Monks and Mormons #MahalaHi13

*None of these photos have been enhanced in  anyway. What you see is what I saw.*

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home." - James Michener


My friend Steph from Boston has nicknamed me Dora. As in Dora The Explorer. So she will not be shocked to hear that in one day, I managed to visit a multi-faith cemetery, a beautiful non-denomination Buddhist Temple and a multi-cultural Mormon University. None of these things were on the itinerary for the day. 

Leaving the city. 

I don't let driving stop me from taking a good picture. 

Valley of Temples Memorial Park.

What a beautiful place to lay your loved one to rest.

While there, we stumbled upon the Byodo Temple . 

.

So proud of my mom for being open to a new experience.

 @Rowsbelle ringing the Sacred Bell.

During our visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center,  we hopped on the trolley. We thought we were going on a tour of the center.  We ended up at...

 Brigham Young University -Hawai'i campus. 

"Enter to Learn, Go Forth To Serve."

The visitors center for the 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Leave it to my mom to start asking questions about black members, teen pregnancy and same sex marriage. The poor missionary was NOT ready for that southern baptist pop quiz. 

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment!
Mer♥

$5.75 Million Settlement Awarded To Deaf & Blind Students

VIDEO: $5.75 Million Settlement Awarded to Deaf and Blind Students Sexually Assaulted by Gang at Hawaii Public School.



HONOLULU - A young girl is forced to perform oral sex on an older boy while he films her with his cell phone camera and students at their school look on, another young girl becomes pregnant after she is raped by a male student at her school, a young boy is sodomized in the bathroom by an older student, but school administrators don’t penalized the perpetrator, another child is sexually assaulted by five boys on campus, and nothing is done to stop them or punish them after the fact.



These are not scenarios from an NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode, they are actual events that parents say took place at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind, the state’s only public school for children with these disabilities.

For more than a decade, some of the school’s administrators and students covered up a terrible secret young children between 12 and 16 years old were being terrorized - robbed, raped, sodomized and even gang raped on campus and on the school buses – not by employees, but by other children. There are just 80 children enrolled in the school, which is located on the edge of Waikiki, Hawaii’s main tourism hub, and just across the street from the Honolulu Zoo.



One student heading a gang calling themselves the “Ringleaders” orchestrated the attacks, and students were ordered to participate as attackers or retaliated against.



Michael Green is one of five attorneys who successfully secured a $5,750,000 settlement last week from the state and a school counselor. ... Read more: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/5-75-million-settlement-awarded-to-deaf-and-blind-students-sexually-assaulted-by-gang-at-hawaii-public-school/123



Related Post:

Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Involving Deaf & Blind Students

Arrests Made In Alleged Sex Assaults At Hawaii's School For The Deaf and Blind

Deaf Hawaiian Community Rally In Honolulu

VIDEO [ASL] - The Deaf hawaiian community shouts 'We Need Deaf Services!'



HONOLULU - Rally at the Hawaii State Capitol in downtown Honolulu on Oahu island in Hawaii, Feb 8, 2013.

The Deaf and the Hard of Hearing in Hawaii are trying to stop cuts to living assistance and an interpreter referral service.

International Sign Deaf Community RALLY Hawaii.

Hawaii Deaf Services Informations.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center, Inc. (DHHSC): http://www.dhhsc.org/

Deaf Services: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/125306534/DEAF-SERVICES

Hawaii Interpreting Services (HIS): http://interpretinghawaii.com/

Special programs - Division of Vocational Rehabilitation: http://hawaiivr.org/services/special.php

World Deaf Surfing Championships At Hawaii 2013

VIDEO [ASL] - World Deaf Surfing Championships at Oahu, Hawaii 2013.



The Deaf only contest held at the Queens break which is typically a 1 to 4 foot high mushy right popular with longboarders.



Deaf competitors will be flying in from places like Israel, Brazil, Basque, Ireland, England, Uruguay with over three-fourths of the total competitors coming from the United States, Australia and Japan.

Competitors will be competing in open and age group shortboarding, longboarding and bodyboarding. There is even speculation that tandem and SUP events may be thrown in under a "free-expression" category at the last minute if there is enough interest.



The event is being coordinated by the Hawaii Deaf Surfriders Association with support from the United States Deaf Surfriders association. ... Read more: http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/_90876/



Check it out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Deaf-Surfriders-Association/121033813883.



Visit: http://www.deafsurf.org for more information.

Sex Assaults Lawsuit Involving Deaf & Blind Students

VIDEO: Settlement reached in lawsuit involving Deaf and Blind students in the capital of Hawaii.



HONOLULU - A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached in a sex assault lawsuit involving Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind. It's been a year and a half since the State was sued by a group of students at the school. The students alleged they had been sexually abused by other students.



Friday, the attorney representing the group announced that a multi-million dollar settlement has been reached. A spotlight was cast on the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind in the Kapahulu area in 2011, after police started investigating allegations of widespread sex abuse between classmates.



In August 2011, Honolulu attorney Michael Green filed a lawsuit against the state, on behalf of 50 to 60 students.

"What we found out was, and I never thought about this, that we had children who were the aggressors, we're talking about sodomizing boys, boys on boys, boys on girls, girls on girls, in the bathroom, on school buses, in the bushes, that because no one seemed to care it seemed like it was okay. So people who were victims became aggressors. And you know that part that maybe affected me the most aside from the fact it's happening to young people, and people that have disabilities is that if you cry out who can hear you? If you have blind students who can see it?" said Green.



The State has now agreed to pay $5M to settle the lawsuit - money that'll go to the victims, and to pay for counseling and treatment... Read more: http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Settlement-reached-in-lawsuit-involving-deaf-and/qEdZ6YT6_EuWYDo6tVhRPg.cspx