Hawai'i: rainbow and aloha

The 22 fellows were assigned into teams of 5-6 prior to the start of the program based on individual's interests and experiences. Each team carries with it one special theme which is interrelated to one another. For example, Mauka's key focus is on Innovation Lab and the two tools produced by it, namely Challenge Prize and B Corp certification.

You can see the summary of what we learned here: https://bit.ly/2HDJEeu

What's awesome was, each of us, whether working individually, paired, or as group, had to deliver a presentation to our friends regarding the topics that was given to us. This is what we called a 'participant-centered' type of learning instead of a traditional lecture such as when a teacher is spoon-feeding the students, lacking the essential interaction and discussion.

We also had several site visits and this has helped to further our understanding on the issues raised, while some has inherently touched our emotion. Here is the list of places we visited as part of the learning curriculum:

1. Ancient taro farm near the University of Hawai'i - learning about soft-engineering the natural environment for a sustainable production of taro. 
2. Hawai'i Earth Recycling - open air composting site.
3. H Power - harnessing energy from the incineration of wastes. 
4. Rooftop garden of hydroponic and aquaponic systems at the Institute of Human Services.
5.  Hawai'i Community Foundation - philanthropy in the social impact investments. 
6. Hawai'i Awesome Foundation - a giving circle in the social impact investments. 
7. Morgan Stanley's representative, Ms. Noel Pacarro Brown - impact investing speaker. 
8. Down to Earth Organic and Natural  - an example of a sustainable supermarket supporting local produces and reducing wastes on plastic bags and packaging. 
9. Banan - a frozen healthy ice cream business started by the University of Hawai'i graduates, funded by the gofundme platform. 
10. A special night tour of the Bishop Museums - It was so awesome that this deserves its own blog post so stay tuned!
11.  A night stay at USS Missouri - The ship where the surrender of the Japanese and marks the official end to World War II... Also the best experience in Hawai'i and it deserves its own blog post! Stay tuned.