your neighbor and your neighborhood as a whole is peaceful and we are going to have a peaceful moment during this particular season. Remember 28 days to the general election, what are you doing so far? What kind of conversations are you having? What about incitements? What about riots? How can we stop this and ask youth to be peace ambassadors? Today let's talk about this particular conversation and of course to help me in this discussion to my far right. I am with Mr. Samwal Karuita. He is a director at the Peace Ambassadors Integration Organization, Kenya. He is also a peace activist, youth mobilizer and social innovator. Karupasana, Mr. Samwal? Thank you so much, Lam. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for coming. Asana, Asana. And next to me, I am with Wanjiko Figa. She is a development communications specialist, a women's and youth rights crusader and a pan-Africanist, Karupasana Wanjiko. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. And of course remember we are coming to you live from the broadcasting house here in Nairobi, Kenya also streaming live through our website. That's www.kebc.co.kefor slash y254 so that you can be able to watch us on the go from wherever you are. We value your feedback. The hashtag as always is why in the morning tag me at Ram Aguko and at Y254 channel. And of course head over to our Facebook page and Twitter. Follow, like and subscribe where possible. And of course ask your questions as you continue with this morning conversation. It's all about matters concerning peace right here on this conversation on why in the morning. And of course let me start with you Mr. Samwal. What is Pambio all about? The peace ambassador's integration organization. What is all about before we get into the nitty gritties? Okay. Thank you so much Aran for that question. Peace ambassador's integration organization first of all is a civil society organization. It's a registered non-government organization here in Kenya. And this organization basically is a peace building and youth empowerment organization that was started back in the year 2012. And the interesting thing about peace ambassador's Kenya is that it started as an initiative of young people in institutions of higher learning in collaboration with the Kenya administration police service. So in a way it works as a national community policing initiative. So young people are the ones who came up with the idea in the branch? Yeah, the branch of this organization. How did you get the police service into it all? Now that's an interesting question. It is. How did you get that? It's interesting. What happened in 2010 after the promagation of the new constitution? One of the responsibilities that went into the national police service was about community policing. So as young people we also saw that it's an opportunity also for us there to get involved actively in community policing. Because when we talk about peace mostly we have to talk about things to do with crime and all that and young people are integral into that conversation. So we feel that as young people there is an opportunity for us to do some impact, to have some impact there. So in a way some of the founders for this organization, one was an active police officer Mr. Francis Koori. And who came together we know young people from institutions of higher learning and that is how that kind of marriage started. In our ten years after we started the organization we were growing strong. I've had so many thousands and thousands of young people because specifically what we do is that we establish and coordinate peace grabs institutions of higher learning. We are in about 14 universities in this country just trying to give young people an opportunity to use their ideas, their skills and their talent in two things. To grow themself in terms of getting the skills but also to give them a space in which they can give back to the community to grow up. Not with a whatever of an attitude of entitlement but also responsibility. Interesting. I love the part because there is this silence emotion between the youth and the police. It's there but so silent. I'm really interested in finding out. Let me come to you and Jiko. What do you think is the role of the youth? How can the youth play part especially when it comes to being peace ambassadors in the country especially during this election period? Thank you Ram for that question. Being a joint peace ambassador when I was in campus it helped me. Peace ambassador what it does it enhances structures for peace building. So as a young person you learn how to importance of social cohesion and as young people first of all you be the change. If you want to see the change be part of the change. Let the change start from you. So come on up in the money. So in terms of any time of conflict your first reaction is not to fight or to speak angry words. It's to first really understand the situation and see how to solve it. Especially during this electioneering period we have the campaign Bilanoma. Especially as myself I'm campaigning on ground. My first thing and you see I actually really appeal to the youth bloc. So and you know right now young people have really felt really excluded from you know politics and you know just growth and development of the country. So if they feel like it's them we don't want to see older people it's just now it's fighting for your space. And I tell them we have to really look responsible. You have to show we want to be part of the change but in a different kind of way. It's how you act how you respond to situations. So you have to be part of the change. And there exist social structures that promote peace today in our community. Do we have those structures? Yeah we have structures and I would say in this one I think one of the strongholds that we have as a country. And this is especially the space in which we are of the civil society organizations. I think they have in a way organizations like Pisa Basada as Kenya and so many other youth led organizations out there. I think they've created that space for young people to be involved, to become responsible citizens. And you know even when we talk about creating that space also for young people to get involved in politics. We can look at it in two ways. One, this an opportunity of course for young people to be involved in elective politics. To learn for office, to become, to offer themselves for readers. But I think we also have a very big space is that young people can also get involved in democratic participation. I love the fact that this year we have so many young people who are coming up to buy for elective positions. That's one thing that from all the elections that I've seen. This is my own personal best. And I love the fact that you're right. For coming up we need to take our positions. We have to give them that space for them to know that because they have something to offer. And I like you saying giving this an analogy of whereby maybe you book a hotel and you want to order food. You can decide to go to the restaurant, you can order it from the loom service. For so many long time we've had this question whereby young people, the way we behave because I was also a young person. It's like we like ordering food from loom service. And we are saying that we are complaining that we are not being involved. So I think for us and that's why we are saying that there's nothing for us without us as young people. So instead of us ordering food from the loom service and complaining that it doesn't have salt. We need to go to this. Let's either become the cooks or number two, we need to go near to the kitchen. And we can only do that by getting to elective politics but also being involved in the political participation. Otherwise we continue complaining that this food does not have salt. I think we're even looking at political participation of young people in parties. It has been very youthful. I agree with you that this time round it has been very youthful. And even with our participation it has been peaceful. We haven't done such things but we've been very vocal in putting our... Except in some areas. Yes, yes, in some very minor incidents. But we've been very vocal on showing how we as young people can contribute meaningfully to our communities, to our society and especially now in this democratic space. I love what you said that instead of ordering food and then complaining that you know what, there's no salt in this food. Go to the kitchen. But you've got to be employed to go there. You must find a way to get to that kitchen so you can go to cook. That means putting an initiative to apply and to buy and to get it for you to be part of the whole process. And you're vying for a seat? Yes, yes, yes. I'm running for the member of Conta Assembly City in Jujya constituency award called TETA. And... We're going to Kiambu County. What's your name? What's your name? Hello, good morning TETA residents. This is Sarah Anjiko Degara. And my name is Omba Kura. I'm an MCA teacher. Yes. I'm Kuitunyombani. People talk in the language? The dialect? Yes, the dialect is Kikuyu. We're going to Kikuyu. Let me give a chance. Talk to them in Kikuyu. Oh, thank you so much. And of course we are in the Basada office there. Yes, yes, yes. We're going to Kikuyu and Potaya. Yes. Ikosawa. Let's try. Yes. I'll try to hear it. Okay. So, here I am. I'm Demote Tij, Takao Sarah Adjiko Degara, and my name is MCA, Kuitunusie. I'm a teacher at MCA. With the teacher, I teach at the same school, Dureka Midji, in Ngawua, and I teach at the same college. And also I'm working in Udue Beltedleri. I'm at the same school as you, and then I'm an experienced teacher. wa wero wero mce na monoma keria ne tohia da peace hii da re re atu ta pigana mii na vijana wei tu atu