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Jason Schwartz with Dee Larson early 2000s- Dee Larson is an environmental hero on Maui. She led a campaign to clean out the mangrove swamp in mid Kihei, maui. She also led a team cleaning up North Kihei Kulanihakoi and Kulamalu streams. Always ahead of her time, she speaks with Jason from a site in North Kihei
Summary & Transcript
- [00:13 → 06:15]
Introduction and Context Setup - The video opens with a discussion about presentation style, emphasizing respect for multiple architects involved in a project and showing various ecological and educational images related to the topic.
- Instructions are given about maintaining eye contact and engaging participants in a three-way conversational style, encouraging comfort and fun in communication.
- The host introduces Dee Larson, who has been working on a project related to Montessori education with an ecological focus in Hawaii.
- [06:15 → 11:17]
Dee Larson’s Background and Project Overview - Dee Larson introduces herself as a long-time Maui resident (since 1968), motivated by the island’s open spaces and safety for raising children.
- Dee has been involved in environmental preservation efforts, including work to protect Honolulu Bay.
- Montessori International Hawaii is introduced as an ecological and educational nonprofit preschool village located in South Maui (near Kihei).
- The core idea: instill environmental awareness and ecological knowledge in children aged 2.5 to 6 years to promote world peace through ecology.
- The project aims to embed understanding of ecosystems and environmental stewardship at a young age, fostering lifelong respect for the planet.
- [11:17 → 20:00]
Challenges in Filming and Message Delivery - Ambient noise and interruptions (planes, children) complicate recording, but the host and Dee persist in delivering the message.
- The preschool eco-village is reiterated as a nonprofit, ecological, and educational initiative.
- Montessori’s educational philosophy is briefly explained: children learn at their own pace, a method developed by Dr. Maria Montessori in the 1800s.
- The importance of pedagogy (the study of children) is emphasized as critical in shaping early development and learning styles.
- [20:00 → 28:24]
Project Details: Educational Philosophy and Site Plan - Montessori International Hawaii’s distinctive feature is its strong environmental focus, differentiating it from other Montessori schools on Maui.
- The school will be situated on approximately 2.5 to 3 acres (core school area), featuring:
- Central classroom spaces
- Surrounding gardens for agriculture, permaculture, horticulture
- Aquaculture areas
- Learning pool for swimming and safety skills
- Playgrounds and open spaces extending outward from the center
- The educational approach is “learning by doing,” with children actively engaged in planting, counting seeds (math skills), and observing natural growth cycles.
- The school will also include a Hawaiian-style halle (gathering place) for local artisans and cultural practitioners (quilting, hula, lei making), promoting cultural integration and enrichment.
- The philosophy emphasizes self-sufficiency and environmental consciousness starting from early childhood, fostering self-esteem and respect for nature.
- [28:24 → 35:32]
Land Acquisition and Environmental Conditions - Two potential sites are discussed:
Location Size (approx.) Ownership Features/Notes Behind St. Teresa’s Church, South Kihei 6.59 acres State-owned, under county control Wetlands with natural stream flowing into ocean; needs cleanup due to trash, invasive plants (lily pads, mangrove removal planned) North Kihei near Suda Store ~30 acres Owned by Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Larger wetlands area, potential buffer zone; affected by proposed commercial/theme park development which may conflict with eco-village vision - Both sites have environmental degradation issues: illegal dumping, invasive species, and damage from homeless encampments.
- The St. Teresa’s site requires significant cleanup, including restoration of clogged streams and removal of invasive mangrove plants.
- The Army Corps of Engineers has been consulted and deemed the land suitable for development consistent with the eco-village’s goals.
- The project’s intent includes restoring native, endemic plants and protecting the natural ecosystem.
- [35:32 → 44:27]
Integration with Community and Commercial Development - The larger Weinberg property has existing plans for a theme park with restaurants and outdoor venues, somewhat akin to Knott’s Berry Farm rather than Disneyland.
- Dee hopes to influence this commercial development to incorporate a village concept with respect for Hawaiian culture and natural environment, potentially integrating the eco-village as a complementary, educational component.
- The eco-village would remain private and focused on children’s education, not a tourist attraction.
- The project emphasizes partnership and collaboration with community, government, and possibly federal agencies to ensure sustainability and respect for cultural and ecological values.
- [44:27 → 52:58]
Vision, Educational Philosophy, and Community Impact - Dee emphasizes the importance of thinking globally and acting locally.
- Her recent sociology education informs her approach that sustainable change starts with individuals and self-sufficiency.
- The eco-village’s design is holistic and circular, inspired by indigenous community layouts and Dee’s Indian heritage.
- The layout promotes a self-sustaining community model: central classrooms, surrounded by gardens, orchards, housing, and renewable energy sources (solar, wind).
- The hope is that children will carry these values home and into their communities, encouraging broader environmental stewardship.
- The project has attracted highly knowledgeable and passionate contributors, including environmental experts, educators, and cultural practitioners.
- [52:58 → 01:00:00]
Challenges, Funding, and Next Steps - The land acquisition is the critical next step for the project to proceed.
