Dennis Fujimoto | The Garden Island
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Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami frequently paraphrases “It takes a village to raise a child.”

On Thursday, he said, “This celebration of three national causes is the demonstration of the village coming together,” as he presented a proclamation announcing April as the month to focus on alcohol use disorder, child abuse prevention, and sexual abuse and violence to representatives of agencies and departments whose daily work deals with the three causes.

The Kauai District Health Office that will be hosting a department-wide open house today in observance of National Public Health Week, was the first group in plant a blue pinwheel garden. Blue pinwheels are symbolic of happy, healthy children and is the national child abuse prevention symbol.

During the open house that runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the public is invited to view first-hand, the work being done by the Kauai District Health Office staff in not only preventing child abuse, but the spectrum of services involved by the Department of Health.

“Alcohol-related problems take a heavy toll on individual families and communities,” said Michael Miranda of Life’s Choices that works under the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. “It is estimated that each year, there are more than 178,000 alcohol-related deaths, making alcohol a leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Additionally, more than 200 disease and injury-related conditions are associated with alcohol misuse.”

“Hawaii leads the country in kupuna drinking excessively,” Miranda said. “According to the latest data from the United Health Foundation, in 2022, 11 percent of kupuna reported to have drank. Older adults having favorable attitudes towards binge drinking influence our youth to see no problem with consuming alcohol.”

Erin Carrington, a physicians assistant in pediatrics, said child abuse is a complex and ongoing problem in our society, affecting great number of children on Kauai.

“Over the last five years, 724 Kauai children between ages 2 through 18 who received services through the Children’s Justice Center were reported victims of sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children, witness to a crime or violence, and/or child maltreatment,” Carrington said. “Child abuse can have long term psychological, emotional and physical effects that will shape the future of the County of Kauai and Hawaii. Kauai faces a continuing need to support community-based programs such as The Children’s Justice Center in its efforts to ensure that families received needed services, and that all agencies involved coordinate their efforts to minimize trauma to child victims.”

Karla Huerta of The Children’s Justice Center said under the YWCA of Kauai new leader Cheryl Lum, the YWCA staff will be planting an adult pinwheel garden at its facility on Monday.

“Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment impact our community, and statistics show one in seven women in Hawaii is sexually assaulted, one in two women, and one in five men have experienced some form of sexual victimization in their lives,” said Ceicha Judd, a forensic nurse. “The Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners from the Kauai Police Department have provided 65 adult survivors with forensic medical examinations from 2020 to 2024. The YWCA of Kauai receives an average of more than 1,000 crisis hotline calls per year, and provides more than 1,100 hours of counseling services to survivors and their families.”

“Child sexual abuse prevention must be a priority to confront the reality that one in six boys, and one in four girls will experience sexual assault before the age of 18, and young people ages 12-17 experience heightened rates of sexual violence and are 2.5 times as likely to be victims of rape or sexual assault,” Judd said. “The Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Examiners from the KPD have provided 30 pediatric survivors with forensic medical examinations from 2020 to 2024.”

Members of the Boys and Girls Club, Lihue Clubhouse, and the Girl Scouts of Hawaii joined members of the Kauai Police Department, The Children’s Justice Center, and the Office of Prosecuting Attorney to plant a blue pinwheel garden in the blustery weather on Wednesday, a day that school lets out early.

“Look at them,” a KPD officer said. “There’re so many of them. This is the biggest crowd we’ve had. And they’re so happy.”