ta pigana tu na takaku pijenga kuwe tu data tu bom tu pati e opportunity asha no gai what does yes mean? negwo kwa pijenga eni wa na ja sani pijenga kwa na hpisa basila na na hpisa wa wajiko na kwa ja, na kwa kwa wajiko kwa nika oni na hpisa basila na na hpisa basila na hpisa basila ngezawe mati laik Formastatria iwaLAmwa maaeningve joints'ou. Toku Apawazim tania wa T Aboutanya je. Iwa So, I think we need to be given young people opportunity to also, because we say sometimes that where innovation is synonymous with youth, also it's important for us also to have that capacity and experience and we can young people get the experience. They can get it if they become involved citizens. Now, let me still pick it up from there. But now let me expand you in a bit. How can you now build capacity for peace interactions at the community level also? So that we, yes, we talk about the individuals, but now at the community level where we are talking about a particular area in the country, even as you connect it with your point. Okay, so I think I will give an example of something like we are doing within organizations. So one, two things. One, we need to also start giving spaces because one of the things that young people lack is the space to have a conversation and to drive the narrative. So I feel that we need to get more spaces like this so young people can interrogate issues, ask questions, hold power without fear or intimidation. Another one also we need to start involving them in some of those activities. I will give you an example. One of the things that we've done, all the major activities that we've done this year in the leading elections, we organized a peace work for a whole man. That was the whole of last month. We had young people, almost 1,000 young people, walking all the way from Kakamega to Nairobi for 21 days, transversing all those counties and holding public forums in all the counties that they went, walking by foot. No vehicles. Samuel, no vehicles. No vehicles. Six hundred kilometers. Six hundred kilometers. And you know what happens. Ah, you deserve a starting conversion. What happens when you get involved in that one also, you also change as a person because you get a different dynamic. You're able to see the challenges are there, you get a kind of exposure and the confidence you're talking about also, you'll be the confidence to do that one. So we need more of such programs out there. I'm good thing with Pesambasadasu Kenya as we integrate with the police fraternity and it has really good connections because it goes all down to grass roots. So this means that sometimes you're able to be involved in alternative dispute resolutions that go on through on the ground. So if there's any conflict that's going on, you're able to even just engage a local chief and say I'd like to sit in and just watch how conflict resolution is done and you really get first hand experience from it and it's very easy because you're able just to get a letter from Pesambasadasu Kenya and they're able just to give you a nice reference and because even your chief knows you, it's just a formality just to be able to engage you in that process. Alright. So as a community we need to just come together, have talks, interact, interrogate, question without getting violent and feeling personal. How can we reduce? Because I'm looking at what happened at Jakaranda. That's just one example. There's so many other counties or wards that you've seen riots and chaos. Some have not been highlighted by media. And truth be said, we need to talk about this. How can we reduce such kinds of incidences? What do we need to do? For me, as myself, what I've been talking to young people is telling them that we cannot continue being used as tools for violence because if you look at such situations you find most times it's young people who are on the battleground. Awaishimiawako, away from it, you find it's structures from government that mediate peace and young people on the ground.   We have to be much more than we give towards. And the reason why we are not even you find that people sometimes do not give us leadership opportunities because of how we act. Wana jwa tuni kazi eni nukirushama wa ni eni nikirushama wa sisi tukifanya kazi. So we have, it's about changing mentality. We know behavioral change takes time but here we are doing the actual job. But at the end of the day, behavioral change can be achieved. It can be achieved. It can be achieved. Go it takes time and lots of psychological manipulation but it is achievable. It is achievable. Just to add on that one, I think what she's talking about is in the short term, some of those things that we need to do later on now. But also I also think that also strategically we also need to think because I believe that there is a very huge nexus connection between peace and livelihoods. Because again we need to ask ourselves why you say that these young people are being manipulated. What makes them very vulnerable. So at the end of the day you find that there's a very huge gap when you talk about youth unemployment and livelihoods. Such that when I'm idle as a young person and maybe I'll even have the excuse to apply myself but I don't get these opportunities. I'm trying to have my own hustle but there's so much bureaucracy the bottlenecks cannot allow me to drive as a young person. So what you find, and this is why I always say that one of the hardest things for a young person to do in Africa and in Kenya is to become an adult. Because there is so much that you struggle a lot. Even though it comes naturally. Employment, even to get into leadership position. I think it's a high time that we allow young people to mature fast by giving them those opportunities. So that's why at the end of the day we have to also look at our economics and some are asking yes we are re-looking the economy you are saying you give them the opportunities where are they? They are asking where are these opportunities where are these jobs? So that's a question. I will give you an example where the jobs are. If you had a neighboring environment young people are very innovative. If you take an example you do are just as simple as among your own threads. You find that out of your ten threads five are trying to say you something. They have a side hustle. They have ideas. You don't even need a shop to run a shop. On IG people are running businesses and all that. So that tells you that young people they have the ideas. They already have this idea. So whatever they are lacking is just that opportunity. And you say that success happens when opportunity meets with what preparedness. So they are prepared they are only lacking that kind of opportunity. So we need to give them that kind of opportunity. I think access to small weaponry is another hindrance to peaceful existence right now among young people. And again like Sami is saying we need to look at give it a long term resolution because you know you never see we are always keen to talk about nuclear weapon, atomic bomb but we don't talk about small weaponry. We won't talk about the wars that are happening outside the country. And we are forgetting the small wars that war is war. There is no big war. Let me rub that. We are forgetting that we also need to fight our own battles here. I love that. And the solution is can we find the solution within ourselves? I think we can find the solution in two ways. One, first of all I want to believe that peace is also very personal. And one of the biggest challenges that young people are facing right now is to do with mental health and all that. So I think there is a conversation that we need to start having about young people and mental health and that's one of the ideas that we work on a program on health whereby we are giving young people the skills the social emotional skills to be able to handle themself to have that kind of emotional maturity but also to also see how they can be able to handle their personal conflict internal conflict individually. So that I ask myself before I go there and have peace and become a peace advocate am I peaceful myself? Within me. And I need capacity for me to have that kind of awareness. So I think that one is an opportunity for doing that one also. But also I can also say that peace is a very blood kind of thing. And I will give an example where I also see that there are a lot of opportunities when you talk about the SDGs that young people and if you look at all the SDGs at the end of the day they are trying to promote that peace. And for those who don't know what SDGs are we are talking about sustainable development goals. Like again you are saying nothing for us without us. So young people we have a great opportunity there to offer leadership in trying to drive that agenda for what's achieving the sustainable development goals in education in decent jobs in climate change. Those are places that we can apply ourselves and if you are able to do that one at the end of the day we are contributing to that peace. Now still on you Mr. Samuel and then I'll come to you but in a different perspective what is the role of government and leaders when it comes to promoting peace. How can they also play a role because at the end of the day they are the ones who youth look up to. So I think when it comes to the government two things that I can say that comes into my mind. One is that first and foremost the government itself they have to they have the responsibility to ensure that there is low and order within the country which I think that the government tries to do that when the security agencies and all that. So I think that space they also have done well. But on the other side also I think also in the long term the government also needs to create opportunity at the end of the day