Kekaha Chong’s family has been ranching in Hawai‘i for over a century. “Seven generations in my mom’s family—for Parker, Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a, Hu‘e Hu‘e and Daleico Ranch,” he says. “My dad’s family has a ranch in Nie Nie and they also worked for Parker Ranch.” Unsurprisingly, Kekaha has had his own sheep flock for literally his entire life. It’s a crucial part of his family’s ranching ecosystem, he explains, because “sheep are the best animals for keeping your pastures clean and free of bad weeds.”
One morning at the breakfast table, Kekaha looked out and noticed one of his sheep limping … and the idea for his eighth grade capstone project was born. After researching and consulting with various family members, who became his mentors for the project, he learned that the sheep was suffering from hoof rot brought on by damp conditions. He decided to create built environments for his flock that would provide exercise and dry places to let their hooves air out. “I wanted to help my sheep be healthy and not have any pain.”
Kekaha chose to make rock piles in the pastures where moisture wouldn’t settle and where the sheep could climb. There were no available rocks on his family’s farm, so he arranged to get some from a cousin’s farm nearby. When he arrived to gather the rocks, he first sought their permission to be moved. “I heard when I was little that if the rocks don’t want to go somewhere, they won’t,” he says. “So I wanted to make sure they wanted to come with me.” Later, he used an excavator tractor to bring them to his family’s farm and arrange them in piles—increasing his skills with heavy equipment that are so important to success in ranching endeavors.
After that, it was time to bring in the animals. He recalls, “my proudest moment was getting my rocks in place and seeing those sheep climb them and explore them.” Kekaha hopes that in addition to helping the flock, his project will demonstrate how much hard work goes into raising the food people eat. He also knows that next time a big project comes up, he’ll be ready to take it on because he learned “how to take time to find a good solution. Now I know how to start a problem-solving process. HPA teaches kindness and responsibility, and that’s what this project is about.”