Iwalani tends to the healing garden

Each week, like a full-time job, Iwalani tends to the Honouliuli Ewa Garden, realizing her dream to create a place of peace and healing for those living with cancer and those who care. Volunteers and donors are needed and appreciated. Talk to Iwalani, plan a visit to the garden, and see how love grows when we all pitch in to help.

Pretty Pinks

Love Grows

A white bird of paradise. This plant grows in Iwalani's garden at home, a private sanctuary. The garden at Honouliuli is growing to become an oasis of comfort for cancer survivors, those in treatment, and their families and friends.

Iwalani's Story

(Photo by Mike Bambi)


Iwalani’s Story

Iwalani Evelyn Rae Walsh Wahinekapu Tseu is a renowned Kumu Hula, a teacher of Hawaiian and Pacific Islands dance, who has instructed generations of girls and women in performance and Hawaiian culture.She began her career as a successful and popular entertainer, circling the globe many times For many years, Iwalani was a featured entertainer in Hawaii and helped to establish hula as a beloved art form around the world.


Iwalani is a two-time cancer survivor, and was first successfully treated in 1984 for ovarian cancer while she was expecting her youngest daughter, Aureana, who today an accomplished hula and Polynesian dancer and Miss Hawaii USA 2009.She has two older daughters of whom she is also very proud: Tatiana, a teacher at The Kamehameha Schools,and Chariya, a businesswoman in Honolulu.

In 2005, Iwalani was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer,stage III,despite keeping up with mammograms and regular breast health checks. The news was devastating to Iwalani, her family and her manyfriends.She began her rigorous treatments that included surgery and radiation therapy.

During her recovery,she began her mission of compassion and peace for all those touched by cancer and devastating disease by creating a special place for retreat and the exchange of information in an environment full of life and nature,away from hospitals and institutions.Iwalani’s healing garden is a place for quiet growth and the creation of happy new memories.

Volunteer Gardeners Loved

Be an Ewa Garden Angel.

Do you have a few extra hours a week you can donate to gardening and experiencing the Honouliuli healing garden as it grows? The environment is healthy and peaceful thanks to the many wonderful volunteers who are able to help.

We love our volunteer gardeners who devote their many talents and green thumbs, and who give up free time to help at the Honouliuli Garden in Ewa.

You can see a partial list of our regular volunteers in the Ewa Angels column. These generous people come regularly to help water the plants, pull weeds, rake up fallen leaves, and attend to the daily work of taking care of our new Island garden.


New Garden Growth

Our current special projects include the bird's nest garden, started by friends Alan and Apple, to cover a shady hill with these beautiful tropical plants.

Pink flowers and plants are now being set among the greenery, and a pink bromeliad garden is taking well, with a few blooms now springing up. We are planting more of these special flowering plants as they become available.

Would you like to come out to help? Call 808 623-6776 to schedule your work visit--afternoons and/or mornings, weekdays and on Saturday and Sunday. You can also reach me via email ~
iwalanihula1@yahoo.com.

Mahalo nui loa,
Iwalani

The Miracle of the Iwalani Garden

The Iwalani Foundation

The Iwalani Foundation was formed in 2007 to provide educational services to women about early breast cancer detection. Another goal is to provide comfort to those in cancer treatment and others who are themselves touched by cancer, or know someone who is. Since we are all touched by cancer in some way, the Honouliuli Garden at Honouliuli in Ewa is a gift to the community.

For decades the property was neglected. It became a place to dump trash, furniture, old cars, and other junk. It became known as a meeting place for those involved in criminal activities. Working together, Iwalani garden/foundation, community groups and the Honolulu Police Department Ewa branch have energetically worked together to create a safe garden retreat for the entire community.