Christine Borge is the speaker, and she introduces herself as a kupuna, a grandparent or ancestor. She's 61. This was recorded on August 23, 2023.
They said, "Oh, [Oprah] knows the governor." We didn't need her in there in Bo'inhai. Get her out. Also, we don't need people like Kanye Shieki telling tourists not to come to Maui because some of us, thousands of us, work in the hotel industry. They pay our mortgage. They give us our medical, and the medical, besides the county, is pretty good for somebody old like me. So don't go tell tourists Don't come to Maui because you're not speaking for us, the working people. You're speaking for yourself. Tourists! Come! We love you! We have Aloha. You gave us money through donations. We're not saying, "Don't come." Come! Because you will be helping us, the lower people, the grains of sands of Maui is what we are. We're not the ones living up in Launiupoko. Not one of those houses burned. Puamana is still there. Lahaina Shores is still there. Everything beyond the civic center is still there. but the homes where we were working, where we were scraping, where we had less than $1,000 to pay for our basic needs of gas and food. We busted our ass and this is what we get? Nobody called us. Our phones didn't work from 5:00 in the morning. At 10:00am when I went to work, the fire was still there. There was no water. Tell me if that's not a coincidence! No water, no warning. And everybody talking about the Satellite City before the fire. "Lahaina is going to be the first satellite City." Well, hey, Jeff Bezos, you got what you wanted. Oprah, you got what you wanted. And the guy who owns the Nut, you got what you wanted. Fuck us all over. That's what happened. We need help in Lahaina, and who's going to come now and ask us Can I pray for you [Asi]? Can I help you with your paperwork? Because all we got so far was $700, and we don't know who to call or anything. It's culturally insensitive in that zone. Christine Borge. She has set up a GoFundMe page. As of Friday, September 15, with a $10,000 goal, she has generated $8,281.00, while the federal government has promised $700.00
If you want a firey voice accompanied by searing stares, check out Mililani Trask, 72, from Maui.
