Francis and Esse Sinenci jointly earn Hana’s Malaikini Public Service Award
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Francis and Esse Sinenci, husband and wife, are joint recipients of the 2016 Tiny Malaikini Mea Kokua Award, Hana's highly coveted recognition for public service. The announcement was made Oct. 8, the first night of Hana's Aloha Festivals Celebration.
Francis was chosen because of his service not only to Hana, but to the wider world of Hawaii and the Pacific. After retiring from the U.S. Navy, he lived on Oahu planting and harvesting kalo in Haleiwa and Hakipuu while also studying the Hawaiian language and doing extensive research on heiau rehabilitation, fishpond and stone wall restoration and, most importantly, traditional hale building. With others, he helped create a special building code for indigenous architecture so that this ancient craft could be practiced in modern Hawaii.
He also taught at Maui Community College and developed curriculum for Hawaiian Studies Indigenous Architecture. In the mid-1990s, he returned to Hana, where this master kumu hale builder has taught generations of students. He was the project manager for the Kauhale complex at the Hana Cultural Center and has built some 200 hales throughout Hana and the world.
Esse was chosen as a devoted volunteer and contributor to Saint Mary's Catholic Church and the other Roman Catholic churches in Hana District. She volunteers for many other things as well.
From 1998 through 2015, she served as a trustee and officer for the Hana Cultural Center. She also serves on the board of Hale Hulu Mamo. With her husband, she has developed the Holani Hana nonprofit organization and served as a committed caregiver for the late Coila Eade.
Established in 1992, the Malaikini Award is awarded annually for the person or persons who have given most selflessly for the betterment of the Hana community. Simultaneously, it honors the memory of Viewed Paniani "Tiny" Malaikini, a much-beloved Hawaiian man whose life embodied aloha and kokua.
Sheila Roback, emcee for this event, announced the winners. Tiny's widow, Lynette Malaikini, signed the certificate. The award consists of a framed certificate for each recipient and the placement of the winners' names on a perpetual trophy that hangs below a painting of Malaikini in the Hana Cultural Center.
The certificates read as follows:
"For his outstanding leadership in the Hana community and the wider Pacific in perpetuating traditions of Hale building, Heiau rehabilitation and Fishpond restoration and in passing this knowledge on to future generations, the people of Hana gratefully acknowledge and honor Francis 'Palani' Sinenci as the co-recipient of the 2016 Tiny Malaikini Mea Kokua Award."
"For her outstanding leadership in the Hana community, her devoted service to the Catholic Church, the Hana Cultural Center, a wide variety of other non-profit organizations, and as a care-giver to Coila Eade, The people of Hana gratefully acknowledge and honor Esse Sinenci as the co-recipient of the 2016 Tiny Malaikini Mea Kokua Award."