Kahi has been married for 15 years, has 4 kids (ages 13-6), and #5 is due at the end of March! She grew up in a little town called Laie, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Her family has lived in Provo, UT for 10 years. When people ask why she left Hawaii she always says that it was too expensive to raise a family there (which is true). However, she knows now that the real reason they were guided to move here was so they could find tools for recovery. She loves living in Utah and are grateful to see God’s hand guided her here. Kahi graduated with a Bachelors degree in Social Work from BYU-Hawaii in 2002. She uses the skills she learned there everyday as a mom, wife, sister, daughter, etc. But, she says that truth be told, everything she knows that would “qualify” her to be “working” at this retreat she has learned from the school of HARD KNOCKS! In Jan 2011 her husband told her late one night that he had a pornography addiction (it had started at age 5 when he was sexually abused by his brother but really became an issue around age 14). Kahi was in total shock, it was not something she suspected at all. That night after he fell asleep (feeling really good about himself), she sat up and read for hours trying to learn all she could about pornography addiction. One of 2 things she remembers reading that night was that she should find 1 trusted friend and tell them what was going on. That friend introduced her to SA Lifeline recovery materials which led me to attending 12 Step meetings in Mapleton and meeting Rhyll. She knew the women at this meeting had something that she needed; peace, serenity, self confidence, and hope. She poured all her energy into recovery work hoping she could find some of what they had. She says it has not been an easy road… AND it has been worth every second. She was too poor to afford therapy for a long time so she decided to volunteer for SA Lifeline as much as she could, hoping she could gain some knowledge from her interactions with those involved in the foundation. It worked for her. Her husband now has 8 years of sobriety and works his recovery and she work hers. While she is grateful it is working out this way, she says she takes nothing for granted and knows that “our individual recoveries and the recovery of our marriage takes work. I am eternally grateful for the tools I have learned through SA Lifeline and 12 Step.” Kahi is excited about the SAL Women’s Retreat because she has been blessed over the years to build amazing friendships with women in recovery. She knows what it feels like to be with a group of like-minded women who are working in an honest, humble, and accountable way to find healing and recovery. There is nothing like it. She is excited to do what she can to help create that experience for other women and spread the message of hope and healing!