by Rose Cruz Churma
There is a Filipino saying that explains that one needs to look back to look forward and that a person who does not remember where he/she came from will never reach his/her destination.
It urges to give credence to look back at one’s beginnings. This was the impetus for this book: the social workers wanted their profession to be understood by looking back at how it took root in Hawaii.
This book attempts to describe how social workers played a pivotal role in nurturing social justice by introducing reform and innovation in delivering services to the troubled and marginalized.
The book consists of three parts. The first part contains the life stories of three social workers who made an indelible mark on Hawaii: Clarinda Low Lucas, Ah Quon McElrath, and Myron “Pinky” Thompson.
Clarinda Low Lucas, a Native Hawaiian is credited for setting the stage for and facilitating the reinvention of social work to generate a sense of self-worth among Hawaiians. She introduced a social work mindset based on cross-cultural understanding and healing the historic injustices done to the Hawaiian people.
Ah Quon McElrath is identified closely with labor organizing, specifically with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Her life’s work can also be described as breaking the grip of the white oligarchy that controlled Hawai’i during her time. Described as the “social conscience of the ILWU,” she also changed it from within especially how it viewed gender roles.
The University of Hawaii School of Social Work was named after Myron “Pinky” Thomson in 2008. A warrior against social injustice, his influence is felt not only in Hawai’i but around the Pacific and in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.
He is descended from Hawaiian chiefs and is well known for his support of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the group that launched the double-hulled Hokulea. In his lifetime, he held many roles—serving in government and non-profit organizations that would make Hawai’i and the world a better place.
The second part consists of the personal stories of five individuals who, in their own words, share insights on their career and their contributions to social work. The five individuals are Masaru Oshiro, Lynette Paglinawan, Patti Lyons, Andrew Chang, and Susan Chandler.
The story that piqued my interest was the Q&A with Patti Lyons. I first met Patti in 1986.
My husband and I wanted to adopt a baby from the Philippines. We were told to call Child & Family Service (CFS), an agency that provides adoption services in the Philippines.
By some fluke, instead of getting the social worker in charge of adoptions, my call was routed to her—she was by then President & CEO of the agency.
She talked about this in the book—and the bus trip we would make to Baguio, and how she promised to implement the vision of my former schoolmate Danny Urquico to establish shelters for street children in Baguio. (There are multiple shelters now and are run by Child and Family Service Philippines Inc.)
She also mentions that our bus malfunctioned in Tarlac, and we were left stranded by the side of MacArthur Highway to wait for the next Pantranco bus.
We were surrounded by an assortment of food vendors who helped bring our luggage onto the next bus. Patti bought all she could in appreciation for the help they offered, including a dozen balut.
Patti shared her early years as a social worker at Child & Family Service in Hawai’i in the late 60s where she asked to be sent to Wai’anae. She was told nobody would want to work there and was warned that “they don’t like haoles.”
She persisted, and eventually her presence and the delivery of social work services at the Wai’anae Coast increased from once a week, to two, and finally full-time.
I wasn’t surprised that when we were in Baguio, she asked to meet with and interact with the street children. One night close to midnight, Danny Urquico brought us to the Baguio City market. Most of the kids worked there, helping shoppers carry bags and items bought at the market for a few pesos.
At night, they also use the nooks and crannies of the market to sleep. A stocky off-duty policeman armed with an armalite accompanied us into the bowels of the market where we observed where the kids sought shelter from the cold Baguio mist.
The next day, we were able to talk to some of them and a meeting of sorts took place on the road going up to Hilltop where farmers from the surrounding Cordillera mountains set up their produce on makeshift stalls. We sat on our haunches as Patti interacted with the kids.
She can establish rapport with the poor and marginalized of whatever age or gender, but she can also graciously charm and get the trust of the Philippines’ elite, its powerful politicians, or its Catholic clergy.
She shared with me once how she met with the Church’s top brass in Vigan, the owners of the property of what would eventually be one of the first shelters. They had grilled her on her views on contraception and other touchy issues. I wish it was taped—that would be an interesting archive since she won them over.
Patti is key to the establishment of the Consuelo Foundation and became its President and CEO in 1989 after 23 years at CFS. It was, she would reflect later, a leap of faith.
She shared Mrs. Consuelo Zobel Alger’s love for children: “…to renew hope for those who have lost it, and give hope to those who never had it.”
She would implement Mrs. Alger’s legacy “to spend my heaven doing good on Earth” where Mrs. Alger’s inheritance from the family’s fortune would be used for programs that would benefit children and families in the Philippines and Hawai’i.
There is a mosaic art installation at the lobby of the FilCom Center in Waipahu, a replica of Mrs. Alger’s portrait from the famed Filipino painter, Fernando Amorsolo.
It is made of imported Italian mosaic tiles that won’t fade. The subject of the painting seems to guard the courtyard that bears her name—the Consuelo Courtyard, the site of many memorable activities of the Filipino community of Hawai’i.
Patti was the head of a philanthropic entity that would make the first pledge of half a million dollars to the building of what was then an elusive dream—the Filipino Community Center. Her faith in this undertaking would lead others to do the same.
She would share with me later that her board of trustees was not so keen on the idea, but she persisted. The community had a long history of not being able to deliver.
“It would be different this time,” she assured them. Eventually, the heart of the FilCom Center would be named Consuelo Courtyard and volunteers would patiently nurture the potted roses that adorn the courtyard, roses that Mrs. Consuelo Alger loved.
The third part of the book contains the author’s reflections on the state of social work in contemporary Hawaii, with the last chapter in this section devoted to the students’ views on social justice and how this can be achieved in today’s context.
A quote on the back cover is worth noting:
“In their journeys, the pioneers and visionaries profiled in these pages became catalysts of social justice. Through their life stories, they challenge us to ask: Where are we today, and by the standards of their values, what does the future hold?”
Tom Coffman, the book’s author, is a prolific writer on Hawai’i’s social, political, and historical landscape. His publications have won multiple awards including three “Best Non-Fiction of the Year” awards from the Hawai’i Book Publishers’ Association. His documentary filmmaking has also received numerous awards.
This is a must-read for those curious to know more about the efforts of the pioneers who nurtured the fires of social justice to burn fiercely and steadily in Hawai’i and be inspired to continue the work they have started.
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
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