- Lack of secured land has slowed grant applications and funding progress.
- Architectural plans have been donated pro bono by local architects who support the project’s mission.
- The land needs extensive cleanup including removal of trash, discarded bottles, plastic, and protection of ancient monkey pod trees that have been damaged.
- Dee has invested approximately $50,000 and six years of college education into this project, highlighting her deep commitment.
- The project aims for financial self-sufficiency through tuition fees of $265 per month, which includes meals sourced from the school’s gardens. This is considerably less expensive than other preschool options on Maui.
- The eco-village will operate five days a week with opportunities for community engagement outside those hours in certain contexts.
- The project seeks to establish a model for environmentally and culturally integrated education that could influence future community planning and building designs for decades to come.
- [01:00:00 → End]
Closing Remarks and Contact Information - The underlying mission is world peace through sound ecology and early childhood education.
- The project is referred to as the “Eco Village” for simplicity.
- Dee invites community members to support the project, especially by helping secure land and getting involved.
- Contact information: Dee Larson can be reached at (808) 874-9323.
- The board of directors includes noted educators and environmental experts:
Name Role/Expertise Notes Ed Lindsey President, retired school teacher Leadership role Dr. Cy Triester Internationally known teacher Libraries named after him in Africa Dr. John Pye MCC oceanography and astronomy professor Environmental science expertise Dr. Emmett O’Reilly Environmental expert Longtime environmental advocate Anna Palomino National botanist Nursery specialist Leilani Sokai UH Master’s degree student Community and cultural involvement, Mrs. Hawaii contestant Susumu Furugawa Early childhood educator, Aikido sensei Experienced in Head Start programs
Summary of Key Points:
- Montessori International Hawaii Eco Village is a nonprofit preschool focused on ecological education, located in South Maui.
- The project integrates Montessori pedagogy with environmental stewardship for children aged 2.5 to 6 years.
- The curriculum is hands-on, involving agriculture, aquaculture, permaculture, and cultural practices, fostering self-sufficiency and respect for nature.
- Two potential sites are being considered, both requiring environmental cleanup and restoration, with land ownership by state and the Weinberg Foundation.
- The project seeks to partner with local communities and commercial developments to create a balanced, culturally respectful environment.
- Tuition is affordable and includes meals grown on-site, emphasizing food sustainability.
- The eco-village is designed as a self-sustaining, circular community, potentially serving as a model for future ecological education and living.
- The critical immediate need is a commitment of land to move forward with construction and program implementation.
- The project team includes experienced educators, environmentalists, and cultural practitioners, with strong community support and pro bono professional contributions.
- Contact for involvement or support is Dee Larson at (808) 874-9323.
Conclusion:
Montessori International Hawaii Eco Village embodies a pioneering educational and ecological initiative dedicated to shaping environmentally conscious youth and fostering world peace through early childhood education and community-based sustainability. The success of this project hinges on securing a suitable land parcel and continued community engagement.
Transcript
00:13
like if it were to open with this picture and then zoom into your talking and showing those other pictures.
02:44
We should show the other plan also because it’s showing respect to both architects.
03:22
I sure don’t want anybody else. What? What am I looking at here? You’re doing the whole thing. The Montessori International, the bottom where it says ecological and the whole thing because we’re giving them different ideas.
03:50
and or are objective to the environment. This is another wetland area that needs to be cleaned up. But if you give this as a
04:19
This is part of our business junket that we give to Weinberg. Speak to me. One, two, three, four, five, six. Again. One, two, three, four, five, six. Stay.
04:51
Now, the objective of this, of course, is the number one few rules. One, see in there? Those are the people of knowledge. Or, it’s whoever you want to speak to. So as we’re talking about something and I ask you a question and you want to make a point, don’t be afraid to look at this person. Because this person or these people are involved in our conversation.
05:19
In other words, if I’m talking to you, I make sure I acknowledge that. Because I’m talking to you. You’re the ones that I want to hear this clearly. You want to hear it clearly, and they want to hear it clearly. And I know that you guys, and you, are on the same team. So it’s like, out from yourselves, make believe we have a three-way conversation. Other than that, there are no rules, except everything that you say
05:50
Safer in your heart. Be comfortable. Have fun. Make it fun. Most important. Three. Two. One. Aloha.
06:15
I’m here with Dee Larson. Dee has been working on a project now for a number of years, but in the last couple of years has put focus to something that I think will interest all of you. Many of you have heard of Montessori. Dee, thank you for being with us. You’re welcome. You probably know a lot of these people out here. Some of them you may not. Why don’t you introduce yourself and your project to them?
06:42
Well, I’m Dee Larson, and I represent Montessori International Hawaii, an ecological and educational nonprofit preschool village. We’re located in south Maui, perhaps in the area of Kihei. Now, I know she was suddenly very low, so we’re going to do that again.
07:10
I have a Zoom microphone here. I know I project no matter what. But when you’re talking, talk. Okay. In other words, you gave a long name show. To be located in South Maui. Well, we’re going to be cutting some of this out, dude. So let me introduce you. Hello.
