Congratulations to Punahou School students, Erin Nishi and Kainoa Maruoka, for their award winning video documentary, “No Aloha for Micronesians,” focusing on the health care disparities and social injustices facing Micronesians in Hawaii. The 5-minute project which features interviews with Dr. Neal A. Palafox, MD, MPH and Dr. Seiji Yamada, MD, MPH from the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and other historical footages, won 3rd Place in the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Speak Truth to Power national competition.
Interview with Ms. Nishi
Dr. Vid Raatior, consultant for Micronesians United – Big Island (MU-BI) posed the following questions to Ms. Nishi via email. Her responses are published verbatim below.
Q: What prompted you to focus your project on this issue?
A: My dad works at both Kokua Kalihi Valley and Kalihi Palama Health Centers on Oahu, and cares for COFA migrant patients. I had hoped to start a community music outreach program for kids at Kokua Kalihi Valley, but unfortunately the pandemic put a stop to this. So I decided to work on this video documentary instead.
Q: What do you hope this project will accomplish?
A: I’m hopeful that our documentary can bring more national and local awareness to the health care disparities and injustices suffered by COFA migrants, and even lead to restoration of health care benefits. I also hope that our video might foster more understanding and compassion for migrants in Hawaii.
Q: What is one major takeaway for you having researched, written, and directed this documentary?
A: I was born and raised here, and had always been proud to be from the Aloha State. I was truly dismayed and saddened to learn of all the inequities and discrimination inflicted upon COFA migrant here. More than anything, I’m hoping that our video might actually help people who are suffering in Hawaii.
Q: What is your plan and hope for this video?
A: We will be showing our video at the Hawaii International Film Festival Student Showcase in order to inform audiences here at the local level. We hope to distribute our film to schools in Hawaii, in order to help combat racism against COFA students in the classrooms.
Other relevant resources:
The following links are provided as additional readings for anyone interested in the issues raised in the video.
- “Hawaii’s Elite Excluded Micronesians From Medicaid” (By Seiji Yamada, Honolulu Civil Beat)
- “Hawaii Wanted to Save Insurance Money. People Died” (By Anita Hofschneider, Honolulu Civil Beat)
- “Micronesians Respond to Racist Tweets” (Honolulu Civil Beat)
- “Broken Promises, Shattered Lives: The case for justice for Micronesians in Hawai’i” (Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice Policy Brief)
- “Health Care for Micronesians and Constitutional Rights” (by Dina Shek, JD, MA and Seiji Yamada, MD, MPH, Hawai’i Medical Journal)
- “No Aloha for Micronesians in Hawai’i” (Chad Blair, Honolulu Civil Beat)
- “Micronesians in Hawaii face uncertain future,” (By Jon Letman, Aljazeera)
- “Discrimination Towards Micronesians in Hawai’i” (The Fourth Branch)
- “Micronesians in Hawai’i – A Closer Look (Part 2)” (Hawai’i Public Radio)
- “Health in Hawaii: Good News, Bu Not for Everyone” …Part #5: The Micronesian Struggle for Health Care” (Hawaii Business Magazine)
- “The Micronesians: An Untold Story of American Immigration” (by Chad Blair, Honolulu Civil Beat)
- “Reporting on Micronesian Issues” (by Cassie Ordonio, Ka Leo)
- “Lessons from Hawaii” (by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner)
- “Next Generation of Micronesians in Hawai’i Reclaim the Narrative,” (Ku’uwehi Hiraishi, Hawaii Public Radio)