Our Story

In 2016, Honolulu journalist Diane Ako posted a blog about the hunt for information on her great-grandmother Helen Maliu, who her family suspected had died at Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi – a settlement exclusively for people with leprosy (or Hansen’s Disease, as it’s known today).

Diane had taken over the task from her cousin Paul Carrubba, who had exhaustively combed archives from the late 1990s through the early 2000s on the West Coast where he lives. He hoped Diane, as a Hawaiʻi resident, could find new information to add to their research.

Within 14 minutes of posting her blog, she received an email back from reader Valerie Monson of Ka ʻOhana O Kalaupapa, who wanted to aid in the search.

Coincidence? Maybe not. “I didn’t even read the blogs regularly,” Valerie later shared. “Something that morning just caught my eye. Maybe your great-grandmother wants to be found.”

Also in short order, Atlanta-based producer Martha Shade read the article. The former coworker and longtime friend of Diane’s thought this would make a compelling story.

Finally, ten years later, the duo was able to coordinate schedules to shoot and produce the story of Pili Hou: Finding Helen. Journey with us over the sea and back in time as Diane and her relatives find a connection to their lost ancestor - why she left, who she left behind, and where she went.

It’s a story of love and loss, of finding and never forgetting. Interwoven in this personal story is the broader tale of a dark chapter of Hawaiʻi history, and what we as a society have learned since then. Above all, it’s about the power of ʻohana [family] to bridge the gap of time and space to pili hou — reconnect — with aloha.