07:39
So Dee, I know that I know you for a long time and probably many of the people out here know you, but why don’t you introduce yourself
08:05
and introduce what this project is in a short nutshell and then we’ll expand well primarily uh this project addresses the environment one second we’ll see what i want you to do first of all my name is d larson i’ve been on maui 25 years excuse me guys did you guys please leave thanks
08:30
You guys can watch, but what we’re doing is recording a thing, so we need to have quiet around here. We’re just doing a little television show, okay? Okay, so… There’s a radio on. It doesn’t matter.
08:59
have the microphone on zoom it’s right here with us okay now what am i doing i’m going to ask you to introduce yourself tell them who you are and then tell them what we’re going to be discussing today hi one second give me a second we’ve got to edit
09:22
So Dee, I know that I know you for a while. I imagine some of the people out here know you, but others don’t. Why don’t you introduce yourself, and then, in a nutshell, tell people what this project is that we’re going to talk about today. I’m Dee Larson, and I came to Maui in 1968 as a single parent to raise my daughter here, and primarily for the wide open spaces and the health and safety issues. Primo place to raise your kids.
09:52
In the course of the years, we were very aware of the environment and we started off over in West Mallory on the preserving Honolulu Bay forever. That took a lot of diligence and it was primarily my family and close friends and a gentleman by the name of Rick Gaffney out of the Big Island. Our environment is something that’s
10:18
very, very close to my heart, and I’ve lived all my life in some capacity of educating young children to the environment, and also for peace between one another. This village that we’re going to put up is, the undercurrent of it is world peace, and we’re world peace through ecology. By addressing our children at their early developmental stage, two and a half to six in this case, in our case,
10:48
we will perpetuate this knowledge of the ecosystem and how that all correlates. Therefore, embedding in our children at this crucial age of development, instilling in them environmental awareness for the rest of their lives, hopefully they can save this planet as they are on this precious planet, and that’s up to them.
11:17
I’m waiting for the plane. Isn’t it always when you want to do something, planes go over, kids coming out, everything’s moving at the same time?
11:31
What you said was beautiful. But all I asked you to do is say hello and tell them what the project was. You never mentioned Montessori school. You didn’t… In other words, this is the opening. You’re making a speech. I’m just going to say, who are you? I’m Dee Larson. I’ve been on the island since 1968. I was working on a project to keep Honolulu Bay wonderful. And now… I’m addressing the wetlands.
12:02
Are you sure I’ve picked an interesting spot? They’re opening up a kid’s thing here in a second. So there are kids coming all around us. I’m trying to think of the best way to do this. Maybe we should just do it right now. This one counts.
12:34
Well, you know, you want to go over there, you can… You want to go over there? Let’s go over there, then. You want to go over there? Yeah. Because it’s just too noisy here. I’m gonna look in here a second. Say hello to me. Hi. Keep talking. I need your word so I can hear it. Go ahead.
13:02
Hi there. It’s a beautiful day. Talk to me like you’re going to talk to me, not louder. Talk to me like you’re going to talk to me like this. I want to be able to hear. That’s what I’m doing right now. Hi. It’s a beautiful day. It’s kind of windy. Lots of kids. Birdies. Birdies are really good. Uh-oh. You’re getting some noise. Keep talking.
13:27
Anyway, it’s just a little background, natural music, I guess you might say. Anyway, it’s pretty out here. Nice breeze, good company. Nice Saturday. See, there we go, a little fade out.
14:01
They’ll be gone in a second, and they’ll just be sitting here in a quiet, beautiful park. All their noise is on the other side. Good morning. I’m sitting here with Dee Larson. We have had quite a morning. See, early in the morning is different. That’s what you’re going to see. That’s why your idea about 8.30 was so good.
14:31
Because it would have been done by nine. That was your idea, and I agree. Okay. Well, here we are. Talk for a moment more. I want to hear it again. Um, so here we are. Wind blowing. Great hair day game. Talk to me. I did. Didn’t you hear me? Yeah, but you have to keep talking.
15:00
Good morning. We have had quite a morning. We were looking for a location that was quiet and peaceful so that we might sit and talk about the Montessori International Hawaii preschool eco-village. And that’s actually
15:28
We’ve been walking around looking for a quiet location. They’re building over here, moving things over there. So we’re now just sitting in a park in front of the Kihei Youth Center, which has come to be a wonderful new part of Kihei for the kids. Well, I’m sitting here with Dee Larson. Dee, thank you for joining me. You’re welcome. The most important thing I think about this show is…
15:51
It’s a chance for you to get up close and take a look at a project that may really touch your heart and make you want to get involved. Dee, what is this project? What’s it called now once again? Montessori International Hawaii. Ecological and educational non-profit preschool village. You just gave like a short business definition. Montessori International Hawaii. Educational and ecological.
16:21
Nonprofit. Nonprofit. Preschool. Preschool. Village. Village. Let me translate that into English. It means a preschool for kids to be able to learn about the environment.
