The Big Island Chapter of the United Nations Association announces its inaugural Aloha Peace Prize event. All are invited to share in the celebration of “aloha” and to honor a recipient whose character reflects the meaning of “aloha” and whose
The Big Island Chapter of the United Nations Association announces its inaugural Aloha Peace Prize event. All are invited to share in the celebration of “aloha” and to honor a recipient whose character reflects the meaning of “aloha” and whose professional activities promote world peace and understanding.
The award was established by the association to extend the understanding and practice of “aloha,” Hawaii’s gift to the world, as part of the United Nations effort to create and support world peace, said a spokesman for the group.
This year’s award recipient will be Maya Soetoro-Ng, Ph.D., a professor of education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
She was raised in Indonesia and Hawaii and has developed and taught a humanities curriculum in both public and private secondary schools in New York City and Honolulu.
The sister of President Barack Obama, Soetoro-Ng has worked at the East-West Center promoting international exchange and is currently an assistant professor at the UH College of Education where she teaches multicultural education, social studies methods and peace education.
She is the president and founder of a nonprofit, Our Public School, that works to build bridges between public schools and the communities that surround them. The event will take place on Sept. 14 from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Nani Mau Gardens at 421 Makalika St. The cost, including lunch, is $50 per adult, cash only.
Tickets are available at Basically Books and by calling Ruth Larkin at 965-0909. Children may attend for free.
