Keeana Villamar was born on Maui and raised on Lāhaināluna Road. She's the daughter of Filipino immigrants who came to Hawaiʻi to pursue a better life.
Now she's a first-generation college student at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Thousands of miles away, her family home burned down in the Aug. 8 wildfires.
The Conversation talked to Villamar about her memories of Lāhainā and the questions she has about home, displacement, and belonging. She has not been home in almost two years.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 2, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
