‘Little Humanitarian’ on Maui Promotes Peace.

At age 7, Axil Kollist of Kihei, Maui promotes peace through song, stickers and an outreach relief project for orphans in Kenya.
When asked why he is so dedicated to his path. “It feels good,” Axil states.

Ask him, for instance, to define peace.

And Axil says: “It’s when everybody stops doing bad things . . . like war, shooting guns, violence. We don’t have peace, but we have freedom.”

Axil was recently honored by Little Philosophers, a peace prize program founded by Honokowai residents Phillip Henry Jarosz and his wife, Annastina. The program aims to promote peace through children’s art and actions.

Little Philosophers named Axil one of two Hawaii winners of the title “Little Humanitarian of the Year.” A $1,000 cash prize was split between him and 5-year-old Mahina Bautista of Oahu for serving as inspiring young humanitarians.

“I think the inspiration you can gain from a child is awesome. It’s the next generation that’s going to save us,” says Axil’s father, Erik Kollist. He gives all the credit to his wife, Jill, who nominated their son for the humanitarian award and has been guiding Axil through his efforts to promote peace.

“My son is following his mother’s footsteps,” Erik Kollist said. “It’s thrilling to watch.”

As Kollist’s youngest child, Axil grew up observing  his mother’s passion for world peace and rock and roll. Jill Kollist is s a song writer, and Axil wanted to learn the lyrics about a year ago when the 2nd-grader-to-be proclaimed he wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll musician when he grew up.

“A rock ‘n’ roll musician, maybe other parents would discourage that, but I said, ‘You want to be a rock star, let’s go for it,’ ” Jill Kollist said. She went about teaching her son the song, having to define words like terrorism, violence and corruption.

“These are grown-up words, but he mastered this song so beautifully and I think he understands it,” Jill Kollist said.

While Axil was learning to sing his mom’s peace song, the Kollists received an e-mail from the House of Power Church in Nakuru, Kenya, where the Rev. Joseph Madadi took interest in the “World Peace Before 2021″ song and its Web site. The Kollists responded by giving Axil the lead in a relief project that brought toys, toiletries and other necessities last year to the church’s orphanage.

Using his peace prize money, Axil recently sent another $300 in cash to the orphanage and used the remaining $200 to send care packages for the children. Jill Kollist said she hopes to expand the relief project by holding collection drives for clothing and other necessities and getting sponsors to cover the high shipping costs to send donated items to the orphanage.

At a cost of $2,500, Jill Kollist paid to produce 10,000 stickers promoting peace and distributes them throughout South Maui along with her son and his older sister, 9-year-old Erika. Since May, Axil sits behind the lemonade stand when he distributes the stickers at places such as the beach, sidewalk areas of Kihei and Kalama Park.

“Everybody wants peace, but when?” Jill Kollist asks.

She said she hopes her son’s winnings will bring attention to the need for world peace. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”