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Valery Kim: I'm excited. A lot of hard work. It's well worth it! I learned a lot. Waimanalo is my home. I don't want to live anywhere else. I was lucky to be selected. This Past year has been a learning experience, with hands on carpentry, full of stress and hard work. We are grateful to Self-help Housing for making this project a huge success and to Danny Li, our supervisor who has been there to push us forward. I am thankful to all my family and friends; especially `Hoku' who has supported me through all the good times and bad times. We are very excited. This will be worth the sacrifice of hard work, because we have taken that giant step toward our family's future. Thank you all for making my dream come true!!
June Tavarres: It's been a trip, but it's worth it. Towards the end we had to work 40 hours plus a regular job. That's what you have to do. For me it would be impossible if it wasn't for this project. What we gain here is our sweat equity.
Abe `Verdi' Verdida: Frustrating! Tiring! Too much! In the beginning I was excited. We push our selves to the limit, make mistakes. Sometimes I cannot sleep because I'm thinking about this house. But now, I'm very happy. I'm thankful. So lucky to have a house. We'll live here forever, from generation to generation. We kokua everybody. I cannot build a house by myself. I'm thankful of all my neighbors to make my house beautiful.
Chauncey Kalua: This is a mean Christmas gift for my family. I helped build my neighbors' homes for a full year. I have good neighbors. Everything going smoothly, a little ups and downs with the families. But we come together. I have good neighbors. I know everybody. I'm excited, nervous, because I want to make it right. I just want to be a family. It's a lot of work but we learned a lot: to be friends, to work together, to be functional carpenters. This is a blessing, something other people don't have.
Shelly Vickery: I am as anxious to see this project end as I was to see it get started. Now it's becoming a reality, and the responsibility begins. One good thing about this project: I don't know how many people move into a neighborhood and already know all their neighbors. Definitely a better neighborhood. The people who went through this process are hard working. Then there's `homeowner's syndrome.' We're all guilty of it. On your own home you spend a little more care. You have to remember the person you're working with is going for the same goal you are. My mom says I'm so young and I have all this stress. I started this project at 32, and I feel I'm 85. Sometimes I don't know where I'm at: I'm waking my kids for school 5 o'clock Saturday morning. They go "Mom?!" Sometimes we put our kids to sleep with pillow and blanket in the house that we're working on. It'll be nice to cook breakfast for the children on the weekend. They've been on their own--cereal or whatever. What I learned is whatever's worth having doesn't come easy. One hundred percent committment! It's a big price to pay! Would I recommend this? If your heart is to live in Hawai'i, yea.
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Nathan Sabey: It's exciting, but it's stressful. After this project is over, I'm not going to pick up a hammer for a year. A year went by fast.
Debra Lono: Two years ago they had a meeting at Pope School Library. I stayed to open up and close the library afterwards. That's how I heard about this program. And now look at this!
Lesley Makekau: For the past year family members and friends have spent every weekend and holiday, and many evenings, working on their houses. Foundation, framework, roofing, finish work. We worked to complete our houses. Our own and our future neighbors' houses. Nearly all of us are life long or long time Waimanalo residents. There's the excitement of owning a new home. There's the joy of being able to live and raise our children in the same close community as we enjoyed growing up. There's no other place I'd rather live than in Waimanalo. I grew up here and know the history of the old Waimanalo Village. I remember stories of my family going to the Waimanalo Theater. Spend Saturday afternoons there. A lot of great memories. I have an old black and white picture of the theater from the Hawai'i Archives ready to hang on my wall the day I move in. You can see the movie posters of what was playing then. My new house sits on the same site as the old Waimanalo theater.
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Bonnie Silva: It's good being off the beach. Hot water! You can block the wind and it doesn't rain on the stove, and don't need to find a place to sleep on bust-down days. We were at Makapu'u, and then went to the Beach Park. And washing dishes without hot water. It's our home. It's been so long. The families that needed it most are here. It's so good to see the babies can play now. Don't have to worry about the babies have to go all the way across the field just to brush their teeth. Look at the babies playing. They're so happy now! No one can drink over here. That's the best part. I don't want to be stuck in the same old rut as before.
Michele Brooks, resident manager: I like it. It's very family oriented. Everyone tries to help each other. The space is large. Lots of space for the larger families. Everyone helps each other with things no matter how big or small. We did a Christmas tree in the office, and the kids made all the ornaments. And the people who own homes, clearing out their garages, have been bringing over things, helping out.
Mokihana Lancaster: The drugs and the drinking that was going on at the beach, you can't do that here. The kids don't see it. That's a good thing.
Doreen Kamakea: I'm happy that I'm here. These transitional homes is to help us with our life, so we won't be homeless no more. It's a contract for two years. There's no drugs or alcohol. They are supposed to have AA and NA and financial management programs. We want something going here. Get a program moving! Not just for the adults, for the children, too. The manager got an attitude. I tell the manager the security guard is sleeping in his car; she says "what's new." She never come arround unit to unit to find out if things here to get fixed The washerette is a blessing. But I feel there's favoritism going on. They turn on the washer for one person and not for another. One woman saw this she cried: she never had money for wash. We're going to get a committee together to get a voice. It should be together. It's about time. We're going to make it better. We're thankful to be off the beach.
Auntie Nona: I lived in an old condemned Quonset hut. I looked all over Waimanalo, even in the back of the valley, but the rent was too high. God's been good to us. We have nobody to thank but God. Being Hawaiian it is a part of our heritage. We believe in God. We have to go for an interview to stay here. That way when we go for an interview, the answers don't come from our mouth, they come from our heart. No matter who manages this place, I thank God for making me one of the first tenants. We are of the first and we will have to set the example that we can live together with us here inside, and with the community out there. Our job as the very first tenants is to set the pace. Sometimes when people talk they don't talk with respect. If I can, I sew and reap love. Today we had a wonderful event. A sharing: clothes on the table, not for sale, a give. If you have two, give one. As for the staff. A lot of concern. A lot of people are not happy. I don't want to report to them. It's me sharing with you, you sharing with me. This is a blessing from God. We have inherited something. Our aloha. Our giving. I share: I hear one family no more. I split my 25 pound bag of rice, my bag of sugar, my kenikeni. I share, I say "thank God." He hears. One thing nobody can put in us is the heart. The aloha. This is an opportunity to take care of my family, work out my problems. Before I can go out my door and help my neighbor, something good has to be inside. Before I can show love I have to love inside. I love to plant. When I come home from work, I plant. My orchids are blooming for me. We are like plants. If you want to be a beautiful person, you have to take care of yourself.
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