The BYU–Hawaii Women’s Organization gathered for their monthly luncheon in the Aloha Center Ballroom on March 7, where Kathy Pulotu shared the history of the Building Missionary Program. The Women’s Organization also emphasized their scholarship program, a service project called New Mom Kits, and a bake sale fundraiser.
Pulotu, a BYUH institutional research manager, explained how the labor missionary program, which both her father, Sione Feinga, and her husband’s father, Tuione Pulotu, were a part of, began in Tonga in the 1950s. “Local laborers were called to work under the tutelage and direction of skilled contractors called from mainland United States and New Zealand. They built schools and chapels all over the Tongan islands.”
Tuione Pulotu said when missionaries from Tonga began to be called to labor in Laie, he hoped to be part of the group. When he was not among the 25 missionaries from Tonga to be called to labor in Laie, he prayed, saying, “‘Heavenly Father, please send me to Hawaii as a missionary if thou seest that I can be of help.’ With all my heart I asked, and I said, ‘Amen.’
“During this week President Mendenhall, the chairman of the Church building committee, traveled to New Zealand to call Maori building missionaries to the project in Hawaii. In his talk he announced, ‘I have called 30 Tongan missionaries to go to Hawaii.’ At the end of the meeting my former supervisor from the mission, who was there with him, walked up to President Mendenhall and said, ‘In your talk you said you called 30 missionaries in Tonga, but you called only 25.’ President Mendenhall told him, ‘When you go back to Tonga, tell the mission president to call 5 more.’ And I was one of those 5.”
Kathy Pulotu said the labor missionary program was implemented throughout the world, including South America, all over the Pacific, and Europe. She explained BYU–Hawaii, then the Church College of Hawaii, was built by labor missionaries.
“The Church College of Hawaii, or CCH, opened for classes in 1955 in a temporary campus next to the Laie chapel near the temple. That same year ground was broken for the permanent campus. The permanent CCH campus was built using the labor missionary program. As in Tonga, local laborers in Hawaii were called to serve under the direction of experienced contractors and tradesmen from the U.S. Mainland.
“The CCH campus was finished and dedicated in 1958. Not long after this the growth brought about by the college also brought a need for expansion. This second phase of building would also be completed by building missionaries, only this time laborers would also be called from the islands in the Pacific.”
The second wave of labor missionaries included her fathers, Pulotu said. They were originally called to begin construction on the Polynesian Cultural Center, which was supposed to be built near where TVA stands today. After they arrived, however, they found the location for the PCC had been changed to where it currently stands today, and was not ready to be built.
Instead, she explained, showing pictures of BYUH as it was in the early 1960s, “They built Hales 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the tennis courts that used to be in between them.”
Pulotu said they also built the Laie Temple Visitors’ Center, faculty homes on Moana street, and the temple president’s home. After their first 18-month missions as laborers, they were asked if they would stay and help build the PCC, which both men did. They spent the next 18 months working with professional contractors to build the PCC.
Following the completion of his labor mission, Pulotu said her father decided to stay in Laie with his wife. In 1964 they decided to build a house. “My dad went to the bank and tried to get a loan. He was denied. He was in construction and my mom was a teacher. They did not consider my mom’s job when they denied him. He was considered too much of a risk. He was distraught and thought his dreams for building a home were on hold.
“But then he had an idea. He would build this home Tongan Style, meaning to him, with no money. He asked my mom how much money they had in savings. It was enough to pay for the footing on the house so they began construction. They ordered up the materials and he asked his labor missionary friends to help him. They would continue each week to pay for the materials they could afford and the labor would be free.”
At the luncheon, Michelle Henderson, president of the BYUH Women’s Organization, also emphasized the annual scholarship fund. “Last year we were able to give out 18 scholarships. The year before we gave out 12. So we did improve. This year I am hoping we can give out 20 scholarship … We are not quite there yet.”
Part of the push for the scholarship fund is a bake sale on March 30, explained Nancy Eastwood, the first vice president of the Women’s Organization. All of the proceeds from the sale will go toward the scholarship.
Another service opportunity the Women’s Organization is holding is the New Moms Kit drive. Community members are encouraged to take a box and fill it with goods for first time moms at BYUH. Nikki Holbrook, a sophomore from California majoring in business, who is currently serving as Miss Central Oahu and will be competing for the title Miss Hawaii in June, partnered with the Women’s Organization for this project and is donating tied blankets to the kits.
An open invitation was extended to all those who wish to attend the next Women’s Organization Luncheon.
Writer: Haeley van der Werf