for us to be able to have to be at peace. In this country I think one of the greatest things that we've done is people don't fight because they hate each other. They fight because they are fighting over resources and all that. So if you had more opportunities you have an opportunity also there's no need for us today. If I would get a penny for every time I've had that resource. You don't see me here. We just need to create that opportunity for resources for the people but also they also have to be part and parcel of also this dialogue that we have because at the end of the day the people who cause the chaos and mayhem they are the politicians but also as young people we need to also be wise we can all continue being used as voting machines that they need us only during the election that one they forget us. That is the perspective of our political leaders when they need somebody and of course not all, when some they come to you but when they get their votes they disappear. Just like some of our relationships let me come to you and of course you can also chip in on that particular issue but the role of the church and not just the church as a whole religious entities and organizations whether Christian or not. Yeah and also just to chip in on what Sami has said there exist structures from the government that promote peace but you find that most of the individuals involved in this process are mostly older generation but if we look at Kenya today 74% of Kenyans are young people they have to see a face that they can relate with they have to hear somebody speaking their language so that they can relate with because it's somebody from their generation that can inspire them with their charisma and move them to honestly understanding why peace is very important and why doing things different will take them further so they exist that institution but can it be more youthful so that it can be I think if it's more youthful we can deliver higher results but at the end of the day even our leaders need to also know that they also play a critical role once they get into that elective position they need to be peace ambassadors yes because whatever you say whatever you post on social media actually because today the biggest communication vehicle is social media understand that somewhere that trigger yes always uphold peace wherever you are on social connection religious entities play a big role you remember during the 1890s in the church I think across the world the church would say who's the next leader today it's not the church saying who's going to be the next leader with time power has really deteriorated because there are often ways of infiltrating within the church and controlling what the church is going to say I think them owning their voice and taking back their power is very important and not being manipulated by politicians and their money it's so important to really stand your voice stand your ground I see you can see the religious institutions they have bodies that are trained to really push the manifesto of peace but sadly you see this person and you know who he is aligned to so you feel like this is a message that is being pushed by a different person from behind so I wish if they can remain a standalone body so that whatever they are going to push for it's going to even hold hold power and strength and may they continue preaching peace because Kenya is a very fearful nation a lot of people go to church and a lot of people listen and obey and trust their leaders and you can be sure that whatever they say or whatever messages they pass through it's going to be upheld I can add on that when I say there's something that we call the golden rule that says in almost all the religions there's one thing that they agree one golden rule is that you know you love yourself that one is cursed across all that and I think also one of the major rules that the church and religious institution not just the church even the mosque and the temple spray is about changing the narrative in terms of speaking to the people and speaking to the when religion speaks it speaks to the heart so if you want to change the minds of the people to become more peaceful so continuously we need to be speaking about the religious institution needs to be speaking about the need for people to be peaceful and to love other people as they love themselves that one I think is a space that they need to do but also in that aspect of also character education because I feel that religious institutions they have a power and they have a voice that they can neutralize it so they don't need to share away again because they need to speak to some of those issues because they also have a follow they have a follow oh a large follow very large follow thousands even millions because religious entities play a role they need to speak out when it comes to shining some of these things they need to shine them I love what you are saying now but 10 years down the line let's come back to you 10 years down the line what are some of those milestones and those memorable moments you had during this journey of being a peace ambassador there are so many of them but I just I think as an organization one of the things that we pride ourselves is being able to create structures for peace because in one of the biggest challenges structures for peace and for us to have sustainable peace we need to have structures so in terms of structures what we've done we've been able to set up and coordinate peace clubs now in over about 8 universities and colleges in this country you focus on universities yes and colleges because we feel that that's a space that is going to make the future leaders we feel that we need to give those people a platform again I said they can bring the ideas to become part and parcel of solution makers providing solutions in the society so I like that one that we've been able to create those peace structures out there I also feel that in the way of nurturing leaders in a way that if you fight today if you fight a young person who has gone through our organization they are different people in the way they think and also the way do they able to offer themselves out there and also we have so many unique programs like we have a mentorship program that we've done called the Mentor and Mentit Project I wouldn't want to highlight that one so what we do in this program is that we are the five schools especially in marginalized communities and we take these young people from colleges to go there and become mentors to their younger brothers and sisters memorable moments since joining Pambio what campus yes in 2013 and peace ambassadors can you give me an opportunity in leadership because I was doing public relations for the organization for one year I served public relations the other one I served as treasurer even offers you the platform of going through elections because this process is through it's elective so you learn how to also even just do your own campaign and also one of my memorable moments again was during the Naivasha Walk Naivasha Tunakuru and we were preaching peace all along this is another one no this is another one and we are also looking at our environment because peace ambassadors peace ambassadors Kenya has an environmental sustainability program and we were campaigning avoiding littering on the highways so we were working as preaching peace and also you know tunasafisha highways it was well no people throw things from the window yes who people love littering I mean I really hate that behavior you finish your soda and you're throwing it out the window from the vehicle you're traveling when I use public service if I see you littering I mean I don't know No I don't know I don't know but I don't know I don't know I don't know yes I know I don't know I don't know but being a peace ambassador it doesn't come without challenges just briefly what are some of those challenges you faced during this journey ok in the initial time 1 is, of course, people don't understand, sometimes you go and talk to people because people appreciate peace when there's no peace. Okay, when it's peaceful and you go and talk to people, peace is what they will tell you, what are you telling them? So those comments, when we are working and you are telling people, love your neighbor they will tell you, I love my neighbor, I'm not hurting them. So sometimes you face that challenge, people don't really understand peace and what it means. So, the public, the attitude that people have in general, and then they are done of course, you know, as a youth-led and youth-focussed organization, also resources, you also need resources, you know, into this. I also think that government should also be setting resources to support organizations that are working on the peace, you know, space. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree with him honestly, you know, when you're doing the campaigns and you're talking about peace, you know, this is a job as well, preaching peace. Yeah. You know, people think it's not a... I think you are idle. Yes. And it's so important to preach peace. Like, if there's no peace, look at two, seven, two, eight, post-election violence, it really displaced people.  We don't need to go back there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two or seven, that was not good. Yeah, and I just continue praying and asking Kenyans, please, let's not go back to where we were in two, seven, two, eight. I think we have had enough disaster, COVID was enough for us. Yeah, COVID was enough. My goodness. We don't need another traumatic event for us. I love it. And as I said, you never know the value of what you've got until you lose it. Yes, you never know the value of what until the word runs dry. We have a peace work coming in. Tell me about that. There's another one and I don't know if I can join in this one. We like to say that we like baptizing people with fire.  