During those days, our children never starved because when you stepped out of your door, there was always food everywhere. If you go fishing, not even five minutes and you could catch enough to eat.
Today, we barely find any, and if you go hunting or fishing you will be competing with other people, some of whom are contract workers whose contracts have not been renewed. Others are employees of business owners hired to take from our wildlife and sell what they catch to us. Why?
Before, in school, we speak Chamorro, including the statesiders who were here as teachers with the Peace Corps. They learned to speak our language. Today, most of our children can’t speak our language. Why? This is really not so good.
Back then when you need help or food, all your neighbors were there to help and in return you were ready to help them too. If your child was in trouble everyone helped.
Today, we have nowhere to go. We have changed our “constitution,” which is God’s law. Back then the only law enforced was God’s commandments. Today our laws include a constitution that does not allow religion in public schools. Also, everyone must speak another language, English. Otherwise a person with so many rights can sue you.
If we try to implement a program, such as fishing, farming, and so on, there are always rules. You need to look into all their details first and come up with all kinds of forms to meet safety requirements, which are not really necessary. Back then, you didn’t need these forms. You just needed to authorize an adult supervisor to watch your children and act on your behalf should an accident occurs.
Ever since we started hiring teachers from abroad, our language started to vanish and so are our rights to manage ourselves. Sometimes, we are fined by the law for unintentional abuse. Who’s to blame? No one but ourselves.
Where am I going with my story? Here it is. People of the CNMI, our parents taught us not to live on the wealth of others. Let us stand up, and grow our food, protect our fish and wildlife for our children, and let us enforce the use of our language, manage our kids and demand to be heard in our language for our rights and freedom to live our own way.
We have imprisoned ourselves with requirements just so we can get free money. We have exchanged our beautiful culture with this ugliness for money.
Why not seek assistance to be able to grow our own vegetables, fruits and others? We should raise our livestock and protect our natural habitat.
Why not ask the U.S. government to audit CUC, CHC, NMC and all service providers to see if we are not being cheated?
Why not seek assistance from the NAP to help families with a backyard/rooftop and a container garden, and have these programs credited to our children’s grades in schools? We can also ask the Board of Education to have it included in our school curriculum as part of a health project.
Why not seek assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to help us write laws to protect our fish and wildlife and help us to enforce regulations?
Why not ask the U.S. Department of Labor to help us build a system of employment service that will adequately serve our needs in accordance with U.S. regulations?
Why not ask WASC to translate their requirements and standards into our language so we can understand them?
Why not seek assistance for after/in-school programs to be implemented in a way that allows parents to be involved? For example: fishing, cooking, local arts and crafts, homemaking, growing plants and others which parents can do. Another example: for good health, we grow fruits and vegetables. They teach us about nutrition and we cook our produce using our recipes.
Why not re-write Article XII, so that both investors and land owners will be able to invest, without changing long-term agreements? A reviewing board will look into all lease agreements before anyone can sign them. (We don’t want to end up like Guam and Hawaii where a lot of local residents are now homeless and living in beach areas. A family member signed a lease agreement and today is homeless and broke, while the investor farms on his 2.5-hectare land and has built a mansion there.)
Can you see as I do the benefits if we do all of the above?
Juvenile delinquency will decrease because we are all working together and helping each other again.
There will be a decrease in obesity.
A decrease in chronic diseases.
A decrease in unemployment problems and an increase in opportunities for sustainable living.
We return to our language.
We earn respect from each other.
We set a better example for our children.
We decrease vandalism and other temptations that have resulted in our downfall.
And the list goes on.
Every day, I sit to mourn our ancestors who left us with many good teachings that we have put aside to please others just so that we can get money, a concrete house, pleasure, entertainment, equipment we can’t afford, an education that allows us to fight over who has more rights, programs we don’t need, free food so we don’t have to work, etc.
Our ancestors taught us to grow food, raise livestock, and help others but what did we do? We exchanged it all for money that comes with requirements we cannot meet.
Maybe I’m not right, but every day I worry about how my children are going to live because all of my teachings have been replaced by new ones I cannot understand. I do not know if they will succeed or will become worse.
Does anyone understand me? If you do, then stand up and help others look ahead, and let us sustain what we still have by helping everyone about what to do and how to do things right.
Thank you for reading this. I hope you have the same feeling so that I will not feel alone.
WINNIE ATALIG
San Jose, Tinian
