For the last few days, I’ve been in St. Louis at the Washington University Medical School campus to receive the School of OT Alumna award. It was at this school where my life was changed forever.

I flew into St. Louis a few days before school started and caught a taxi to the dorms. I asked the security guard Milton where the market was and naively decided to walk a few blocks there with no idea of the kind of neighborhood it was. I knew it wasn’t good when an armed guard stood at the front door.

Being a kid from the rural area of Oahu and going to a big city was a huge change but I wanted to study OT and build my toolbox to help people. I was truly inspired when I saw my quadriplegic professor, Dr. David Gray, exiting his accessible van that he had driven to school. I was in awe because I had never seen this in Hawaii.

I also learned that despite a disability, technology was advancing to accommodate that difference. The OT school had an accessible kitchen with many modifications where a wheelchair user could get into a cabinet or open drawer easily.

I learned a lot about our living and doing things aka “occupations” were key to bringing meaning to one’s life and how we thrive when there is flow. An occupational therapist is skilled at creating that flow when life gets interrupted through disability.

A big lesson I learned from school was one issue that did not take place in a class. As a local, there were few local food places here which meant I had to cook it myself. I found the kitchen in the penthouse of Olin dorm to prepare meals. It was hardly ever used so I would go there to cook.

The penthouse was also where many of the housekeepers took their breaks. It was there that I learned that racism was very much alive in 1997. I made friends with many of them over lunch and sharing of spam musubis. The two housekeepers I spoke to often was Stan and Sarah, both of whom were African American.

Stan would tell me how to be careful of certain areas of town where they faced harassment. Sarah would tell me how certain students in the dorm would make messes in the shower rooms or water fountains for them to clean up. I was shocked.

Wash U also has a program where you’re sent to a community-based organization to volunteer to gain experience. I was assigned to an orphanage called Our Little Haven. It was started to address the special needs of babies exposed to drugs, kids who were abused or had special needs. That experience of seeing these innocent lives already starting off disadvantaged was tough.

As I look back at those lessons, I realize now how they shaped my thinking about what I knew of the world. I was ignorant to the realities of so many issues that growing up in Hawaii sheltered me from. Racism and segregation had so many detrimental effects across the board and over so many generations. The same discrimination was happening towards those who were gay also, with Matthew Shepard’s murder. How can anyone live a full life in that kind of environment?

There comes a point where we have to acknowledge the truth of what happened in history. I was very pleased to see that there is a wall in the hospital complex dedicated to recognizing the wrongs of the past to help build a better future.

As I browsed the wall, this quote by Dr. Ross spoke to me. The important act of speaking out helps humanity. This is why we needed to have those conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s not about being “woke” but being aware of our systematic history of discrimination and to not repeat it.

As I went around town tonight and caught a Lyft back to my hotel, my driver was sharing a story about how he left Maritius through a lottery system. He obtained a degree in geology and with education, they can have the opportunity to come to the US on a green card. He took that as a way to get work experience.

My driver was telling me how he moved from Indianapolis to St. Louis and learned really quick about where not to drive. He said he had forgotten to avoid certain areas and made a mistake by heading in the north neighborhood where he saw guys walking around with guns and knew it was not safe. It made me realize that the effects of discrimination and segregation still exists to this day. Education and opportunity remain as a path to change this.

With the unfortunate election, that is quite unlikely as politics is squandering those conversations to help people reach their highest potential. Job cuts to research, education, and the disadvantaged will re-route us to repeat history yet again.

Humanity needs some major uplifting right now with reason and logic.

Last night I had the honor of being a panelist on the PBS Hawaii Town Hall Kākou regarding the illegal fireworks issue plaguing our islands after the NYE tragedy. That event affected me so much that I wrote a post about how culture and tradition were being misused by politicians and the public. Let me just say I learned a lot from the fireworks investgator, HPD, HFD, the public defemder, the prosecutor’s office, Queem’s Hospital ER, fireworks task force, and the EMS services.

The problem is way worse that I could’ve ever imagined given what was reported. Like any problem, there are no simple answers either to address this. Much of the focus was on the laws and how we can enforce them and add penalties but we have a lack of manpower to undertake such an issue.

As I listened to the scope of what’s being done, I can see a bigger issue that is not being talked about much which is the loss of community. Those who blow these fireworks at all times of day and night in residential areas have no consideration for their neighbors. It’s all about them and their highs and fun. That is the problem for the greater community.