So, we will make you work, but not just working, you know, aimlessly, we will make you work so that we can give you an opportunity to network with other young people when you are doing this work. Imagine a thousand or five hundred young people working, you know, and they have this ago. So, one, you get an opportunity to network because networks are very valuable. Number two, you also get an opportunity to get exposure. Kenya is a beautiful country also, to appreciate it, but also an opportunity to interact with government agencies when you work maybe with a county commissioner, a police officer. So, you also understand that especially for police officers, you understand that also police officers are also humans because they are fathers, they are brothers. So, you are working with them? Ya, you are working with them. So, it radius your mentality also. So, when is it coming up? The peace work? The peace work, we normally do one peace work annually. So, we've already done that one for this year, but there are so many other programs that we have within the organization. For this year? For this year, one of the other programs that we have, a very unique program, this thing we call the youth exchange program. So, once every year we take young people from Kenya to one of the East African countries, we've been right now in almost all East African countries, and they go there for one week to go and have a kind of exchange with other young people from a different country because also we also want to, young people who are also global citizens, they need to see that. Build Kenya, opportunities are not just here in Kenya, they are also in Uganda, in Tanzania. They can also go to Uganda and decide also to marry there. So, you need to keep that kind of exposure. So, that program is coming, the youth exchange program. This year in September we are going to Delhi Saddam, in Arusha to interact with Tanzanias and create that. And they should come with proper Swahili. I want us to believe this conversation to a close. And of course, let me give you time to have a final word and talk to that Kenya youth watching today. Wanjiko, what would be your final word? But not to forget that she is also vying for a member of counter assembly position. Sindio, let me not forget to mention that. Thank you very much. But of course, final word as you talk to your people, that is your camera. Kenyans, this is my message to you. I hope to be your representative come August. And my message is of peace, whatever you are, whatever you do. Even as you campaign for me, please remember that we want Kenya to remain peaceful. We want to grow and move forward. I ask you please also to vote for me. This coming election is time for development and for change. And we have to choose somebody different this time round. I am capable and I am experienced. And I am ready to do this job. Thank you so much. Thank you. Let me come to you. Final word, sir. My final word, one is to first of all, celebrate and appreciate all the peace ambassadors out there, within organization, but also out there. We recognize the good work that you continue doing for this nation. So we encourage you to continue doing that. Whatever you are, feel appreciated. If you would want to join us, you can find us on social media, Pisa Basida Kenya, you find us there. Come, we will give you an opportunity. And then final, let me also speak to young people who are out there and encourage them to offer themselves to become leaders to offer leadership in this country. And also to remind them that as a young person, when you get an opportunity to become a leader, remember that you have to be a role model.  One of the, we have to, I don't want to give two models.  Was a young person, the most, the youngest person to ever become a president was a president of Sierra Leone. His name was Valentine's Teresa. And he became a model of not how to lead a country. And then we have someone like Thomas Ankara, who was a very good president. Being a youth does not mean that you're becoming a good leader, but it's a deliberate commitment. Offer yourself out there, be the path, create the path and offer yourself for leadership just like Kwajiko is doing there. Let's work the talk. Thank you so much. Peace begins with me. Peace begins. And I love the fact that you're saying, just because your youth doesn't mean you become a good leader.  Wow, thank you so much. I appreciate your presence. Thank you so much for coming. And keep doing what you're doing. Thank you so much. Keep doing what you're doing. You have my 100% support. The next time you're going to walk, let me know. I will look for the right where. Welcome. Welcome. So we have a sports shoes here. Yes, sir. This shoes, nitrak.  Is it not too much? Is it not too much? Yes. Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate it. Keep doing what you're doing. And of course, let's all remember, ladies and gentlemen, that peace starts with all of us, each and every one of you. In this coming election, we also play a role. If you want it to come out well, it is upon us. Thanks so much. This is all about matters concerning peace advocacy today. And of course, I was with Pambiyo Peace Ambassadors Kenya during me today on youth and politics. But that was just to the end of this morning conversation. A big thanks to Peace Ambassadors for coming.  Thank you so much for being part of this conversation. My name is Ram Aguko. Promote peace. May God bless you. May God bless the ark of your hands. We are taking your short break. We'll be back in a bit. This is why in the morning.


Hello there my beautiful lovely internet friends! Welcome to my 3-year amputation am- am- amp- amperversary. Amputationversary. Amperversary celebration! So today, October 11th is exactly three years since I walked into a hospital and, uh, rolled out without a leg, which was a bizarre experience, which I fully documented on this channel. Now if you've been here since the beginning you know that that didn't exactly go smoothly. About a month and a half after I had my amputation I had a bad fall in a restaurant that led to additional surgeries and an additional amputation. Now that waiting period in my life was a pretty dark one and I wanted to play a video of me trying to be hopeful and look forward to the things that I hope one day I might be able to do. This is called What I'm Gonna Do After Amputation. The thumbnails were like post amputation goals and genuinely I do not remember a single thing that I mentioned in this video so I'm kind of curious what I was able to do maybe what I'm working through still and also to just take some time today to talk about the last three years after we go through this video. As we start today's celebration and I look back on the things that I wanted to do and did I do them I'd like to give a big shout out to our sponsor Skillshare. I have talked about the many times before I have partnered with this company long term but they are incredible. Skillshare is an online learning community where there are thousands of different courses to choose from on topics that ran from photography to illustration to watercolor to business to productivity to self-help and improvement and more. Right now I am taking a procreate course for iPad specifically. Lately I've wanted to explore kind of different art formats and so I got procreate and I've been playing around with it and taking this course to learn all the basics. Intro to Procreate illustrating on the iPad is taught by Brooke Glaser and as a course I would highly recommend you check out. If that's something you're interested in however there are so many topics that you can look through and choose and figure out what might be fun for you to learn. I'm a big believer in the idea that continuing to learn is a very beneficial thing for our lives even if it's like 10 minutes a day to do something that's new to you and could be exciting and maybe exploring things you didn't even know you were interested in before is a great way to develop who you are and what you know about yourself and your creativity. And to make this even better Skillshare has offered the first 1000 of my subscribers who click that link down below a one month free trial so you can start exploring your creativity today which I would highly recommend that you do. So check out that link down below let me know what you think and let's dive into this. Is no T-minus two days until I have my second low the knee agitation? Why would it is a locked deal if I thought that we would take today's video to focus on the reason why I did this in the first place. Hello there it's editing Joe here just wanted to pop in and say that the audio quality on that past video is not fantastic there's nothing I can do right now to fix that however the clips are pretty brief so you won't have to deal with that for too long. These are the things big and small that I cannot wait to do and share with you guys when I get there. Let's start with a simple one walk my dogs around the block. Okay this one makes me a little misty-eyed already but this is a goal that I blew out of the water. I took my dogs for a walk earlier today and it's that really freaking simple little thing of being able to be like yeah I think the puppies need a walk let's just go around the block let's go for a mile walk and just being able to do that is not something I will ever take for granted again because I realize how delicate that can be there were years where it was always a question mark of if I went for a walk would I make it back to the house or would I have to call someone to come pick me up? That is one of the most exciting simple ridiculously little things that I cannot wait to do just take my dogs for a walk in the morning.  