[ENVIRONMENT ★]
TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN CANOE CIRCLES GLOBE
(P1) The Hawaiian CANOE that is guided SOLELY by nature as it circles the globe has reached South Africa, the halfway point on its three-year journey and the most dangerous section of the voyage because of difficult ocean conditions.
(P2) The double-HULLED canoe Hokulea left Hawaii last year, and its crew members are sailing without modern NAVIGATION equipment. They are using the motion of the waves and the position of the stars to guide their path, sailing the way that brought the first POLYNESIANS to the Hawaiian islands.
(P3) By the time the voyage is expected to end in 2017, crew members will have sailed more than 60,000 NAUTICAL MILES and DROPPED ANCHOR at 100 ports in 27 nations.
(P4) They arrived last week in Cape Town, South Africa, where crew members are teaching the local community about traditional navigation, Native Hawaiian culture, and ways to care for the ocean.
(P5) “We’re here, we’re safe,” navigator Nainoa Thompson said Monday from Cape Town. “We got around South Africa safely.”
(P6) The journey is also about building relationships and connections at all their stops, Thompson said.
(P7) “To be honest, the majority of people don’t know much about Hawaiian culture or Hawaii,” he said.
(P8) The stop in South Africa was made possible with permission from Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who blessed the canoe during a 2012 visit to Hawaii, Thompson said.
(P9) “We’re finding the definitions of caring, COMPASSION, and ALOHA in many of the places that we go,” Thompson said.
(P10) The canoe will spend two weeks off the water before DEPARTING across the Atlantic Ocean to South America. Up to 200 crew members have sailed with Hokulea so far, joining and leaving the journey at various points.
(P11) Hokulea was first built and launched in the 1970s in an attempt to REVIVE Polynesian sailing. The first voyage to Tahiti in 1976 was successful, and the canoe became an ICON amid an ONGOING Native Hawaiian RENAISSANCE.
(P12) The latest voyage is called Malama Honua, which means “to care for our Earth.”
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Which old traditions are being revived or kept alive in your country?
- The members of this voyage are living completely without modern technology. Could you do that?
- What do you think are the best ways to build global friendship?
- Have you ever been in a boat so far out on the water that you could not see land?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Drop anchor
