Friends of Hawaii Charities Inc. awarded a $2,500 grant to Kuikahi Mediation Center in Hilo to support conflict resolution training in East Hawaii elementary schools.
“Peer mediation is a process where youth of the same age group facilitate resolving disputes between two or more students,” said Kuikahi Executive Director Julie Mitchell. “Peer mediators work in pairs and help classmates reach agreements that are fair, safe and doable.”
Peer mediators receive training in the nature of conflict, necessary qualities of a good mediator, active listening, restating, brainstorming, problem-solving, confidentiality, neutrality and the ways in which different ways of seeing, hearing and understanding (perspective) affect communication and conflict resolution.
To date, during the 2018-19 school year, 140 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders have been trained by Kuikahi on how to mediate disputes among students at Keonepoko Elementary in Pahoa, Mountain View Elementary and Volcano School of Arts & Sciences.
An additional four classes at Keonepoko received a newly created one-hour training entitled “Conflict Resolution Skills for Kids!”
Mitchell said Kuikahi appreciates the support from the friends organization, “whose commitment to youth programs allowed us to expand our offerings to meet the needs of our partner schools.”
Founded in 1998, Friends of Hawaii Charities Inc. benefits nonprofit organizations by providing grants that fund programs for children, youth, women, the elderly and the needy. The organization’s principal fundraising event is the Sony Open in Hawaii PGA golf tournament at Waialae Country Club on Oahu each January.
Friends of Hawaii Charities Inc. and official charity partner, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc., have generated more than $18 million benefiting numerous Hawaii nonprofit organizations.
Kuikahi Mediation Center’s mission is to empower people to come together — to talk and to listen, to explore options and to find their own best solutions. To achieve this mission, Kuikahi offers mediation, facilitation and training to strengthen the ability of diverse individuals and groups to resolve interpersonal conflicts and community issues.
For more information, call Kuikahi at 935-7844 or visit www.hawaiimediation.org.