The Kahua Waiwai program uses principles from Hawaiian culture to teach financial savvy, as in this comparison of a loko i'a to a bank. Slide courtesy Kahua Waiwai

Financial literacy with native twist takes off with teens

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Who could have predicted that a financial literacy program for Hawai'i teens would become a hot attraction?

Kahua Waiwai began quite modestly in response to a suggestion of parents enrolled in a homebuyer education course for Department of Hawaiian Home Lands applicants. "They wanted help in growing the next generation of homeowners, so they asked if it was okay to bring their teenaged children to the classes," said Jeff Gilbreath of the non-profit Hawaiian Community Assets, which was providing the education for the prospective homesteaders. HCA took the parents' request one step further and established a separate set of teen-friendly money management lessons, naming the course Kahua Waiwai, or building a foundation of wealth.

Kahua Waiwai had barely just gotten underway when the global economic crisis began last September, eventually sweeping through Hawai'i and hitting those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder hardest – including many Native Hawaiians, whose average income is lower than that of other groups, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures. "Suddenly the project took off as an opportunity to address the mounting financial stresses that all of Hawai'i is facing but is most difficult for the poorest," said Gilbreath.

In the last year, more than 20 local youth services organizations – from churches to government social services agencies – have sent representatives to HCA's "train-the-trainer" sessions in Kahua Waiwai. Beginning in April—officially Financial Literacy Month, HCA is taking Kahua Waiwai to all island-counties, along with homebuyer education for adults. The program expansion has been funded in part by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. For a complete class schedule, call HCA at (808) 587-7886.

The program teaches the practical lessons of money management. Slide courtesy Kahua Waiwai

"The program is unique because it offers a community solution to financial education, and not just another textbook set of lessons," said HCA director Michelle Kauhane, adding that the program is open to teens from all low and moderate income families, but focuses on Native Hawaiians by using elements of Kanaka Maoli tradition to explain money matters. This interweaving of culture and capitalism has caught the attention media attention of national Native American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups. "I think this shows that you can no longer separate the struggle for native identity from the systemic poverty widespread in indigenous communities," said Gilbreath, noting that teen literacy programs are routinely distributed by financial institutions, but are too generic for the local audience.

"The parents who inspired Kahua Waiwai told us they wanted something that understood the experts with solutions to our economic problems are right here in our own communities and households," he said.

Glibreath said the spike of interest in helping teens manage money is also a significant departure from the past. "For too long money has been a taboo topic at the family dinner table," he noted, adding that fallout from the current economic crisis has changed this. "The connection between financial hardship and family preservation is huge. We're taking about an increase in divorce and at-risk behaviors stemming from Hawai'i's rising rates of foreclosure and job loss. The teens feel the stress, even if they don't trace it directly to family financial struggle," he said. "But they want to be engaged and know what's going on. It's just so intimidating to know where to begin."

To make sure that Kahua Waiwai would meet local needs, HCA spent five months holding focus groups on financial literacy, inviting input from community leaders, teachers, parents and adolescents. When a first draft of the Kahua Waiwai curriculum was ready, HCA tested it on Wai'anae High School students, whose feedback led to some re-tooling. "I was there talking about budgeting, and the question came up: Why this, when we don't know how to get the money in the first place? So we knew we had to step back and start with job information," Gilbreath said. Thus Kahua Waiwai's first lesson instructs teens how to get a work permit, fill out a W-4, and understand deductions on a pay stub.

Many Hawaiian principles can serve to strengthen our local economy, as shown in this slide. Slide courtesy Kahua Waiwai

Along with seeking information, many youths used the HCA-led focus groups to reveal their vulnerability to misinformation on finances. Many brought up the daily bombardment of music, movies and other pop media messages glorifying the clothes, cars and easy money linked to selling drugs, said Gilbreath. "There's an identity issue here. Native culture puts collective action over personal gain and promotes conservation over consumption, but pop culture has pushed this out of sight. So (Kahua Waiwai) brings it back to light. We emphasize that Native Hawaiians had some of the best solutions to resource preservation in order to thrive in the most isolated land mass in the world and support a healthy population, and this was long before foreigners introduced market economy."

The addition of native values to Kahua Waiwai is the program's core strength, said HCA's Kauhane. "The very fact that the teen curriculum originated with a push from parents demonstrates the Native Hawaiian reliance on 'ohana for making positive change." Kauhane says the collective vision that went into the making of Kahua Waiwai shaped lessons that emphasize the shared kuleana of sound financial planning. For example, one lesson involves a "spending tracker worksheet" that a family fills out together to identify ways to save money.

This lesson is laid out in the new comprehensive Kahua Waiwai workbook. HCA and consulting agencies wrote the text but then turned it over to seven enterprising teenagers from several O'ahu High Schools, who contributed layout plus ideas for localizing the text with Hawaiian cultural references. "They made it much cooler than the adults ever could," Gilbreath chuckled. As "Exhibit A", he offers the workbook chapter on "Financial Emergencies", filled with colorful graphics on the Native Hawaiian tradition of salting and storing fish in anticipation of hard times ahead. "The (teen designers) got across the idea that when a money crisis strikes, it's not permanent. If you have the skills, you can make changes," said Gilbreath.