Crowdfund to Rebirth Hedonisia. Our little eco-community welcomed visitors from around the world. Now we ask the world to make a contribution, or to publicize our cause to help rebirth Hedonisia Hawaii from the ashes of the volcano.
A Brief Community History of our Rainforest Home in Hawaii
When we purchased the land in 2004, it was a junkyard with rusted vehicles strewn around the property. Our iconic volcanic crater was filled with garbage, tires and scrap metal.
Jungle foliage had grown over much of the junk. It was only when we began to clean up the land that we realized what a gigantic polluted mess we had bought!
Slowly, over the years, and with the enthusiastic help of many Volunteers and Interns, we began to restore the land to its natural beauty. At our own expense, we removed 18 junked vehicles left by the previous owner. We also took out 7 truckloads of industrial garbage and over 50 tires from the Jungle Volcanic Crater.
As you can see in our Community History of Photos, there are still a few old vehicle relics around the property from the pre-Hedo days. However, the land has been mostly restored to its natural beauty.
Our volcanic crater is now one of the most popular attractions on the property! We divided the property into 26 'gardens' that are either decorative or produce food for our volunteers and guests.
Our environmental work does not stop there. We are active in local politics supporting legislation that protects communities such as ours that face continual government persecution.
And though we do a lot of land and agricultural work, our community history continues to evolve. Our community is never stagnant!
We now operate as an 'eco-feminist' community. We specialize in female empowering Mind, Body and Heart work, bringing a more feminist focus to our community. Men get the opportunity to be in a community that is working both online and at the community level for female equality.
Hedonisia Hawaii EcoFeminist Community attempts a Rebirth after Pele, the Volcano Goddess, Destroyed it in the Eruption of 2018.
Why we located here. A Creative Community of Communities
This is the land of Pele, ka wahine ʻai honua — the woman who eats the land. When we purchased the land that became Hedonisia, we knew there was always the possibility of a lava flow affecting us. After all, our location is officially designated as Lava Zone One.
The intentional communities of the Puna region provide most of the green jobs and sustainable development in the Puna area. They are protected by the volcano but always with the possibility that everything built can be taken away in molten lava.
One of the ironic benefits of living on an active volcano is that nobody can build a 5-star hotel here! Insurance rates and bank financing are very difficult to obtain in high lava zones.
As a result, high rise buildings, strip malls and other big development that have ruined much of Hawaii's natural beauty, is simply not feasible here. Property values are relatively low. This encourages idealistic people from around the world to move to Hawaii, buy land and start a community.
Like most of the communities in Lower Puna, living in a high lava zone area gives us a little less interference from county officials. This can perhaps explain why more intentional communities are located here than in much of the USA, Europe and the world in general.
The lava flow has now destroyed our community. However, this area is so special that we will return and rebuild.
An EcoFeminist Community
Hedonisia was founded by a man and welcomes those who identify as male. However, we define ourselves as an ‘ecofeminist‘ community. We specialize in female empowering Mind, Body and Heart work, bringing a more gender equality focus to our community. Hedonisia approaches feminism from an empowered point of view.
Sadly, Hedonisia was destroyed by the Kilauea volcanic eruption in May 2018.
The community in Hawaii is now closed until we can return and rebuild.
Media Press Release
PAHOA, HAWAII: On May 26, 2018, the Kilauea eruption flow destroyed Hedonisia Hawaii Eco-Community with lava covering 75% of the 4-acre property. Though community residents were all evacuated safely, Hedonisia now only exists in photos, memories and its archived website.
For 14 years Hedonisia was able to grow and thrive. The community appealed to those who wish to make a living by making a difference! With a focus on gender equality, Hedonisia attracted idealistic Volunteers and Interns from around the world.
As part of their duties, many worked as empowered Jungle Queens or on the EcoFeminist Entrepreneur Websites that were started at the community.
Community Director, Mojo Mustapha noted the irony of Pele, Hawaiian Goddess of Volcanoes, destroying, the world’s first EcoFeminist Community. “Much of the rest of Hawaii is overdeveloped, overpriced and with strict zoning regulations that cater to those with money. Except for the Puna region. We always thought of Pele as our protector. If it wasn’t for the fact that our land was in Lava Zone 1, we could not afford to build our community. And now, Madam Pele has taken our beloved community away.“
Mojo, despite losing his property and community, remains hopeful. “Pele allowed us to exist and she decided that we must leave for a while. Our 14 years of developing an activist yet pleasurable form of community living, needs to go beyond the shores of Hawaii. We will continue to work on the Hedonisia EcoFeminist Entrepreneur projects. However, our focus is now much more global as we bring the lessons we learned in Hawaii to the world.”
To prepare for their return and rebuild when it is safe and feasible to do so, the community has set up a Rebirth Hedonisia Community Crowdfund Campaign.
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Press Resources:
We give permission to use any photos or text from any other press resources below:
- Hedonisia Pre-Volcano Archive: Our web page showing Hedonisia before the lava flow.
- Hedonisia Hawaii Photo History: 14-year photo history on the evolution of our community.
- Video of the last visit to the property on May 10, 2018: I was given permission by the police for what turned out to be my final visit to the property before it was taken by lava.
- Rebirth Hedonisia Crowdfund Campaign. Our campaign to rebuild our ecofeminist community.
- EcoFeminist Community & Jungle Queen Video. Many are curious about what it means to be an ecofeminist community. This video, which was finished just before the eruption, showed our empowering form of ecofeminism in the rainforest.
- Hedonisia Lava Channel. Youtube Channel on evolving from the ashes of Pele into a different kind of community.