Newsmaker
Monday, July 21, 1997
Name: Fiatele Bell
Age: 52
Occupation: Head custodian, Dole Intermediate
Hobbies: Jogging, reading, hiking, playing the video game Pac Man
In 1978, after her husband left her with two children to support and another on the way, Fiatele Bell knew she had to find a job. Making the most of life
Newly arrived in Hawaii from Western Samoa, hundreds of miles away from family and friends, and unable to speak a word of English, Bell vowed not to seek welfare assistance. "God gave me strength and I'll use that strength," she said.
That decision led her to the Department of Education where she has worked for 19 years, the past 16 at Dole Intermediate School as head custodian. At a Board of Education meeting last month, she was honored as the department's 1997 employee of the year. Bell cried with happiness as she accepted her award.
Bell is representative of many unsung heroes among the classified staff -- clerks, custodians and cafeteria workers, said Honolulu district superintendent John Sosa.
Whether it be putting up bulletin boards, painting classrooms or resolving a mosquito problem at Dole, "She listens to the teachers, she listens to kids -- she'll do everything she can to make a positive learning environment," Sosa said.
Her early years here were trying times for Bell, who had to go back to school before landing a job.
She attended night school at Farrington, putting up with looks from other students as she breast-fed her 3-month-old during class. "As soon as I got what I needed for a job -- basic language and how to fill out a job application -- after three months, I quit," she said.
Despite her limited English, she was hired as a lunch mother at Linapuni School for six months before landing a job as full-time custodian at Kaewai Elementary. Two years later, eager for another challenge, she asked the head custodian at Kaewai what was required to reach his position.
"You want to be head custodian? You can barely speak English," he told her. She was hired at Dole Intermediate as head custodian shortly thereafter.
"I feel like I'm home," said Bell, who considers the staff and faculty at Dole her family.
The school community has nurtured Bell, patiently correcting her as she stumbled over English and teaching her how to use the computer -- she now surfs the Internet and has her own e-mail address -- and giving her opportunities to conduct meetings and represent the school at community and neighborhood meetings.
Dole Intermediate Principal Evangeline Inoue says Bell's mission is making the most out of life -- always growing and improving.
"She's a risk taker -- sometimes I have to hold her down," Inoue said.
Bell, who never finished high school, enrolled this summer for adult classes at Farrington and is working toward a general equivalency diploma.
"If I wanna do something, you better believe I'll work on it," she said.
Bell seizes moments when she's not working to have fun, jumping into the middle of a game of hoops with Dole students or sharing some laughs with office staff at the end of a work day.
"I feel like I'm a little girl in an adult body," she says, giggling.
Debra Barayuga, Star-Bulletin