So this actually came true this year and again it makes me misty-eyed to think about to be able to have had this experience with my dad this was all documented in the running world video that they came out and did on me I'll pop some of the footage out but I I got to go running with my dad and I feel like those moments I will always savor to my core so I know you're watching dad thank you I love you it was amazing to be able to run again with you. I want to run a 5k but I think what I actually want to do is run a marathon. Okay so this is one I actually also did I ran a 5k about a month and a half ago two months ago also some footage on screen when I crossed that finish line I just started balling in my dad's arms I hate crying in public but that was a moment that was that was worth the tears for everything it took to get there and all the support and all the people I had by my side along and after running a 5k I'm not sure if I if I have goals of a marathon anymore I definitely have goals of more 5ks and a 10k but I'm still trying to figure out if a long-distance runner is in the cards for me or if I don't care that much. I live in Colorado and if you don't know about Colorado we have a ton of 14ers which are mountains that are overfitting. Oh right they are intense to climb. This is a goal that is still on the list I have not yet hiked a 14er which is a mountain that's over 14,000 feet we have I think 54 of them haven't tackled this one just yet I'm hoping maybe next summer as the season's kind of coming to a close but that would be a lot of heavy-duty work on my leg and I do still have some sore spots I'm still building up some endurance so that's the first one I haven't done just yet. I hiked on the weekends with Brian and the puppies just lovely. I've done that many times uh Brian and I went for a three mile hike just this past weekend at Stratton Open Space which is one of our favorite places to go we go everywhere honestly uh but yeah we went for a walk we brought little Sophie with us and it was just perfect and delightful and beautiful and amazing to be back in nature and there's so much that I can do now. I feel like it's so important to take a moment to think about that and acknowledge that for myself being able to look back and knowing that even though I'm smiling in this video my mindset was in a really low place I had hope but I was like barely hanging on because it was so much it was a lot to deal with. I was dealing with mental health issues on top of it and knowing that I was going to be going under the knife and they were going to be taking away more of my body the next day that was the last thing I ever wanted to do again knowing how painful it was the first time but being able to look back now and be like gosh darn it Jo I'm glad you hung on because it was really really really worth it even if you couldn't see it at the time. Swing dancing! So I watched my videos not long ago I used to go swing dancing every Sunday night in high school and I love it I love dancing. So this is another one that is still on my list I was talking with my friend Megan the other day about giving this a shot.  I'm also watching dancing with the stars for the first time ever because Cody Riggsby from Peloton is on and I love him and watching everybody learn and do these dances I'm like oh that's my heart I love dancing so yes swing dancing is still on the agenda maybe I'll sign us up for a ballroom dancing class who knows.    I was bouncing up and down like I was a 14 year old at my first concert just low-key rocking out all over the place as Brian is standing there horribly embarrassed of me and it was awesome. Do the incline again so the incline is this ridiculously difficult short hike in Colorado Springs it used to be railroad tracks up to the top pecs peak it's like a crazy elevation main in a very short period of time. This is something I still do want to do but I'm doing it with caution because I think I could make it up right now I think my fitness and my leg stability is in a place where I could climb those stairs it's like this big thing in Colorado that people do it's it's really athletically challenging but the problem is two and a half mile trail down where it's pretty steep downwards and going downhill with my prosthetic is is still really painful. I haven't tackled that one just yet still very much want to but I'm not really willing to sacrifice my leg feeling okay for like a week um at this point. I want to be on wear high heels on a date with my husband Brian but this unfortunately is still going to be quite a ways away um I had in my mind insurance will approve a new prosthetic every three years so I thought every three years I can get a new one false they only approve it every three years if it breaks my prosthetic leg is thankfully doing great but that means that I don't get to add another one to my collection and they are crazy expensive without insurance so for the foreseeable future we're still working with flats guys this doesn't require a working prosthetic leg but just get back to jiu-jitsu I would love to get back to jiu-jitsu. I did this is something I have not posted about anywhere um because I've wanted to like slowly get back into it and not worry about being on camera and like be present in the moment but I'm definitely gonna be doing a jiu-jitsu video in the near future because oh my god guys it has been so freeing to get back to um I was shocked by the way that I felt I'll leave it at that and leave that for the upcoming jiu-jitsu video.  I had the opportunity to do this and frankly just decided against it because I rather wanted to sit and eat pastries and you know kind of help cook things uh instead of instead of going on playing frisbee golf it doesn't rank higher than like good coffee and conversations with the people who aren't going. Run with the bulls in Barcelona or is it Madrid? I'm not sure. I actually don't want to do either one of those things but it sounds cool. Oh okay I was like did I really want that at some point? Did I want to run with the bulls? I don't want to run with the bulls. Don't don't make please don't make me run with the bulls. That is a thing that people do though. Go back to Ireland and walk around the streets of Dublin with Brian and or friends. So March 2019 when I was still in this waiting period of being on crutches waiting to figure out what was going on with my leg waiting for more surgeries we went to Ireland with friends and it was incredible but it was difficult not being able to walk being in a foreign country going and doing a lot of things and hands down one of my favorite things in the entire world is going to new places and just walking. There's something about it that just feels like perfection to me and so it is still a goal of ours we're saving up to hopefully eventually get back to Ireland just the two of us and go back to Dublin and Kenmare and Donegal be able to more fully experience these places and walk around the countryside and all of that but it's a little expensive to go so it's gonna be a little while. Last but not least I'd like to be able to bike to a local coffee shop on like Sunday. So this is another one that I haven't done yet but I am capable of doing. I was gifted a Peloton by the company not sponsored don't have to say anything about it I just love it I am so grateful for the ability to bike because it's something that doesn't make me feel restricted at all it's very low impact and so I don't feel like my leg really holds me back that much. So I've done a lot of biking but it's always been indoor we'd love to get bikes in the future I have to figure out how I can work like clip-on shoes to keep my prosthetic leg on but I also can't unclip my prosthetic without reaching down and helping it turn meaning that if I had to like put my right foot down to stabilize myself if I came to a stop or was experiencing a fall I wouldn't be able to do that so I'm still figuring out how I might be able to finagle a bike in the wild. Man watching that video back um two years after I recorded it three years after my amputation sometimes I struggle with the balance between being cheesy and inspirational and and honestly sharing things that make my heart full and this is one of those things where looking back I remember what a difficult place I was in I remember the question marks the insecurity the feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness and is this gonna work out am I even gonna be able to walk my dogs ever again you know what is my life what am I doing and to be able to look back now and be like damn I did that and so much more I learned to snowboard I went to ninja gyms I've gone rock climbing I ran the 5k I've run with my dad again sometimes it's hard to feel the weight of all of that because it's very emotional in the best kind of way and holy cow I would not have believed it if I had told myself that many years ago I feel like I'm at this point in my life where life still happens right but at my core I'm okay and I've never had that experience before and so looking back at moments like this and looking back at moments in my life when I was dealing with significant trauma and knew it would never get better and being able to look at that and say Joe you were so wrong and I'm so glad you were so wrong it's something I never thought I'd be able to do so it's so cool seeing this video and thinking about all the things I was able to do and I have said it before but gosh darn I am so grateful so grateful there have been so many things and people and situations that have helped me along the way here and to have the opportunity to say I did these things is wow what a gift