Luluku Program

ʻĀina Momona is incredibly proud to sponsor the work of the Aloha ʻĀina Health and Learning Center in Luluku, Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu. The Aloha ʻĀina Health and Learning Center (AAHLC) provides hands-on family education and enrichment through mālama ʻāina, caring for the land. AAHLC has serviced the Oʻahu community since 1999. Their mission is to help build healthy communities through land restoration, holistic nutrition, and improved relationships between land and community. AAHLC believes that our personal health is intimately linked to the well-being of ʻāina. For Native Hawaiians, culture has always been an integral part of “agri-culture,” and by sustaining traditional food practices AAHLC helps preserve our cultural integrity for future generations, while also bringing greater health to our bodies, families, and community members.

AAHLC are the primary stewards of several subsistence resources in the Luluku area. The terraced lo‘i kalo found in Luluku are part of a large complex of agricultural terraces that were initially divided by the construction of the Likelike Highway. Large portions of the terraces were further impacted by the construction of the Interstate H-3 and are now located within the Kāne‘ohe Interchange loop. For decades, the site has been left damaged and inaccessible by the public, despite being an important cultural and subsistence resource, with enormous food production potential.

In partnership with the Luluku Farmer’s Association, AAHLC stewards the areas that have been impacted by H-3 construction, while honoring the agricultural legacy of Luluku which in turn continues to provide health resources for the broader community. As our team works with community members to heal degraded land and damaged cultural resources in Luluku, we simultaneously heal the community that depends on these resources and preserve them for future generations.

AAHLC seeks to accomplish our mission by fostering community participation in traditional Hawaiian sustainable farming, preparing traditional Hawaiian foods, and teaching the healing power of a traditional Hawaiian diet. Our programs seek to bring local food security to Kaneʻōhe for the health and welfare of our current and future generations. We work extensively with secondary and elementary schools, families, community organizations, local farmers, and environmental stewardship programs in and beyond the Kaneʻōhe area. It is our goal to expand access to health resources on the land and restore degraded subsistence resources for our people.

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Want to volunteer?

Join us in Luluku to support and participate in the critical mālama ʻāina work being done on Oʻahu!