I was telling the story of how I decided to speak out to my parents’ neighbors and the random kids who chose to blow aerials over their property. We could’ve called the police but knowing how busy they are, it was unlikely the response would be effective.

The other option was to sit these for several hours and take it. Why should I just let that behavior that is infringing on our property so they can have fun? What if a bomb damages our property because we didn’t do anything? Note that my dad had told them before to stop blowing aerials over their home last year already. They clearly did not listen to the request.

Something inside me said that I had to say something. What did we have to lose by speaking the truth? Nothing.

We walked over to the offenders and called them over to talk and asked them to stop shooting their aerials over our home and shed. Thankfully, they obliged.

I mentioned that on the panel and people said how brave we were to take such action. I really never felt brave but instead felt compelled to protect my folks, my kids, and their pets from harm. If I allowed that behavior to continue, it passive allows it to happen. If there was a house fire and someone was harmed, I would forever regret not taking a stand. I could not live with that. My conscience would bother me so much.

I may be under 5 feet tall but that does not mean I do not have the power to shape the world around me. We as citizens can have that same collective power if we speak together against the wrongs of the world.

There was a time when a sense of community was important. Neighbors knew each other and everyone knew their kids. Kids were told to make the family proud and no shame the family. That had all changed where few have any consideration for others. Everything is about them and no one else. The mind and heart have become so small and callous.

Many people don’t understand why I volunteer to organize our Kaneohe Elementary Fun Fair or lead the OT Association or man a school crosswalk. I see it as a way to build community to bring like minds together to somehow make a positive change for the sake of my children.

We can talk about changing laws and enforcement but if we don’t work on building community, we will not have the safe communities that every person deserves. It’s not any easy fix but part of the solution that we all need to participate it.

I have to chuckle a bit that some pro-illegal fireworks supporters were upset that they were not invited to the panel. If you can’t follow the law, you don’t deserve a “voice” or air time because you’re a hazard to lives and property. Actually maybe there should be a pro-fireworks group features. Let them out themselves and help police crack down on these people. That would make investigations much less lengthy.

We are living in the age of pseudoscience right now. The least qualified individuals have been confirmed in positions that they are wholly unqualified to serve in and our “leaders” have decided that they are to lead us.

The problem with this is that there will be big mistakes made when you have someone incompetent in charge to run such agencies. While Trump touts he has picked the best, he is clearly not. Just look at the evidence of classified information being sent on Signal to a journalist. Add to that the recent outbreak of measles spreading across the US.

While many still are idolizing Trump, two children have lost their lives from measles. Their parents have chosen to use unfounded claims to allow their child to be infected with a disease that we had hope to eradicate but no, it’s surging back. In this age of science and medical advances, we have people still dying from things that they should have been protected from.

We have advanced so far with technology but society’s ability to discern fact from fiction has lagged contributing to anti-vaccination and anti-GMO attitudes. The lack of their understanding of history has also led to us repeating it.

Close to a decade ago, starvation was a common event. Millions have died as a result of poor policy choices and uncontrolled events. The current generations have not experienced that kind of suffering.

This suffering led to people who wanted to alleviate it. People like Nicolai Vavilov and Norman Borlaug were determined to improve lives through innovation and a process called science. Very few know of the contribution of these scientists and their impact on the world but should.

Humanity had to experience mass starvation, disease, war, and suffering to realize that things have to change to advance society.

However, with the current administration, we have put in people who have rejected the very innovations that improved our lives. People like RFK Jr., Elon Musk, and Dr. Oz have long rejected science in favor of pseudoscience and that does not bode well for us.

There are huge cuts happening with science and research also where entire departments are being eliminated. The assumption is that this is waste and fraud. There is no careful analysis of the work they do before cuts are made.

It has only been 4 months with this new administration and 2 children have died from measles. In this day and age, no child should be maimed by a preventable disease but here we are.

We have advanced so far with technology but have a society with a poor understanding of science and the advancements that voted for Trump. He in turn have put our health and wellness in the hands of a lawyer with zero science or medical training. We cannot be shocked that he has contributed to vitamin A toxicity and over 600 measles cases nationwide.

History is too easily forgotten and it appears that we have to hit rock bottom again to appreciate the advances we have made. It’s a terribly sad situation to be in. Things need to change now.