so now that I have been an amputee for a whole three years which is not that long but also is long enough to start feeling like I have a new normal it's been really interesting to me to kind of see the progression of making peace with this of accepting it embracing it days I do days I don't I'm now at a place I would even say very recently where I feel like being an amputee and dealing with my prosthetic leg has become really normal I talk about it a lot online I share information education but as far as my daily everyday life like interacting with friends doing things it definitely plays a part it comes into play but it's normal now like it's just a part of my life and it doesn't feel like this exhausting huge major inconvenience all of the time there are moments when I'm traveling or when a part breaks where all those feelings come back up but now it's kind of like yeah this is my life all right and that took years to get to and I'm sure there are still parts of that that will take years to get to a better place on it's not a straight path when you go through a loss like this there's a long grieving process that takes way longer than you would like it to and an adjustment period I just feel like I'm in a really good place with all this and I don't know how to say anything more profound than that but this is this this worked it actually worked so let me raise my coffee glass coffee mug in celebration to um my three-year amputation anniversary this is a happy day for me because it came with so many complications was so much more difficult than I thought possible but was worth it and was something I got to choose to make my life better and it made my life better and I am going to celebrate that and I am so grateful to all of the people who are happy along with me to you maybe watching this video right now maybe you've watched me for a day or a week or three freaking years you've been a part of this journey you've made this so much better for me you've given me things and and a platform and support I genuinely never could have imagined so this day belongs to all of you my beautiful subscribers and listeners as well and with that I'm gonna go ahead and celebrate by doing an incredibly mundane thing and taking my dogs for a walk because now I can actually do that huge thank you again to our sponsor Skillshare I really believe in this company I actively use them my iPad is sitting right over there where I've been learning Procreate like I talked about they have so many different courses to choose from so check out that link down below it helps to support this channel but also something I think could be really cool for you to my patrons who have stuck with me for such a long time new and old thank you for your generosity your support your carrier kindness and your community over there and to you watching this video right now thank you for spending a few minutes out of your day here with me today you could be anywhere else in the world doing anything else and you chose to hang out with me for a few minutes and I really appreciate that I love you guys I'm thinking about you and I will see you in the next video


Brainerd squaring off with Moorhead. Taking it to the third period. Brainer down 2-3. Colin Klefman did his best to not let Moorhead extend their lead. Nice save right here for him. Then Brainerd still didn't give in easily. Matt Fisher shoots this one, assisted by Gavin Andres. Tired to score 3-3. Then in overtime, Andres shoots it. And with the help of Jack Evans, Mason Cruz gets it in. That'd be the game-winning goal for the Warriors as they win in overtime, knocking off the spuds. Four to three. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


Everybody, my name is Becky Samson, the host of It's About Time, and we want to thank you so much for joining us today. We're excited to have Dana Land in the studio today, and we're going to talk about making good choices and how difficult that is sometimes when it comes back to the basics of life. So, we want to welcome Dana. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here with you. It's fun. We met a couple weeks ago. Well, no, it was about a month ago. Yeah. Yeah. And we are definitely the same type of people. We have lots of energy and have such a great desire to serve people. Yes. So, thank you so much for being willing to come on this show. Oh, this is fun for me to be here with you. I know. This is not your first time. No. It's not. I think my fourth time on Think Tech. Awesome. Getting to be an old pro, you know. I know. Right. Thank you so much for being here. So, tell everybody, one of the things I love to start off with is tell everybody kind of who you are, where you came from, what's your background, and what kind of brought you to the point where you are so passionate about sharing this message about ethics and morals and how do we get back to those basics of sharing the messages of how to make choices? Well, thank you so much. Yeah. I'm happy to mention a few things. So, I'm a fifth-generation Kama'ina gal. I have ancestors going back to 1856 here on the island. And so, you know, growing up here, Aloha has always sort of been in the forefront of things that I do and things that I think. Right. I left the island to get some additional schooling in the San Francisco Bay area. Which is where we're from. Yes. We're both from there. That's right. That's awesome. My husband had two daughters raised him in a cute little town called Sonoma Valley. And did a lot of music, working with a lot of kids in music education. Loved that. But I have to say, all that time I felt like there was something more that I could be doing to help kids. So, six years ago, we moved back to my beloved home of Oahu. And I start becoming aware of some of the challenges that saddle our beloved Hawaiian islands. Yeah. And what are some of those things that you've seen as you've come back and... Corruption. Yeah. High drug use, a certain amount of crime, a questionable public school system, you know, homeless. You know, I mean... There's a lot. These are problems that are not unusual to other places on the planet. But, you know, we're very insular here. So a lot of it is very obvious to many of us. So I thought, you know, what could I do to help in my little own way? Right. Daughters happened to come back from a trip to Columbia, South America. And while they were there, they were asked to, if they wanted to hand out this book called The Way to Happiness to this impoverished area outside of Cartagena, Columbia. So they became familiar with this awesome book that's being used in that country to affect positive change for the people, to give them tools to create a better life for themselves. Something that this entire planet could use, right? And it's a non-religious book with 21 common sense values in it. Be trustworthy, be competent, set a good example, do unto others, respect the religious beliefs of others, take care of yourself, exercise, eat well, brush your teeth, floss your teeth. Which are life skills, right? We are. Like everybody just... And sometimes we need to go... Like I said at the very beginning is that we need to go back to the basics. And that those are the very basics. And what... Yeah. What... So you've been kind of back on the island now helping with kids, youth? Yeah. So... Adults? So returned back six years ago and then became familiar with this book through my beautiful daughters who are both living in LA now. Found out that there was a simplified version written, which is this one. Yeah. How to make good choices. And then I added the subtitle of bringing the aloha spirit to life. I love that. Because that's what this does. What we're doing is we're instilling a sense of responsibility, respect, and a care factor for each other and the aina, the land, right? And three things that differentiate Hawaii from any other place on the planet is aloha. Yeah. Our aloha spirit and our ambassadors of aloha. And I started looking around and wondering, well, who are our ambassadors of aloha? Right. We should have hundreds. Right. Right? I could name two. Well, Duka Hanamoku was our first. Who was a surfing champion and brought surfing to the world. And he was a gold medal winner in the Olympics as a swimmer. Danny Kaleikini. Mr. Aloha. And, but of course, Nainoa Thompson, who spearheaded the Hokulea and the Polynesian Voyaging Society. I certainly consider him an ambassador of aloha. So I thought, you know what, let's create a second program to my workshops. It's called the Junior Ambassador of Aloha Certification Program, which is basically the doing-ness of all 21 precepts. Right. Putting them into action. Right. Let's go clean up a beach. Let's go up to our kupuna at a retirement facility and sing and converse with some of our lonely kupuna, you know, our elders. And I mean, there's so much that we can do. Well, and you're doing something that I am fairly new to the island, as you know. And one of the things that I saw right off the bat when I got here is that there's this great desire and need to want to go back to those basic roots of aloha and of Hawaiian. And I love that you are doing that through that culture and the very basics of getting people to that. Because we are, as time goes on, things, people are coming into the island and the island is changing. I was just watching a show today about that very thing, about how people feel like it's losing its originality. And you're basically bringing it back to that, coming back to why are so many people drawn here is because of these very basic principles of life. Of life. Yeah. Which, you know, is the aloha spirit. Exactly. And we want that more now than ever before. We don't want to drive that out. Yeah. We're living in a time unlike any other before. The social