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Halaki Ancheta has been making stone soup for 13 years.
By Pat Gee
Star-BulletinShe's like the woman in the fable who got everyone to throw in what they had -- a carrot here, an onion there -- starting only with a stone in a pot of water.
The result was a nourishing meal that satisfied many an empty stomach, and all because everyone pitched in and shared what they had.
Ancheta started out with a "stone" -- the Windward Learning Center -- to help children in need with schoolwork and counseling 13 years ago as an after-school program.
When she first formed the center at St. Christopher's Church in Kailua, she had two families. She is still at St. Christopher's but now has 10 families, involving some 30 children of all ages.
The program's tuition is "based on need" and what families can afford, be it only 25 cents or a dollar a month.
"No one is turned away for being unable to afford it," Ancheta said.
She has never advertised or held fund-raisers, and she and her three staff members are all volunteers.
"Through word of mouth," friends and people just drop off supplies like folder paper, pencils and books, as well as food and other basic necessities. They contribute "without wanting anything back. It's just been beautiful," Ancheta said.
For that, "I see little miracles happening every day. I say a lot of novenas (devotions) -- they're my salvation -- and my prayers are answered. It sounds so hokey, I know. ... It may not come within a day or a week, but it's always answered," she said.
Somehow, "I find a way," said Ancheta, a therapeutic counselor. One way is by working for a crisis hot line to help finance the center.
Ancheta is "very embarrassed and uncomfortable" about receiving publicity because "what I do is on such a small scale. My families are very special. What I do is not that special."
But it was none other than the late Mother Teresa, the extraordinary Catholic nun, who inspired Ancheta to try to make something out of nothing but a great idea.
When Ancheta was in college at UCLA, "a long time ago," she was one of the privileged few to attend a luncheon where the nun, world famous for her charitable works, was speaking. Helping the needy was "a promise I made to Mother Teresa. It was like (taking up) a challenge."
Many of the children who come to the center are from foster homes, while others are from families "going through a really difficult time." Some subsist on canned tuna and rice, "but they're happy and clean and secure. They don't have much but they're fed and cared for. The main thing is, they're loved."
Though many have suffered abuse and neglect, "They're neat, resilient children," Ancheta said. Still, "They've seen different things, not like the average child would see or experience," so they may have academic and emotional problems.
Her husband, Honolulu police Lt. Ray Ancheta, former president of the police union, has been "a backbone for me and the learning center."
He is a "math genius" and puts in numerous hours tutoring as well as counseling teen-age boys, she said. "He's just terrific."
As for herself, Ancheta doesn't seem to mind being on call day and night.
"During the adolescent years, there are a lot of difficult situations," she said. "I feel fortunate they feel free in calling."
City Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Iwalani White said of Ancheta: "She's a saint, doing this out of her own pocket. If I grow up, I want to be just like her."
