THE SUSTAINABLE OHANA (UPDATE SEPTEMBER)

HOW THE NEIGHBORHOOD TEAM WORKS DURING AN EMERGENCY

Whenever you talk to people who have lived here for a long time and have seen some tough times, one of the topics that comes up is what did you do specifically when the ships stopped coming, or there was a drought or ….?

In most every case the list of things to do won’t be the first answer. The first answer will be the … Ohana. And one of the reasons why the list won’t be so specific is because the situation has always been a little bit different or in that case the first answer is usually …it depends!

What follows is a short scenario of what one neighborhood did to make the Ohana situation work for them. It begins with a response they made to a somewhat violent Pacific storm and then progresses through the times when the water and the power remained down and the food ran low in the stores.

FIRST ACTIONS

The story begins …..

FIRE SAFETY

One morning without much warning a small but violent hurricane hit a district neighborhood not far from here. The people there were somewhat exposed to readiness training so even while the storm was really active they immediately responded by seeing that fire hazards were eliminated in their homes by turning off the gas and electricity and checking to see no one was injured. One even pulled the toaster plug out. There was no lightning so they tried the phone. It was dead.

FRESH WATER

One elder who had had some experience with the normal result of no power creating no water (aaargh) filled the bathtub and some five gallon buckets with fresh water. She knew that one tub would give the family a weeks worth of drinking and dish washing water. She also placed the clean garbage cans under the gutter spouts and made sure the baby pools were out next to the gardens so the rain that was coming down intermittently could be used later on. She also found the small but handy water pump device with a charcoal filter so it didn't really matter if some of the make shift catchment sources were not super pure.

You never know early on how long the power and water might be down. And sure enough two large telephone and electrical poles had come down nearby and the power was soon off all over the island. No one knew how long that might last. The family with a water tank that fit for the back of their pick-up said they would get it mounted and fill it up at the ditch.

THE MEETING PLACE

There was a really violent evening with winds near a hundred miles an hour. Once everyone was found to be without injury at home three members of the family went to the nearby banyan tree where they had agreed to meet the other neighbors during such times. Sure enough, most of the neighbors had someone present. The homes that were not present, were then quickly visited by two people who knew the procedures for removing hazards and doing basic first aid. They were CERT trained. Among them they had two fairly serious first aid kits.

COMMUNICATION

The phones were down so that first aid group also took with them a walkie talky unit while the others tuned into the short wave radio that they all had purchased some time ago. One was a trained ham operator so they discovered more details about the storm and where the emergency evacuation locations were to be set up.

TRANSPORTATION

It was just nasty enough so there could be some houses down and a real need for civil defense help and in Kohala for the Barefoot Doctors team to set up. One member of the Ohana had agreed to work with the local emergency reaction center on a part time basis. Another took off in his truck with gas cans to get enough fuel for the moped they would now need to use for all their normals runs to town. It got 97 miles to the gallon! The bicycles were checked along with the camping packs to make other less important runs. Good someone had a compressor and tire pump

HUNTING, FISHING, AND FORAGING

The Ohana reviewed their emergency food checklist. Most all of them had the three months of food rations stored as per part of their plan. As usual some hadn’t sealed their rice well enough and the little buggers had been inside feasting. But they had always imagined they would supplement their grains with fresh catch and local pig, turkey, and smaller birds. So, the two hunters checked their ammunition stash. One had a small pen full of pigs and knew where to get more. The fishermen also checked their gear and they all talked about recent sightings of game and fish. Yes there was some leftovers that would be good for bait.

The younger folk said they would go off and check their food foraging sites in the gulch nearby for fresh fruit that could be dried for later on. They shared that gulch with another Ohana so they would leave some extra at the exchange point. They would also leave a note indicating what excess they had and what things they still needed. Seems as if they were short a good hoe. Tools must be kept in good condition.

POWER

Lucky we all live in a tropical climate … hate to think of trying to do this in a winter time situation. But this Ohana had kept their firewood handy and not just hauled all the green waste to the transfer station. The candle box with matches was found as well as the fire-starter logs and the lamp oil to get the soggy wood going. The chain saw was stored net to a five gallon can of gasoline so more firewood could easily be gotten. The last time they had fallen some trees they left some to dry for just such a time. Most people forget to plant a little timber and firewood stand.

Some had small propane stoves and the they would hook the other propane tanks to that. Hot showers would just have to come from watering hoses left in the sun or those steel water troughs that had a sheet of metal painted black
Rested on top during the day. One family had a wood fired furo and offered the occasional treat in the tub.

FOOD RESOURCES

All reviewed together their collective food situation. It turned out that two of the families had lots of bananas and avocados going off. They also located some cooking gear at the Banyan and spoke about breaking out their solar oven rigs and food dryers. The firewood situation was reviewed and some of the men went off to get some more while others rebuilt the fireplace and got some fresh grills. Most off them had enough picnic gear to make the banyan site a great place to have at least one feed a day. This way all the fresh food would not be wasted especially the fresh catch or game just brought in. Happily one of the men just loved to clean the fish and meat. Also one of the women could turn bananas into bread

One person had access to an estate where the mac nuts had been allowed to gather for a season unpicked. Another had a nut cracker. Then there was an oil press that could do coconuts or mac nuts that produced great cooking oil. Also just happened that there was one young man who could skinny up any of the coconut trees no matter how tall and get some fresh water and a variety of kinds of meat. They were all gratefull that they had invested in very heavy greens that could be reharvested often and especially the pumpkins and squash that need so little tending once started. This was normally a dry time of year so they took time to cut some longer grass and mulch all their gardens to keep the moisture in. They had K-mart baby pools next to most of their gardens for convenient watering with just a can and many gardens had been raised so the soil could be amended to give the crops the necessary kick to really produce. The old cane soil was just not what it used to be … and without the addition of a variety of minerals and manure they would not be worth much on the second planting.

They began foraging around their lands and discovered the small but tasty sugar cane left over for sweetener. Some had done survival crops like tapioca and Okinawan spinach. It surprised them just how many things they all could find once they began the exchange chatter. The most important ideas came when they all brought their seeds out and checked to see if they were still potent and then traded the ones off that were extra. At these meetings the people who mostly had office jobs and no gardens were happy to help with watering and planting on the larger plots that were already fertile. They all vowed to plant more bananas, more avocados, and definitely more breadfruit for the future. One family had a closed in green house so there was a sign-up list to tend the tomatoes and sting-able fruits every several days.

TOOLS

As things began to return to normal the people who had the most building experience shared time and tools to help repair the homes in the Ohana. People who recognized that they had not contributed much to the resources during this emergency did all the heavy lifting and clean up while the others worked away. The tools included a large mulcher, a tractor with certain attachments, and a range of pick-up trucks for all sorts of duties. The one with the best gas mileage got the bulk of the missions. There was a tip jar for gas money. One man had a tool sharpener and on certain days he would refurbish the blades on all the edges of cutting and digging tools.

COMMUNITY

It goes without saying that over the days and nights of collaboration with many moments by the fire …the guitars and drums came out of the closet and the ohana became real family. There was an instant network that appeared and all the many resources that needed swapping got swapped. There would come time when they would all be glad for the storm that brought them together and never completely be able to explain to others what it really meant.

It was tribal and nomadic. It touched something deep. It was ancient and natural. It was what the locals meant when they said …”First you need Ohana!”