This website is based on a short book of mine that is being prepared for publication, called S.O.S Hawai’i. Here is the introduction from the book:
S.O.S. Hawai'i is a tragic name for this short story. It could also be called S.O.S Earth because what is happening in Hawai’i is happening all over our planet. S.O.S. is a signal of distress in International Morse Code; in this story it also stands for Story of Sorrow. This story is about preventable pollution that has been accumulating in our beautiful islands for over seventy- five years (1941 – 2016). The reasons for this sorrow is two-fold: First from the Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiians), that I have talked to, consider the 'aina (land) as a living entity, that belongs to the Gods, and should be treated with the respect and aloha (love), as you would give a child or other beloved family member. Regretfully their ability to malama ka 'aina (care for the land) has been illegally stolen from them, and should rightfully be returned to their loving hands. The second reason for sorrow comes from me for the hundreds of other Hawaiian residents of every ethnicity that I have met, and who have worked tirelessly for decades to try and stop this pollution. I joined this environmental justice activist movement over ten years ago but despite our efforts, little has changed. The pollution and contamination of the Hawaiian Islands continues daily. The industry contaminating our islands is the United States Military. Through military live-fire training, the U.S. is contaminating Hawai’i with depleted uranium (DU) and other toxic materials like the heavy metal of Lead and explosives like Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX). These elements are cumulative and all have illness producing effects in our communities living downhill and downwind. The military has stated that communities are not nearby Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on Hawai’i Island; but on an island there is nothing that happens on the top of a mountain that doesn’t have the capability to travel downhill or downwind. And what about O’ahu and the toxic live-fire range there? O’ahu is where most of Hawai’i’s population resides." We hope you will learn from this website and be moved to get involved and help us care for and protect this still beautiful place! --Lindafaye Kroll |