SECOND GATHERING OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF HAWAII

The topic of the meeting of "International Women of Hawaii" held on November 19, 2011 between 11:00am and 1:00pm at the Amy Greenwell Etho Botanical Garden in Captain Cook was "The Blessing of Breadfruit." Thirty guests attended.

Mrs. Betsy Jones welcomed everyone. She spoke of her experience of attending a program in Beijing, China organized by the United Nations in 1995 and how important it was for women to build bridges beyond race, religion, and nationality.

Betsy was followed by Lehua Cho who led us in a song, "Little Grass Shack" while strumming the ukulele. Betsy then introduced "Big Island Living" TV host Nanoah Parsia.

Nanoah's lively and sometimes humorous presentation included information on the nutritional value of breadfruit, the history of its coming to Hawaii and its harvesting and preservation. As he recently won first place at the Amy Greenwall Breadfruit Festival for his Kona Ulu Breadfruit Salad and third place for the Molokai Ulu dish, he then demonstrated for the guests the preparation of these two dishes and took a variety of questions.

After each dish was prepared guests were happy to sample each one and get to know each other.

Nanoah came from a family of diplomats from Iran. From the age of eight years old he dreamed of living in Hawaii. He has unique background of living in several countries and speaking six languages. He has a passion for preserving Hawaiian culture, music and dance.

A group picture was taken followed by Lehua Cho leading the guests in a popular Hula dance. Thanks go to Pacific Rim Education Foundation and Women's Federation for World Peace for co-sponsoring this event and to Hawaiian Queen Coffee for donating coffee. Thank you also to the Breadfruit Institute in Kauai for help with publicity. Donation from the event was given to the Amy Greenwell botanical garden.