16:36
That long name is just a nice, big, fat, juicy name, just so you understand it every time you hear it. Montessori, is that a special kind of teaching style? Yes, it is. It’s children progress at their own rate and at their own pace. And it was begun by Dr. Maria Montessori in the 1800s, the first woman doctor to graduate from Italy at that time. Maria Montessori was a doctor in Italy, so…
17:05
I don’t recall. I wasn’t around there in the 1800s. Were you? Maybe some of you were. Inequality, we all know about that in the 1800s. So she survived that and started this wonderful method of pedagogy. Of what? Pedagogy, the study of children. Isn’t it interesting how every time we set up, now these kids are making a little noise. We’ll be right back. We’re going to change our set. We’re going to change things about us.
17:35
They are out of every place in the whole lot. Maybe they think they’re going to be discovered. No, they are discovered. We discovered them. Anyway, back to our story. Cut. When you talk about pedagogy, is that important? Why?
18:00
you mentioned something they have no idea how i asked you about what is montessori started by maria montessori okay and that’s good it’s a philosophy of education where children progress at their own rate so pace these guys are really going to do this right here well i am not appreciating the fact that they’re following us
18:31
Okay, cut. We’re going to start right in. So, Montessori is learning at your own rate.
18:51
Sorry, I’m very distracted. We keep moving to places where we have natural noise. Why don’t we breathe in and out one more time and see if we can find a place maybe over there or maybe this way. Can I just continue from where we are? Okay. We’re going to continue. Do you hear noises?
19:15
They’ve actually set up a place to drive over a curb with a piece of wood. Why, I don’t know. And why they wanted to choose right here with us, I guess because they’re looking to see what we’re doing, but they don’t want to stop their activities. So that’s what’s going on.
20:00
Good morning. We chose this very shady, gentle location to sit and talk with Dee Larson. Dee, thank you for joining us. You’re welcome. You know why we’re here? We’re going to be discussing Montessori International Hawaii Preschool Eco Village. Now, you have a longer name for it, don’t you, Dee? What do you call it? That’s just fine. It’s just a non-profit preschool eco village.
20:27
a nonprofit preschool ecovillage. Many of you know Montessori schools. There are a couple of different Montessori schools here on the island already. But this one has a different slant. Why don’t you tell us what is different about this one and why you think it’s an important thing to have here in our community? Well, perhaps the most prominent feature that this village encompasses is the environment. So…
20:54
Give us a little bit more detail. I know that when I looked at the plans, we’ll show you some of the plans here in a second. You’re talking about an area of probably two and a half or three acres in the core center of this school area. Why have you designated and how have you designated this area for teaching people about the environment?
21:17
Well, we want to take the children. This school, excuse me, is set up for agriculture, permaculture, horticulture, to get the children into the land. This is a prominent feature in their education, in their preschool education.
21:37
Because it is our belief that children from zero to six and a half, seven, learn all their basics and take this with them the rest of their lives. This way we raise environmental consciousness. They’re starting at a young, early developmental age on stage. So the center area in the complex is the classroom area.
22:03
Correct. And then the surrounding areas will be the gardens and we have a learning pool for the children and teaching them how to swim. The basics for safety at this age. And then also we have our various playgrounds and everything extends outward from the center of the school.
22:30
That’s one model that we have. And then another model, too, is where we break up all the classes into different little polys, so to speak.
22:39
We also plan on building a very nice holly for archipunas of Maui, so they can come in at their leisure any time, set up, have the safety of leaving their work behind when they go home. It’s a gathering place, sit around, talk story, and then if they want to go out and mingle with the children and teach the children, it’s an enriching experience for all involved.
23:09
So would you say that it’s a preschool in an environment that is basically set up like a farm? It looks like you have aquaculture in one area right outside the classroom. You have an orchard there and vegetable gardens. Will the kids be involved in all of that? Oh, yes, yes. In fact, our philosophy is learn by doing, so…
23:33
Like, for instance, mathematics, counting those little seeds when they’re putting them in the ground and watching the magnificence of growth and the naturalness of nature. So you have people that are familiar with all the different modalities that will be there that are already interested in being involved with the preschool? Oh, yes. Only the finest minds will be used, and we have an abundant…
23:58
resource of good, solid minds here on Maui, especially into the environmental awareness. We have a lot of people that are highly degreed, and many folks also that don’t have the schooling, but just our natural wisdom into the environment. All of this will be utilized, of course, paying prime attention to the host culture of Aiyana. Okay, so let me see if I can identify
24:28
and understand what this is. This is a preschool. I’m sure many of you have preschool-aged children and plan to. And while you’re off at work and doing what you’re doing, you’d like to know that your kids are safe and busy, but this is a way of getting them involved with our environment here locally. Correct. And you already have a plan, I’m sure, that works out how many children at what kind of rate.
24:55
So this is a business, yes? Yes. Okay. But it supports itself by the tuition? Right. This is all geared for self-sufficiency. Is the tuition, I call it tuition, is it comparable or less than the other preschool rates and things on the island?
