K38 UK Rescue

Kanalu K38

Hānau ke kai, hānau ka 'āina, hānau ke ali'i, hānau ke kanaka.

(Born was the sea, born was the land, born were the chiefs, born were the people)

"The land, the chiefs, and the people belong together--as one people."

Tom Pohaku Stone will be presenting an opening Hawai'ian blessing for the (IBWSS) 2008 International Boating and Water Safety Summit proceedings in San Diego, California. Education has proven the link from the past into the future as Tom's opening theme for the IBWSS proceedings to get underway with a resonating and deeply moving invocation to the IBWSS membership. The IBWSS is from April 16-19th.

Nature, God, and man are all sources of knowledge; they inspire us. The Hawaiian views 'knowledge' as holistic and multi-faceted: all knowledge is not contained in one place. Knowledge is a merging of the head, heart and the whole body. Knowledge is acquired from many sources. The Hawaiian people have always been aware of their ocean environment and its many moods and rhythms. Ka Makani ‘ula o ke kai – the red wind that belongs to the sea. What this means is that the blood that flows through us is the wind of our ancestors who gave up the land to become a sea going people of this great world we call home – we are all one people of this canoe.

Our ancestors embraced the knowledge of the gods to care for the land and the sea by identifying and maintaining a harmonious relationship with their fragile island resources. From this concept of Mālama our kūpuna established the foundation of our culture and our relationship to the ocean. Though similar in some ways to other Pacific island cultures, our unique culture remains very different from any other Pacific isle peoples. If we do not continue to Mālama then we will have failed as people and we will stand to lose our living culture.

Malama Kai – Our precious marine ecosystems, including important fishing grounds, coral reefs, beaches, and surf sites are being impacted, but we are here to care for it. The sea is a lei around our islands in the sea of which our ancestors emerged from and had respect for this sea, and the aspects of their well-being was reliant upon it. Malama kai – care for the sea and take from it only what is needed and to respect its godly power.

Photo by David Pu'u

Please visit the National Safe Boating Council Website for additional information:

http://safeboatingcouncil.org/

Tom Pohaku Stone is a professor of Island studies at the University of Hawai'i, a K38 and NSBC (National Safe Boating Council) certified boating safety instructor, partner with Kanalu K38, and a respected native Hawaiian surfer and waterman.

K38 Water Safety is operated by Shawn Alladio, who has been involved with personal watercraft since 1979. K38 provides instruction, education and event management for military and public safety agencies such as lifeguards, fire rescue, law enforcement and search and rescue teams. With over 20 years of instruction globally, K38 International is now represented officially in 14 countries worldwide. Please join us in Hawai'i for the 4th Annual K38 International PWC Safety Summit from December 4-12th, 2008.

Kanalu K38 and K38 Water Safety enjoy sponsorship support from Kawasaki Motors Corporation and employ Jet Skis in their water rescue training courses on the mainland and Hawai'i.

For more information:

www.Kanalu-k38.com

www.K38Rescue.com

www.TheLivesYouSave.com