Joshua Kamakea speaks at OHA stakeholders’ meeting in Waimanalo. – photo by Auli’i George
WAIMANALO, (Jan. 11, 2012) – Cross worries about becoming a skilled worker off the checklist of Joshua Kamakea.
The 20-year-old Waimanalo resident is an example of the growing appeal of a job-training program meant to help boost family incomes in the Native Hawaiian community.
At a meeting Jan. 10 in Waimanalo to discuss an action plan for an income initiative that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is developing with community input, Kamakea was put forward as the face of an eight-month-old career training program funded, in part, by OHA, which committed $150,000 to cover tuition expenses of Native Hawaiians seeking to develop job skills.
“While I may not have always known where I was heading, I know now that the only boundaries to what I can achieve are the ones I set for myself,” said Kamakea, an aspiring underwater welder and 2009 graduate of Kailua High School. “With the help of the job training I’m getting, I’m determined to challenge myself and go further than I could have ever imagined.”
Kamakea is one of 20 Native Hawaiians who qualify for the next session of the OHA-funded eight-week courses that begin Jan. 30. Of the 34 others who have earned internships from the program, 17 have either obtained full-time employment in chosen careers or pursued higher education.
For more infomation about the program, call (808) 596-0200.
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