media is just exacerbating the problems that our teens are having with, you know, their own conscientiousness and how they feel about themselves. And drugs now, too, are just so prolific and so inexpensive and so deadly. And they're finding that the age of these drug users is getting younger and younger every year. So 12, 13 years. What do you think is causing that? Like what do you really think is it the core of that? I think that it's a lot of things. I think that when parents are not setting a good example, the children are learning from them or these kids are not getting the tools to understand that if they start making good choices today and in the future, they can create a good life for themselves. And I always ask them at the beginning of the workshops, what do you want for yourselves in two years, in five years, depending on how old they are? You know, I did three workshops up at the Bobby Benson Center, which is our only teen drug rehab residency program in all of Hawaii, all of the Hawaiian chain, which is terrible. There are so many kids out there that really need help. And I don't see the infrastructure to really be there for them. But something that you and I talked about a couple of weeks ago is that it does come from the example. We've got to teach, we've got to create the cultures or the communities, and we've also got to have the group of kids, but we also have the adults that need to go, hey, we need to go back to the basics again and be able to live this because kids only know how to model what they see. Exactly. And if they're not seeing good things and we're getting away from those basic morals and standards, then they're lost. Exactly. Before I started my LLC, which is Help for Hawaii's Humanity, because that's what this is all about, I decided to survey the book. So I went out to these coffee with a cop outreach community programs that the HPD does, which is great. I went to the Hulamal in front of Starbucks and showed about eight different police officers this book and asked them what they thought. And I've also talked to teachers at Punahau even all across the island and parents. And I showed them this and I said, what do you think about teaching our kids these principles, right? And they all said, we need it quick. Do it now. And because it's not being taught for the most part in schools, the only place where you might get some principles is maybe Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, which I call the Scouts now, and a great sexes, right? But a lot of parents aren't even aware. I mean, they may say, you know, Johnny, make good choices today as they run out the door to school. I remember who you are. Yeah, yeah. But are they getting down to, well, what does that mean? To make good choices. Right. Why is it important to keep your promise and to do the right thing and to help others and set a good example and be trustworthy and, you know, I mean, so in fact, the London Times in their recent obituary had something called the death of common sense. So, you know, we're not the only ones that are starting to lose our moral compass. It's all over the planet. Don't you think we're also, a lot of people are turning to social media and to other people to be those role models. And there's not a lot of really good stuff in the media for us for them to model after. Right. Oh, I think, yeah, absolutely.  Yeah. And it doesn't have to be, I mean, we've talked about this, too, is getting on the stages, getting into communities, getting into the Honolulu Police Department. Yeah. I've got a letter going to Susan Ballard offering to bring my workshops to the police officers in training and then to the police officers because they need to be better-headed when they go out into the community and they're working with our youth, you know, they could just pick one of these principles, help those who help you. Wouldn't that be so, you know, it's interesting, I'm married to a police, you know, a former police. And one of the things that he said that sometimes the parents use the police officers is a way of parenting. Yeah. Right? Which is unfair.  Right.  Exactly. You don't need to make these choices and you don't need to do this kind of step and then having to go repeatedly back to the same homes. That's not fair for us to put that responsibility onto our community service people. Absolutely not. That sacrifice a lot. So what are some of the solutions I know when you do your workshops, what is your main group that you like to work with the most, the kids or the parents or both? You know what? I'm happy to work with anybody and I've worked with everybody. Yeah. Young children, seven years old and up, high-risk teens, teens who've been basically kicked out of the public school system. These poor kids, they've just had a rough upbringing with really nobody who's cared enough about them. I mean, I would love to come and be their caretakers, you know, for a couple of years. And that's really what is needed is to many times over with this program equal certainty. It's learning new habits and then having them ingrain so that when they get an option to go on track B or track A, they pick a good track. No drugs. I'm going to go over here because I want to be a professional musician or I want to have my own company or I want to make the best banana bread on this planet. It doesn't matter what it is.  Absolutely. And one of the chapters in here is competency. Why is that important? And I make sure they understand what that word means. Backed up at the Bobby Benson Center, Justin was getting upset when I was talking about trustworthiness because his mom lied about eating the banana bread that he made. And so I said, so you make a pretty good banana bread, yeah, he says mine's the best. I said, okay, so there's a place right down the street called Ted's Bakery. You're 17. You're going to need a job. I'll take you down there and introduce you to the owner. Why don't you learn how the food industry works? And you could spin off of that and open your own businesses. Well, I'd love a bread maker. You gave them hope and something to look forward to. You need that. So I'm going to talk more about that because our break is going to come up. But I really do like, how do we instill the hope into these kids and the vision and being able to show them that it can be possible. So thanks, you guys. We're going to go on a little break, stay tuned, and we're going to continue this conversation after our little break. Thanks. I'm Richard Emery, one of the co-hosts with Kondo Insider, sitting next to my other co-host, Jane Sugimura. We're very pleased to be on Think Tech Hawaii and provide this show of education, news, and topics affecting living in an association. About 38% of our population lives in an association and you have very specific needs and rules to make an effective pairing of your home. So we're glad to be a part of this show and what do you think, Jane? And yes, we're very proud to be part of this program. And what we want to do is to bring to all of the people who are involved with Kondo, especially people sitting on the boards and the owners, topics that will assist them in governing their projects and dealing with issues that, you know, that boards and owners have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Our show is every Thursday at 3 o'clock. We hope you watch it and always feel free to send in topics for discussion. Aloha. Aloha. Welcome back to It's About Time. I'm your host, Becky Sampson. I'm here with Dana Land with Making Good Choices and right before the break we were kind of talking about how we can help instill into our kids and into youth this idea of what the future can look like. And sometimes I know that that is difficult because a lot of these kids, as we talk to the youth nowadays, it's so discouraging to know that they don't see beyond, you know, maybe a couple years down the road or they see so much violence or they see drugs or they see the bad part of it because the media is so into that that we need to instill a picture of hope and that it is a right future. My family, my dad, I grew up at a summer camp for kids and his little thing was building a brighter future for a better youth for a brighter future. So I want to talk to you about that, how do we really help these kids, whether it's with role models or with helping them create the vision? How do you do that? How do you create the vision with these kids? Well, there are a lot of people who are really helping out in the community with kids, you know, so I want to just acknowledge all of those people who, you know, even at the Boys and Girls Club, you know, and the YMCA is, I mean, and other after-school programs. There are so many people who are doing great things. I'm just one little person, you know, doing my thing. You have a home person who changes the world, girl. Well, what I do is I love everybody in my audience. It's just all about showing aloha and care factor for these. We'll talk about youth.    Just follow the interests. They have an easier time. When I ask people what they want in their life, it's just the easier time for them to say, what do they don't want? I don't want this, I don't want that, I don't want this. But what do you really, really want? Yeah, I think it's important to have them look at the positive side of life. I mean, there's so much negativity out there, you know, they don't need it, I don't need it. And then I have them write it down and I give them five minutes. I say, and set the bar high for yourself. You know, there is absolutely nothing in this world that you can't do, okay? Because if you put your mind to it, seriously, you can do almost anything and there are always people out there who will help you get there if you tell them you need their help, right? Absolutely, all the time. So first you got to set that foundation so that they have a willingness to find out, well, what is she going to do to help me get there, right? And then we start planting seeds and that is, you know, really the majority of what I'm doing. But at the same time, I'm opening up the dialogue with all of them and I want them to talk with each other and talk with me about where they've seen somebody not being trustworthy and how has that affected their lives? Or was there a time when they didn't keep a promise? Or was there a time when they saw the chef at Zippy's who wasn't well trained and he burned himself or he cut himself? Right.  