DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Foster children ride horses and interact with farm animals at the Waimanalo Polo Fields. The kids are part of Heart Gallery Hawaii, a group that provides community services, including finding adoptive homes for children.
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Foster kids walk with animals
A nonprofit group gives children without parents fun activities and happy memories
A grinning 14-year-old, Chantelle gently groomed a light brown horse while other foster children stood in awe of the farm animals at Waimanalo Polo Fields.
They were full of smiles and laughs as they caressed the animals, knowing that this was something they could not take for granted.
Chantelle and 29 other children from the Ka Pa Ola group home and foster families came to the polo grounds last month at the invitation of a nonprofit organization called Heart Gallery Hawaii. It is part of a national group that provides community services such as finding adoptive homes for children.
The gathering, sponsored by Mobi PCS, was intended to give youths without legal parents or guardians an out-of-the-ordinary experience.
"We do try to provide fun activities for them, get them out of their normal day-to-day," said David Louis, the founder of Heart Gallery Hawaii and a former foster youth. "We try to provide them with some happy memories."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chantel Takabayashi, front, and Maile Kalanui-Patton, both 14 years old, pet goats.
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Those experiences are particularly important to children who have been through traumatic domestic situations, said Louis. Some were abandoned or separated from their families.
Although the children have not had what might be considered "normal" upbringings, they still have "the same dreams, the same hopes" as children with parents, he said.
Most of the children claimed their spot in line for a horse ride, while others dashed for brushes to groom the animals. They were all excited at the chance to try something new.
Chantelle lives in a group home, separated from her family on the Big Island.
"I ran away a lot," she said. "I got taken away from home. I'm still under custody from my parents, and I'm just in this program to change my behavior. I've been doing good so far."
It has been a year since she has seen and talked to her mother, but does well on her own, said her Ka Pa Ola teacher, Ota Eliesa.
"She's really grown up and learned a lot," Eliesa said.
Another foster youth, an energetic 5-year-old named Kai, seemed to enjoy brushing a horse but declared the beast "stinky."
His foster mother, Cindy Tavares, took his photo and laughed, saying that she never realized how many children are in need here in Hawaii. There are currently 5,000 foster youths in Hawaii but only 1,200 group homes.
She will officially adopt Kai on Wednesday.