25:18
Much less. Our tuition is $265 a month, which includes one meal and two snacks, because we, as we’ve already mentioned, it’s good for self-sufficiency. We want to use the foods out of our gardens, and the children will see that whole process and part of that whole process from planting to growing to preparing and to eating the food on their plates.
25:45
Right, okay. I imagine here at South PA a lot of these kids don’t have too much experience with growing, so that’s a really good thing. So they’ll learn to create their own gardens, and they’re very young, and I’m sure that they’re getting a lot of help from the big people. But the whole intention is to really get them hands-on involved with things that can create self-sufficiency for the future.
26:09
Correct. And also they’re educating the adult population by bringing in attention to this and also to bring in self-respect through self-sufficiency. By taking care of oneself and one’s environment, you build up self-esteem.
26:29
Okay. So let me, I’m going to take a look at, you’ll look with us as we show some of these as we’re talking. So the central area has a classroom. How many children do you hope to have in that building? Well, in the village. In the village, yeah. A hundred children.
26:50
Can you put 100 children in the room at one time if you wanted to do some kind of things that would be planning? We could, uh-huh, we could. There’s different ways to do this, and of course we’re, you know that we’re going to be going into photovoltaics and solar in our village. It can be opened up as a…
27:15
For all the children, one room if we do, it’s just kind of using dividers. For lectures or for movies when you want to show them things, I’m sure. Right. We have a plan for an outdoor theater just to hang a sheet kind, the old-fashioned way of showing movies. We want to keep everything simple and the highest of quality in the school. And that also carries over into our children.
27:41
Also, it keeps the environment not so cluttered. What kind of land do you need for something like this? We’re looking primarily for land that encompasses wetlands and or wildlife.
28:03
Is that why you’re looking to have more than just 2 1⁄2 acres? So you have a little bit of insulation from typical activity? And a little wiggle room. Wiggle room. I imagine that…
28:24
in its infancy, this school will really be developing based on the people in the school and the success of the school to do its expansion that you’re talking about and have its wiggle room. Do you have any feeling for how long it would take you from getting a piece of land until you’d be able to open the school? Is there much construction to be done?
28:51
From our projections, we look at it, it would probably take a little under a year to have it constructed and the doors open for business. What kind of things have to be done to the land?
29:06
Lands that we’ve been looking at, all of them need to be cleaned up. That’s the first thing. Clean them up. There’s so much junk on these lands. I mean, garbage, rubbish, you name it. It’s just shocking to see how people are so disrespectful to this wonderful, beautiful, I don’t know, it was a fortunate community city. So these are just pieces of land, for example. Give me…
29:33
I know that you were talking about two locations with me. One was down at, right behind St. Teresa’s Church, right off South Kihei Road. Correct. And the other one was in North Kihei, behind where Suda Store is, right at the north end of Kihei. Correct. Okay. Who owns these lands?
29:56
Weinberg owns lands north by Cedar Store. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation? Correct. Okay. And the other land is owned by the state. It’s under executive order of the county of Maui. I see. And these properties are what?
30:16
10 acres, 5 acres, 20 acres? In Weinberg, almost 30 acres, and down by St. Teresa’s, that’s 6.59 acres. Okay. So let’s take a look at what this means.
30:33
If you were doing it at St. Teresa’s, that area has been sitting pretty dormant. It’s not a place where people would be building. Does it have a natural stream running through it? Yes, it does. The outlet is right into the ocean, which is a magnificent fish pond. And what makes the fish pond so special here is that it’s been done with natural rock. It’s not from this…
30:58
Okay, so to have a natural water flow would be of value to you and to be able to like you say probably
31:14
You can see from some of these drawings, down at the St. Teresa’s location, where you can see by the drawings, you have decentralized glass walls. Is that what you mean, by halles? Yes, uh-huh. And also, we’re planning on a large halle for the capunas around the house, where they can come and bring their work.
31:37
anything from quilting, putting feather leilei, practicing hula, story, make feather lei, you name it in the Hawaiian culture. Also the Tongan folks are welcome to come down and other ethnic groups that would like to sit in the holly and
31:59
at the pace of, say, the way it was in the old days, just some place to be at home and feel comfortable and you can leave your work behind and, you know, it’s safe. And also you can not…
32:14
very enhancing for the children to be around the friends. And this school is dedicated to two very, very beautiful and strong women. One is Alice Hulaloyo, and the other one is our late Reverend John Hulaloyo. Okay, so again, I’m bringing it back down to the basic terms here.
32:38
They’re looking at a piece of property that’s six acres and it would house the school by itself. Are there any kind of environmental problems there? You’re talking about things being all trash. My guess, probably your guess, is that’s a place where a lot of the homeless people have been living and functioning and many times drinking, leaving bottles and trash and not being responsible. So I imagine a lot of the community around would appreciate the cleanup of that area just by itself.
33:08
That’s true. Both of these areas have been trashed. Down by St. Theresa’s, the most urgent need is to clean up that stream.
