Na'alehu and Pahala are neighboring rural communities in the Ka'u district of Hawai'i Island. A distance of approximately 12 miles separates the two towns. It was the intention of the Na'alehu-Pahala MIRA team to establish universally accessible computer learning centers in both of the communities and to connect the two centers with a wide area network (WAN) to be used as a tool in distance-learning and a local teaching laboratory for learning Internet technology.

In Na'alehu, Na'alehu Main Street, Inc., a MIRA CSO, provided the team with the physical space for their computer-learning center and 5 computer stations. In Pahala a similar space was made available by the non-profit community based organization, Huliau O Ka'u. It was part of the teams goals to add the needed computers to the learning center in Pahala and to purchase additional computers for the Na'alehu center.

Through these interconnected learning centers the Na'alehu-Pahala team members hoped to provide affordable, hands-on learning opportunities for their communities using computer technology, to provide an after school drop-in technology center in the Pahala facility for the students of the nearby high school, and to provide general supervised computer access to those members of their communities who either cannot afford to purchase their own computer or find computers intimidating.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men….

Thus far the team of Na'alehu-Pahala has established a computer-learning center in the space provided in Pahala, but the dream of a link between the two communities has yet to be realized.

Since their original MIRA partnership, the two towns have been working independently on separate projects, though both communities still hope that their original MIRA goals may one day be met. The Pahala learning center has been host to a variety of programs within the Pahala community and the Na'alehu community has put the WAN equipment to use through Na'alehu Main Street.