Seed of Light

Nestled in the ‘ili ‘āina Ouaua, in the valley of Kalihilihiolaumiha on the island of O‘ahu in the islands of Hawai‘i, a seed of light has sprouted and is beginning to grow. Jessica Aolani Higgins is a farmer-forester, healer-seedsaver, and community space-holder at Ho‘oulu ‘Āina, a 100-acre nature preserve in Hawaiʻi.  A name meaning both “to grow the land, and to grow because of the land”, Hoʻoulu ʻAina lovingly invites people of all cultures into the circles that give birth to the change needed for whole, connected communities.  Led by ancestors, and motivated by the generations to come, Aolani works to honor familial connections to land while advocating for change in our food, education, and health systems.  She uplifts the collective remembering that food is medicine, patient is healer, seeds are ancestors, and land is our grandmother.