33:19
The stream is clogged up. Unfortunately, somebody went in there and planted lily pads, and it is not environmentally friendly for this area, and it’s clogged up the drainage system. And then someone else has gone in there and sprayed it, and then, of course, then you’ve got the pesticides going into the water, blah, blah, blah, blah. How would these things be handled?
33:45
Is that part of your plan? Yes, our plan is to clean up this area. Also, there’s a mangrove in there, and that’s a pest for Hawaii. Our intentions are to take that mangrove out. That’s one of the first things we want to do on the project. Take the mangrove out, see what we’ve got there. It’s probably swampy. It more than likely will require a little fill, and therefore we’ll bring in the Army Corps. We’ve had the Army Corps of Engineers
34:13
as our guides all the way through this project. So the Army Corps of Engineers has already looked at that land and said it’s appropriate for the kind of thing you want to do? Correct. Okay. And it’s land from the state that’s been put into the hands of the county for control? It’s under an executive order in 1925.
34:36
1925. Okay. And it’s not a place where someone could be building condos or they might make it into a park, but it would take a lot of work. Here you’re talking about doing it as part of an eco-village, so it’s really well within the theme of what you’re doing. Right. Also, it opens up open space and brings back the endemic grasses.
35:03
that proliferate around this area. In many ways, this area, in respects, there are some pristine aspects of this particular area. Same way with blinders as far as endemic plants and indigenous plants. So plants that have been growing here for many, many years. It’s nice to know that there are areas that still have indigenous plants left of all of them.
35:32
different developments going on around here. Let’s switch our focus now to this property over here by Weinberg. You say it’s about 30 acres, and maybe you want to have 10 or 5, like you say, with a buffer. There’d been discussion about that land becoming a theme park. What kind of influence could your project have on that development that they’ve already got?
36:00
Well, hopefully we could influence them with a village concept for this whole area, and with first respect to the history and the culture resources of this area, and gain first respect to the host culture.
36:24
Okay, what I’m really talking about is the drawings that I saw showed a very developed theme park, but different than a more natural theme park. It appears they want to have a restaurant and a wharf. Lots of restaurants. Right, and they basically want to turn it into… Mountains. I don’t want to say Disneyland. Mountains. Yeah, there’s going to be a mountain out there. It’s more of a Knott’s Berry farm.
36:54
So could something like that be integrated into what you’re talking about? I feel that it could be. They do have a set up for a huge outdoor auditorium.
37:15
I don’t know how that’s going to gel. This is in a residential area. They’ve got zoning supposedly to do this in this area.
37:29
Not to mention, it’s a very sensitive area. In their plans, did you see a room in the plan for your eco-village to be developed right on that site? In their plan? No. No, I did not. In their plan, they said they’d utilize that whole area, all the way from Kiye Road up… Is that Kiye Road? Uwapo? Yeah, Uwapo. Uwapo is the first streetway coming to Kiye.
37:59
So what I’m really asking is, they had a pretty developed plan.
38:15
if certain things in the plan in their plan were not to be developed as they originally had proposed could other areas of the land still go forward as they were thinking and naturally blend into your eco-village that’s what i’m really looking at i think that would be a very smart um
38:37
a person that is very visionary and also one that is concerned for making a buck for this commercial development, I would think that they would keep that foremost in their plan. They’d shy away from development that just is a replica of the mainland where the people came from.
38:59
They don’t want to see the same old, same old. These people would rather see open space, Hawaiian style, the way we all loved it when we came here. Well, but you also said, and it’s true, it needs to be economically viable for someone that’s building it. So all I’m saying is, part of the plans where they might have planned on additional buildings,
39:25
could well be an area that could be used for your eco-village. And that’s what I’m really looking at, a demonstration project as a natural extension, physically on the same ground. They can have restaurants and they can have a theme park, but as that theme park is done more naturally, which I imagine
39:47
that that’s what they would want to do otherwise it won’t fly with any of the ethnic and cultural groups who want to respect what was here and also won’t go with zoning and with most people’s sense of sensibilities about our environment i think more and more people are waking up to the environment so a preschool where ecology is the focus
40:13
That’s what it really is, is taking advantage of natural land that still is beautiful, that’s been trashed and been left in difficult position down here at St. Theresa’s. We’re up here with the Weinberg location as a natural extension on the shores of a preserved wetlands, so that’s really good, so that it would create
40:37
in many ways things for people that are visitors to see the beautiful wetlands and then be able to either drive or walk to this property to be able to go to a restaurant go see a theme park with with things that aren’t
40:53
involved here with the kids, and then have a whole section to see the kids planting and dealing with aquaculture. And it’s private, though. We want to make that clear. Our school isn’t open to the general public. It’s not a showcase to the tourists. There’s a school, and it would be respected as such.
41:15
Okay, then how is that going to fit in with what I was just saying? With the park ambience around the school, it would bleed right into a well-thought-out commercial village. I would imagine that this would really be a prototype. Wouldn’t you want to be showing this place? No.
