Free Write 20Sep

In the first chapter of Kevin Nadals' book Filipino American Psychology, he covers the Filipino immigrant "waves" and Filipino American generations.  I have a personal connection to the material mentioned in this chapter since I grew up in the last few years of the "Manong" era.  My parents lived in the camps surrounding Pu'unene, specifically McGerrow Camp.  I never lived there, but after my parents settled in the suburbs of Kahului, we still visited close family friends and relatives that still lived in the plantation camps. 

I imagine that the way of life had not changed much since the camps were first built.  I did not know much about the community as I was a small child then.  But after reading this chapter and doing some research on the internet, I started to recount visits to old Pu'unene as child.  My fondest memories are those fishing for tilapia with my father in the irrigation canals.  With the old camp homes now gone and the town almost deserted, old Pu'unene only survives in books, small museums and my childhood memories.