Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka is a culturally responsive, trauma informed curriculum for behavioral health professionals whose work is largely in developing responses to behavioral health and substance use.

The pilot project brought together an eighteen-member cohort of cultural and ʻāina practitioners, behavioral health professionals, and community leaders in a shared journey grounded in ʻike Hawaiʻi. Through learning, reflection, ʻāina, relationship, and practice, participants explored ways of understanding healing that extend beyond the walls of a clinic or classroom. 

The five-month, culturally grounded Train-the-Trainer Pilot launched as an inaugural cohort in 2024–2025, funded by the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD). Papa Ola Lōkahi and Lonoa Honua developed the initiative in partnership, with evaluation support from the Pilina Center for Wellbeing, to strengthen culturally responsive approaches to behavioral health and substance use. Grounded in a recovery-oriented framework and aligned with SAMHSA’s definition of recovery, the pilot provided participants with tools and knowledge they can apply across prevention, treatment, and harm reduction settings. The inaugural cohort included 18 participants aged 24–64, representing communities across Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, and Molokaʻi, bringing together diverse experiences, perspectives, and connections to support the development of a culturally grounded behavioral health workforce.

Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka was made possible through the ʻike, generosity, and commitment of the people who walked this journey together.

Partners 

• Papa Ola Lōkahi
• Lonoa Honua – Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻole & Kauila Kealiʻikanakaʻole
• Hawaiʻi Department of Health – Alcohol & Drug Abuse Department (ADAD)
• Host communities on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island

Inspired by the long and epic journey of Hiʻiaka, the relationships she formed, and the many trials she encountered, Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka is a journey of learning, remembering, and reconnecting. This program explores what becomes possible when behavioral health practice in Hawaiʻi is grounded in ʻike Hawaiʻi, connection, place, and lived experience. 

Step into the huakaʻi. This short film offers a glimpse of Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka—the people, places, teachings, and relationships that shaped the journey. 

Every flame begins with a spark. Every journey begins with a first step forward. Aunty Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻole and Kauila Kealiʻikanakaʻole brought together practitioners and health care professionals to shape the first-ever ʻāina-based, recovery-centered learning program.

Following participants on their huakaʻi (journey) to Hilo and Kauaʻi, capturing the connection to ʻāina, cultural practices, community connections, and shared learning in these sacred places. Participants embark on their huakaʻi to Hilo and Kauaʻi, inspired by Hiʻiaka’s path across the islands. Participants face challenges and breakthroughs along the way. 

In the program’s final moments, participants shared reflections and stories from their journeys, honoring the growth, connections, and healing along the way. As participants prepare to return to their families, workplaces, and communities, they carry with them the lessons and relationships cultivated throughout the retreat.

Across the huakaʻi, participants reflected on healing, identity, relationship, ʻāina, practitioner wellness, and what it means to carry ʻike into their work. These reflections point toward a broader understanding of what supports both those seeking healing and those who walk beside them.

We completed two evaluations for this project. We completed one alongside Jo Qinaʻau, Founder and Director of Pilina Center for Wellbeing. The other came from the partnership between Papa Ola Lōkahi and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division.

See the full report by Pilina Center for Wellbeing here.

See the full report by Papa Ola Lokahi here.

The huakaʻi is best understood through the voices of those who experienced it. Their reflections speak to what they remember, what shifted, and what they carry forward. This is what we learned:

• “I felt like my kūpuna were walking with me. It wasn’t just a chant; it was a call home.” 

• “This program gave me the confidence to weave culture into my clinical practice, something I’ve wanted to do but didn’t know how.” 

• “I’m rewriting my organization’s orientation using the Kaʻao framework.” 

• “If you want to help me heal, you need to know my story and my culture. This training finally gave me that, and now I can do the same for those I serve.” 

Healing in Hawaiʻi cannot be separated from relationship to ʻāina, to community, to ʻike, and to one another. Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka invites us to consider how behavioral health practice can make space for ways of knowing and healing that have sustained our people across generations. 

The huakaʻi does not end here. The teachings, relationships, and questions carried through Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka continue in the people, places, and practices touched by the journey.