41:35
uh because we’ve got to respect our children this is their learning it’s not a it’s not a place for people just like any preschool any school we don’t do not want traffic coming your attention is with those kids how many days a week would you be functioning five days a week so you have two days a week where you could in fact
41:58
and let people see what is being done. Maybe you’d have more staff.
42:20
All I’m talking about is I’m looking to show whoever has this land a way to integrate it in, be responsible to their economic vision, and to be able to keep the school private, obviously, as a location for the kids. Excuse me a moment. Let’s see who’s here on the air.
42:50
We don’t know. It’s coming from 614 area code. We’ll check with them later. The modern conveniences of life. You can appreciate in this day and age, you know, we see people give. Many people give from the generosity of their heart.
43:12
And part of that giving often looks at economics. In this case here with this land in North Kihei, they already have thoughts of what they want to do with this piece of property that may or may not sit well with zoning, may not sit well with people’s ideas of what’s going on here at this end of Kihei.
43:36
Which is why I was thinking that the integration of something like your eco-preschool would offer something to the community and would also maybe modify their plans for as aggressive a modernized area. In other words, keep it more natural.
43:58
That was what I was bringing up. You hit it on the nail. That’s exactly what we’re thinking about. Okay. Partnering, I think, is the magic word nowadays. Partnering, working together, hokana. And no matter where we locate, it’s definitely going to be partnering with the general community.
44:27
and or government, and or different, perhaps, federal agencies. Okay. Why do you think this is important? I mean, you’ve now lived on Maui how long? Thirty years? Thirty-two years. Thirty-two years. You’ve seen Maui change a lot, and I imagine you know a lot of people that have seen Maui change a lot. What inspired you to get involved with this?
44:56
Well, it’s in the blood for one thing. And another thing is just looking at act locally, think globally. Isn’t that the way that goes? Think globally and act locally? Yeah. However we say it. So you’re conscious of what’s going on in the world. Correct. And when I looked at it, I just got out of getting a degree in sociology.
45:23
The reason I took that is to get a good scope on the whole world, besides locally. And from what I’ve been able to gather, that it all gets right back down to the individual. And to me, it’s called self-sufficiency. So if we educate our children at a young age to be self-sufficient, then when they grow up and become adults, they’re just not taking up a void. They have a mission. They have integrity. And they have self-pride. And that’s why
45:53
We use the environment as a tool on educating our young children during their early developmental years. That’s okay. As I saw the pictures, I noticed they started from the center and worked out. Can any plans I’ve ever seen of a self-sustained, self-developed community
46:20
It always started that way, in rings and circles. It really is a plan that could be expanded and used for communities, not just for preschool. Exactly. How did you get the drawings? Obviously you got a lot of help in putting together architectural drawings of this project.
46:40
Those are all conceived out of my hand. And also I have some Indian heritage, and perhaps that’s where the circles come. Many of your, how would you say it, our ancestors or history, prehistory, et cetera, the villages and communities were set up in circles. And I think it’s a holistic concept.
47:09
It’s also one where you don’t have to take automobiles. I mean, if you have the school in the center and then gardens and orchards and housing on the outside and then gardens on the outside of that and then solar and wind, you’re basically setting up a self-sustained community. And you’re doing it with little people, which is nice.
47:33
so that they might bring those concepts back into their homes and out into the community as they grow up so they recognize something that really was special when they were young and you call it developmental about impressionable when they still haven’t really taken on the concepts of society that many of us have seen have not been working to sustain our our lands
48:03
I’m happy to see that there’s someone like you that’s been working on this. I’ve been also very excited to see the people that you’ve already got potentially on staff. There are a lot of people that are the, I want to call them the academicians. Not a lot of administrators in the group, a lot of people who have hands-on and working with kids and working with our environment.
48:28
It’s nice that they like to get together and really teach these things to such young kids. It’s wonderful. What do you need for your next step in this project? Well, I’ll give you the answer. You need a commitment of the land.
48:51
Don’t you? You know, in the grants that you’ve been applying for, I’m sure that the fact that you don’t have designated land already granted has slowed down some of the grants.
49:11
I don’t want to give any impression that any grant money is slowed down because of any land or anything like that. Because that could be a hindrance if they think that she can’t do anything until she gets this money. Okay. So let me ask the question again.
49:32
What is it that you need now in this project? We’re talking to these people out there. What is it that we’re trying to communicate? What do you need of your viewer? I’m talking to you. This is not. So you need this land. That’s what you need next. Yes. So tell me, Dee, what do you need next in this project?
50:01
Um, land. Land. Okay. So you need a commitment on the land, either at St. Teresa’s, or here at Weinberg, or anywhere that is a natural environment? Right. There’s a couple more, uh, uh, there’s two other parks that’s also around here. Uh, we’ve got, uh, let’s see what it goes to. Okay.
50:31
So what you need is the land. That’s the next thing that you need. I really appreciate those drawings. Were those donated by the architects?
50:46
Actually, yes, you might say pro bono. Pro bono. To all of us who understand what that means, that means they saw value in this project and spent their valuable time in taking these ideas of yours and putting them down into these visual presentations that you’ve seen.
