Elizabeth Hata Watanabe | The Road Back…Long, Difficult, but Well Worth it, With Help from the Kindness of Strangers!

At the beginning of a lush Valley, there’s an eatery on Pauoa Road that is tucked into an unassuming building. In fact, you might miss it, if you didn’t know where you were going. Burgers and Things has no big, flashy sign boasting the delicious treats that are concocted from within. But, as you get closer, the aroma of a braised, not grilled, burger will lead you right to the front door. Once inside, three waitresses sporting their “Burger Hero” T-shirts buzz around, attending to a few late-lunch customers.

One of those waitresses is 41-year-old Kathleen Waikiki, a transplant from Maui. She greets everyone with a smile. And, after hearing her story, you might wonder HOW she manages to smile at all! She does so, because she now has hope – hope for a future not marred by drugs, or relationships with men measured by the number of bruises on her lean body. “I thought if they didn’t hit me, it wasn’t okay.” She expected to be hit!

“Growing up, I saw my parents fight a lot,” Waikiki said. Her smile lessens ever so slightly. She turns her head, gazes out the window and begins to recount the events, leading up to the day she began working at Burgers and Things. “My Dad was abusive to my Mom and my Mom was not faithful to my Dad.” She relates that it took a while to realize that her family life was not normal.

“I didn’t want to become my parents, but I found myself following in my father’s footsteps, abusing crystal methamphetamine and heroin,” she says. By the time she was 23, she had been in and out of jail and had three children, each from a different father.

Her relationships with men were strained. But, she had another three children. “And, one day I stabbed my daughter’s father,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I don’t remember what he said. I just snapped,” she explains.

The next morning, she said when she came out of the bathroom and her boyfriend blocked her way, then hit her, knocking out all her front teeth.

Waikiki ended up leaving the fathers of each of her children, believing the next relationship would be better, but the next man was also abusive. And, she had three more children. In 2014, Child Protective Services took her children away from her. Her father had a heart attack and she went to visit him in the hospital.

She dealt with the pain of the loss of her children and her father’s medical emergency in her usual way - by using drugs. “Getting high was more important than anything. On December 18, 2014, I arrived at WCCC (Women’s Community Correctional Center) on Oahu,” she said. While at WCCC, she finally reflected on her life and knew she had to change. That was the beginning of her journey back.

“Being in that prison was a whole new experience. I grew up. I decided to put myself first,” she said. She started setting goals- staying sober; identifying new priorities. She learned about the YWCA Work Furlough Program. She made a major decision to stay on Oahu instead of returning to Maui, where she feared she would be tempted to go back to her old habits.

That was a critical decision for Waikiki. She had expressed a desire to work in culinary arts and while looking for work, Waikiki met a woman who would help her take the next step in her new life - entrepreneur/restaurateur/philanthropist Elizabeth Hata Watanabe.

“I think she hit a point of rock bottom,” Watanabe said of Waikiki. It’s in Watanabe’s nature to help people. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, causing death and devastation, Watanabe sponsored a trip to Hawaii for a young couple with a small child, who had lost everything. Her intentions were to give this family a break from the disaster. She put them up for a week at a Waikiki hotel, and called a news conference to bring attention to the couple’s plight, believing more people might come forward and help. The couple ended up leaving to rebuild their lives in New Orleans, but they had a renewed sense of hope, thanks to Watanabe’s kindness.

“Sometimes, God breaks us down to build us back up to what He intended us to be,” Watanabe says. When she met Waikiki, she was helping her longtime friend Chef Ernesto Limcaco, who had opened Burgers and Things in Pauoa Valley. (1991 Pauoa Road, open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except for holidays). The duo needed dependable workers for the small restaurant.

Elizabeth Hata Watanabe saw potential in Waikiki. “I don’t believe in handouts. I believe in hand-ups and I believe in standing behind what you can do,” Watanabe says. Waikiki met with Watanabe and Limcaco and they hired her.

Waikiki waits on tables and helps with food preparation. “Chef is patient, he teaches a lot,” Waikiki says. She is grateful for the opportunity to make her life better. And, as for life in general? “The more goodness I put out, the more I get back,” Waikiki says. “I appreciate my life. Life is good without drugs,” Waikiki explains. “I’m not going to fail. This time I’m going to make it,” she adds.

Watanabe is impressed with Waikiki, as well. “The person has to fit the need of the business,” Watanabe says of Waikiki. “She had such a desire for change and if we can be part of that path, we definitely want to support her. We want to be the tool, the instrument, in her change.”

“She is doing really well,” she said, after Waikiki had worked at the restaurant for three months. 

Source: http://www.elizabethhatawatanabe.com/