrate along the way!

Article from The Vine (an online newsletter for Registered Eden Homes),
March 2010

Resident Food Committee Kicks Off National Nutrition Month

The residents at Hale Makua Wailuku started National Nutrition Month with a Food Committee meeting. This morning residents met with members of the Nutrition Services team to discuss the menu and share their thoughts about meals. The Nutrition Services team introduced two new dishes that they're considering adding to the menu. The new dishes consisted of a green bean casserole and pasta primavera, which the residents sampled and enjoyed.

Bottom photo: Edna Hedani, Resident Relations Supervisor, serves and describes the new dishes to residents.

Middle photo: Rosie Kahiamoe, Food Services Delivery Manager, listens to residents' thoughts about the food.

Bottom photo: June Thomas, Dietitian, works with residents to meet their dietary needs.

Submitted by: Lynsey Capone, Activities Director

Hanafuda Championship Held

Hale Makua residents love playing cards. They especially enjoy the Japanese card game of Hanafuda. The name "Hanafuda" literally translates as 'flower cards'. Today Hale Makua Kahului residents held the Hanafuda card playing championship. The tournament was held over a five day period and culminated in today's championship game, which ended in a play-off between two teams: Ahsam/Ishii and Hiraoka/Sanchez. Nancy Hiraoka and Velma Sanchez won the title of "Hanafuda Champions".

Top photo: Jodi Horton, Activities Assistant, looks on as residents compete in championship game of the Hale Makua Kahului Hanafuda Tournament

Middle photo: Jade Paraiso, Activities Assistant, oversees the tie breaker game between residents Rose Ahsam (right) and George Ishii (left) and Nancy Hiraoka (front) and Velma Sanchez (back)

Bottom photo: from left Hale Makua Wailuku residents Mistue Nakahashi, Elmo Tanner, and Myra Yanagihara playing Hanafuda at Hale Makua Wailuku