Mr. Oseked brings with him 30 years of experience as an educator. First as a teacher in Pohnpei for 23 years, and then in Palau for 7 years, he has taught Headstart, elementary, and high school classes, and also trained as an education and health specialist. With his familiarity with the education community, Roman would like to take a good look at the strategies and activities of the tobacco program to know how to provide proper interventions and reach out to people of all ages.
When speaking about tobacco, Roman knows first-hand about becoming addicted to nicotine at an early age. In his early teen years, he began smoking and chewing tobacco. At that time, smoking was the style, the “macho man” image, and he thought that if the other young men were smoking, why shouldn’t he smoke? Despite a nagging cough, he continued smoking for 32 years until he made a choice to quit on December 31, 1989. There were several factors that helped him make the decision to quit, including economics, learning the hazards of Second Hand Smoke as both a teacher and a parent, and the fact that smoking was hazardous and not good for his body.“It took me 31 years to learn those,” he remarks. “I hope I can teach people in much less.”The quitting process was not so difficult, though he craved smoking after meals. He fought with it and became a winner. Though he tended to eat more and gain weight, he compensated this by exercising.Roman also began to chew betel nut with Red Man and cigarettes as a youth. Though he continued to chew tobacco after he stopped smoking, he finally quit in February 2008 and is now completely betel nut and tobacco free.His advice to the youth is, “Don’t even think about playing with tobacco. Walk away from it or you’ll get stuck with the addiction. Once you start, it will build up and you can’t let it go.”Roman hopes to collaborate between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education for the betterment of the young people. If you have any questions about the prevention and control of tobacco use, please call 488-8118.