And then, you know, everybody gets a book. So I say, you know, anytime you have questions, you can refer to this. And don't feel shy about asking people for help. Don't you think that's a difficult thing? I think most adults. I mean, that's something that I talk to people all the time about is when you're in a punch and you need help or something, there's no shame at all with saying, hey, I don't understand this or I want to know more about this or I need support in this, whether you're an adult or a kid. And I think there's nothing wrong with that because there's so many people. For instance, let me give you an example. There's a group that reached out that needed help. There's some students that were finishing their entrepreneurial stuff and they reached out on Facebook and said, hey, we've got a contest. We want to win. And I said, I know you guys don't know me, but I also do a lot of business coaching as well and I met with them. And I said, they're trying to get people to go to their website and then purchase the things. But they had a lot of people come to the website but they didn't have a lot of people buying through. I said, well, did you share your vision or the project or what you're doing with your audience? And they said, well, can we do that? And I'm like, yes, let them know that you're in this school and you're finishing this project and you need your help and all of a sudden they won. I was like, so sometimes I think we think that if we hold it to ourselves, that's the way it's supposed to be. When we include the community and the people, they're more than willing to come and help us. And then, damn, there's all this success.  Yeah, it's really coming together and sharing Aloha with everybody and helping in any way, shape, or form that we can. I think getting Ohana's together, entire families together to do workshops together is helpful because then it creates an accountability with everybody. Everyone's on the same page. Yeah, but mom, you said that if I did this, you'd get me this and now you're not getting me this. Or dad, that's the 10th beer you've had. Because we're gonna kick up a little dust with this program. But isn't it better to confront things in order to work through them? Because that's what has to happen. You can't keep naughty things under wraps and expect for the family to be happy. Can you think of an example of someone that you've worked with that has come back and just really, just a great example of putting these principles to work? Well, I can tell you, I did a workshop for a bunch of teenagers, 13 to 17, for adult friends for youth, which is a non-profit organization that takes these kids under their wings and helps them transition into life, really. And when we started the workshop, they were all very quiet and, you know, kind of. And they're all together on the shelves. Yeah, yeah, just not expecting much from Auntie, right? And by the end of the two-hour workshop, we were singing, they were laughing, they were coming up and hugging me and showing appreciation for my time spent with them. And, you know, I just wanna say, it just takes a little bit of interest and care to help a child or really even adult, anybody, really. Needs appreciation, acknowledgement and validation when it's appropriate, validational, appropriate. So if we can make it more of a habit to extend ourselves in whatever way we can, it'll just, you know, create a better flow throughout our communities. I love the idea that you wanna connect the families, right, because that's where the real core of all of it is. And when you bring them together, and I do a lot of trainings as well, and it's funny, because the first day, out of like a three or four-day training, they're all like, I don't wanna talk to anybody, and I don't wanna do anything. And then by the end, they're all hugging and on each other's laps and kissing each other. And it really is because we come together and we share our vulnerabilities with each other. That's right. Right, and then they become, they go, okay, so we're no longer just an object, we're just not a person that's coming in a room that we don't know. But it's because we've shared a common experience, or we've shared feelings or emotions or whatever it is, and then it connects us so that when we go out of the room or out of those training rooms, that they can go, hey, yeah, we went through the same thing and I see that you're human, you're not perfect like me. Right, and you're giving them tools too, which is what I do with this book. It's a tool so people can go, huh, okay, now, you know, if I wanna do this or I wanna, you know, reach this goal in my life, I can refer to this and that this will help me get on track for... What's your favorite tool out of there? Oh gosh, what's the first one that kinda comes to you? Probably set a good example, which is what we're doing. Yes. You know, we're there to help our kids and our families and our adults by, you know, trying to be ethical ourselves. And that's what this is doing. It's creating a foundation of ethics and morals, which we really need to get back to. Doing the right thing, having integrity. There's too much bologna going on out there in the world. I know we gotta get real, right? Yeah. Let's get real, baby. I know that's what I told you originally when we talked I was like, this is your show, it's about time to get real. Yeah. It's just, let's put all the other stuff aside and just get real. It's a wake-up call. Yeah. Really, to see what's going on, even on our little island here and I don't even need to get into it. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. So maybe difficult to change adults who've already gone down the wrong track, not to say that they can't learn from their mistakes. They always can. But let's work with kids and our youth so they can stay on track from the get-go. Because usually they know right from wrong when they're young. It's just, they get into that age where they want to be accepted and they want to feel cool. And so they start doing naughty things and stealing and trying drugs and stuff.  With fentanyl, which is being shipped in from China by the shiploads. So that's a whole nother area. So you can't just think you can go out with your friends for a fun night and try some drugs and think you'll live. You gotta get real with yourself. And the thing that goes back to what you said originally is having that vision to being able to say, okay, what do I want in my life? And then how do I get that? Because a beautiful thing about youth, and this is from years of working with them at summer camps, is these youth need the boundaries, right? They just need the rules. They didn't know what the rules of engagement are. And that's what this book really is. That sounds like to me, it's the rules of engagement. If you want success in your life, here's the principles to live by. And if you wanna be happy, there's the principles. And you go against those principles, it makes it very difficult.  Right.  We're all still learning our lessons. Totally okay, totally. I make mistakes all the time. I'm constantly learning and adjusting and everything. But the youth are so incredibly pliable, is I guess the word that comes to me. It's so pliable that we can teach them certain things and they can run with it. They can really run with it. That's right. And we need to get to them. When they're teenagers, if not younger, because then otherwise a lot of these at-risk teens end up in the revolving door prisons, which is not good. So tell everybody kind of where they can find you, how can they hire you to do a workshop, or if they're organization or for their company or that sort of thing. Yeah, and I do workshops for all ages. Awesome. And there's a curriculum too that comes with it. If somebody's interested in expanding the workshop and then if somebody wants to do the Ambassador of Aloha certification program. To go teach in as well. No, no, it'd be more just getting certified as a junior ambassador of Aloha. So this is for our 18 and younger kids. And then we have a big celebration, bring some opinion leaders in the community together to shake their hands and award them a certificate. What's the website that they can go to? So it's helpforHawaiiHumanity.org. Yeah, helpforHawaiiHumanity.org. Awesome. Well, thanks so much, Dana, for coming on the show today. And thank you guys for coming on and watching our show for It's About Time. I'm your host Becky Sampson. Make sure to tune in next week for another great show. We'll talk to you later. Aloha.


Uh, I don't even know what my pay is actually, to be honest. But what, normally John doesn't know what they get paid? I know the allowances and things that were told to me just the other day. Well, it's $131,000 to be an EMP. It won't be as good as the U.N. allowance. I mean, you would have been on twice there, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you have been on twice there at the U.N., wouldn't you? Um, yeah, we were paid, and obviously in U.S. dollars. So it was, uh, with the exchange rate and everything, it was a bit more.  Yeah.