Page 23 - MidWeek - April 14, 2021

She talked to Maumalanga about college and he’ d joke that he would apply just to get her off his back.
Maumalanga continued that kindheartedness when he and wife Lisa, who also works for AFY as director of operations and special pro- grams, took in AFY foster youth to give them that same nurturing, safe environment he previously experienced.
“When he tried out college, he really enjoyed it, and that’s when he realized he could get a degree and do the type of work we were doing here at AFY,” she adds.
“Especially since we are on call 24/7 helping these youth
“In (his) case, you can’t help but become more like family,” says Spencer-Chun.
“He once said, ‘I want to
APRIL 14, 2021 MIDWEEK 23
Malakai “Mo” Maumalanga (pic- tured at right) is proof that the work Adult Friends for Youth does in the community has a tremen- dous influence in the lives of Hawai‘i’s at-risk kids, and the impact he’s had on those around him continue even after his sudden death last month.
Deborah SPENCER-CHUN
“There’s a lot more kids out there that will become like him because of the work that he’s done,” says AFY president and CEO Deborah Spencer-Chun. “I hear kids talking right now, ‘We’re go- ing to finish high school and go to college like Mo want- ed us to.’ I see the potential, a lot of the kids are stepping
“He was wanting to change, but he couldn’t find a job,” she recalls.
AFY builds relationships with youth in the long-term, providing them with alterna- tives to gang membership, violence and school failure. This in-depth connection means many of those kids become like family, and the same was true for Mauma- langa.
Right now, AFY and Cen- tral Pacific Bank have part- nered to start a memorial fund to help Maumalanga’s family. Non-tax-deductible donations are being accepted at Central Pacific Bank branches (cpb. bank/locations) via checks made payable to “The Malakai ‘Mo’ Maumalanga Memorial Fund,” as well as online at afy- hawaii.com/donate.
— Nicole Monton
up to be the better versions of themselves, like he was.”
Aside from obtaining his associate’s from Honolulu Community College, he also earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from University of Ha- wai‘i at Mānoa.
in the height of their crisis, they remember and are grate- ful,” shares Spencer-Chun. “Mo felt the same. One of his college friends told me that Mo told her that he knew from the beginning of his pro- fessional journey that he was going to work at AFY and help other youth, too.”
And, in fact, Spen- cer-Chun’s own ‘ohana took in Maumalanga while he was trying to step away from his previous life.
A former youth gang member, Maumalanga spent some time in prison, yet all the while, Spencer-Chun, his former case worker, contin- ued to pour into him the love and care that would eventual- ly alter his life for the better.
In 2002, Spencer-Chun hired her former youth men- tee and trained him for a handful of years. Together, they counseled groups of kids in schools and around the neighborhood, meeting at parks, engaging them to be part of AFY’s program. He was good at what he did and later became a master redirec- tional specialist, and eventu- ally director of redirectional services.
“When Mo lived with us, it was an agreement with his parents and us because his parents saw the changes he was making and how trou- ble still came once in a while to his home,” recalls Spen- cer-Chun.
give back what I felt I took,’” says Spencer-Chun.
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