51:10
There’s a lot of people around that would like to be involved. I imagine that once you secure the land, that a lot of additional things will be coming. All kinds of people will be coming out of the woodwork who want to get involved to help.
51:23
You bet. We’ve got people scratching away to get busy on this. We have so many brilliant minds on this island. It’s just mind-boggling in itself, especially folks geared with Akamai as far as the environment.
51:44
on photovoltaics, solar, composting, recycling. Just brilliant guys that have their businesses set up and nothing’s moving for them. I mean, it’s really sad. They’re so futuristic and have the
52:04
geared for tomorrow, to take care of us in our tomorrows. So I’m going to utilize all these notes on this project. And they’re brawn, and you’re brawn. Right, exactly. Because clearing the land is work. That’s right, that’s right. You can see by some of these videos that we’re showing, some of this land, there are more plastic bottles and containers and
52:28
People have gone in and cut down trees for wood. Monkey pod trees, two to four hundred year old monkey pod trees just being shattered for wood. For crafts selling on the side of the highway. So let me start again.
52:58
So many times in some of these pictures that you’ve seen, there’s all kinds of plastic bottles and cans and people have come in and cut down trees that are hundreds of years old.
53:14
This is really, I think, a great project to be able to not only stop it in these specific areas, but to let people understand that the natural growth has value, has value. When you talk about indigenous plants, there’s so many things that are lost when we change an ecosystem. Just like, you know, many of you have heard about the cutting of the rainforest in Brazil.
53:42
And we know that when they cut the rainforest in Brazil, they’re losing tremendous numbers of species of plant and animal, never mind the fact that these large green areas are taking care of the carbon dioxide problem we have. Which affects us here in Maui. Sure. Way over there. I think everyone realizes that this is an attempt, and a good attempt,
54:07
to bring it to be a reality to our kids. My life worked. I put everything into this, including six years of college, just recently graduated last May. Plus, you know, a matter of about, probably adds up to around $50,000 already. $50,000? Yeah.
54:36
$50,000. This project, I would say everyone would recognize all your time and effort and energy is worthwhile. So now, to secure the land, with all the great people that you already got involved, you’re ready to go. Ready. Ready yesterday. Yeah, I see that. If this doesn’t happen,
55:06
If the world doesn’t get aggressively into teaching the kids, it’s my opinion that there’s really no chance. Many of us as adults have habits, and we change our habits begrudgingly when the laws push us. I mean, I’ve seen places where people just wholesale throw out garbage. But the kids, in learning it while they’re young,
55:32
really can carry that on into their life so that that problem is eliminated through just basically a more aware group of people. Exactly. Besides that, it’s fun. Now, I certainly wouldn’t have taken on this project if it didn’t have some fun in it. And I think that they’ll all be learning right along with their kids because there’s a lot of stuff I still have to learn in the environment and always will. So all in all, not only is it a fun project, I think
56:01
It’s fun because we’re doing something right. And this is the right thing to do. This is the college’s preschool. This concept will bleed out into the community, hopefully through the state, and set a precedent, a new way to build our structures for our homes and for our schools. For the 21st century. And the 22nd century. And the 23rd. That’s right.
56:31
Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our viewers? Well, folks, the main thing I have to say, I guess, is the basis of this school is all about love. Peace through the environment. World peace through sound ecology.
56:56
That’s the underlying statement of this school, is world peace. World peace through early childhood education. God bless everybody. Thank you for joining us. I hope that gives you some insight into the Montessori International Hawaii
57:15
preschool nonprofit you get all those words ecological educational nonprofit preschool village ecological educational nonprofit preschool village and we’ll just leave it at echo village from now on it’ll be referred to as the echo village so if any of you out there are uh interested in uh
57:38
for supporting the land or being involved in any other way on this project, is there a phone number they can reach you? Sure, at 874-9323. 874-9323 to reach Dee Larson, who’s coordinating this whole project. But I’m not doing it by myself.
57:56
We have a dynamite board of directors, don’t forget. Our president of the board is Mr. Ed Lindsey, retired school teacher. Dr. Cy Triester, international known teacher, has libraries named after him in Africa. Also, we have Mr.
58:16
Dr. John Pye out of MCC teaches oceanography and astronomy. We have Dr. Emmett O’Reilly who’s heavily involved with the environment from a lot of old friend’s days. And also we have Anna Palomino.
58:31
The National Botanist has a wonderful nursery of country. And also we have Leilani Sokai, UH Master’s degree student, also vying for Mrs. Hawaii in the next couple of weeks.
58:49
We have really a, oh, and also Susumu Furugawa, a beautiful man who taught Head Start schools way back in the late 60s, early 70s. He’s a, Susumu is a Aikido sensei. And… Great bunch of people. Yeah, really a great crew to work with, folks. And I’m sure they’re open to more.
59:16
But the way to get to them, unless you know them directly, is to call D at 874-9323. Thank you for joining us. Aloha. Did you say what you wanted to say?
