Local Family Launches ‘Learn Chamorro’ Program

TUESDAY, 01 NOVEMBER 2011 01:24 BY JANELA BUHAIN CARRERA | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

Troy Aguon spent 13 years in Las Vegas, Nev., not knowing how to speak Chamorro, the language of his home island.

Troy Aguon talks about the “Learn Chamorro” program during his address to the Rotary Club of Northern Guam yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Photo by David Castro

Stumped by this, he set out to learn the “dying language” to revive it and pass it on to his children. He then moved back to Guam about 13 years ago and began his endeavor.

He visited the University of Guam and local bookstores, searching high and low to find every available kid-friendly tutorial for his children to learn Chamorro, but to no avail.

“There was none; it didn’t exist,” Aguon told Rotary Club of Northern Guam members during a meeting yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

“They had other books, but they were too in-depth and too formal.”

Because of this, Aguon, along with his wife and a few friends, has decided to embark on a journey to introduce educational materials that will encourage children and the general public to learn Guam’s native language.

Aguon is on a mission to get every single word in the dictionary translated into Chamorro within three years. He has launched a website, learnchamorro.com, which aims to teach Chamorro to anyone wishing to learn in a fun and friendly environment.

He has also produced an educational DVD with similar content as the website for $20. The price for the DVD, which is a “kid’s edition,” he said, is to cover the cost of producing the DVD, among other expenses. He also noted that any excess funds from DVD sales will go directly back to his cause. While the website is free of charge, Aguon said the DVDs can be purchased as a gift or for collection.

“It breaks my heart to know that you have to pay for something that’s dying right now,” he said. “So I’m going to do it myself and I’m going to challenge everyone on Guam.”

The DVDs can be purchased at Bestseller Bookstores, Nunu Tree at the Agana Shopping Center, The Piazza Restaurant, the USO headquarters, Che’lu Store at Chamorro Village, Cost-U-Less in Tamuning, and Island Fresh in Ordot/Chalan Pågo.

Aguon has also partnered with the Marianas Variety to introduce a section today that will feature Chamorro words/phrases and their English translations.

Chamorro-English Children's Book Written And Illustrated On Guam

GUAM - Christine Restuvog is a mother of three who authored and published her first children's book out of her Yona home.

The Mannge' Manhoben is a children's book written in both Chamorro and English. The author ...freelance writer, Chrisine Restuvog Quinata who says this is the first English-Chamorro children's book series written and illustrated in Guam.

Quinata based the characters in the book on her own three children, Isa, Mariana and Kin. She says that her children speak more Chamorro than she does and thinks it's great because it's important that her children know their culture.

Quinta says, "The importance of the book is that we wanted it to be fun, but we wanted to make sure that the Chamorro language was in there so we can keep the Chamorro language alive."

Kids learn Chamorro because throughout the book there are Chamorro words mixed into sentences like this one..."This is my che'lu Kin, a nickname for Joaquin. Che'lu means brother or sister in Chamorro. Kin is my che'lu."

Quinata's explains her eureka moment, "Gosh, it happened a year ago and so I never really acted on it. I watch a lot of cartoons with my kids. They have really unique and dynamic shows, but nothing that really relates to my kids and their culture."

"It's also an environmentally friendly book. This is printed on recycled duplex board with soybean ink. So it's safe for the kids, safe for the environment."

Quinata says there will be more books to come where each child goes on their own adventure learning about the Chamorro culture and way of life.

The book can be purchased at Bestsellers at GPO and Micronesia Mall, The Buzz Cafe, Ben Franklin Crafts and The Piazza in Hagatna.

WRITTEN BY MICHAEL RUDOLPH, GUAM NEWS WATCH REPORTER

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010

OHA 'drops the ball' in Protection Cultural Sites from Stryker Brigade

OHA ‘drops the ball’ in protecting cultural sites from Stryker brigade

August 3, 2010 by kyle from DMZhawaii.org

Independent has published an exclusive article about a formerly secret archaeological and cultural report contracted jointly by the Army and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for areas affected by the Army’s Stryker Brigade expansion. The article states:

The report, written by independently contracted archaeologist Christopher Monahan, comments on the Army’s numerous shortcomings in its attempts at documenting cultural sites, which, if included on the National Register of Historic Places, offers them various protections from being disturbed.

The report was the end result of a lawsuit OHA filed against the Army in November 2006 alleging violations against the NHPA and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Cultural monitors claimed that numerous sites were being mistreated or were endangered, including Haleauau heiau near Schofield Barracks, whose protective buffers were razed by bulldozers in July of that year.

In October 2008, a settlement was reached where OHA would drop its lawsuit based on its then knowledge of the existing surveys and reports. In return, the Army allowed the independently contracted archaeologist, Monahan, as well as OHA staff, access to Stryker Brigade sites for a total of 50 days in order to draw up an objective second opinion. OHA had the option then to proceed with mediation or litigation based on the new findings.

The article describes some of the findings and conclusions in the archaeologist’s report:

Monahan is critical of the methods used in the previous surveys conducted by the military and its hired firms, recognizing there are issues with the competency of the field personnel involved. It also notes a general lack of subsurface testing, or excavating, to locate such sites. Instead, there are “mere guesses … and based on relatively little scientific data.”

At some locations, Monahan’s findings more than doubled the number of known features the Army had previously reported.

There is also concern regarding numerous earlier reports—ones that evaluated surveys taken of impacted areas—that were not made available to him because they were in draft form. Most problematic was a major report on the Kahuku Training Area, which was completed six years ago but is still not available.

The Army is systematically erasing the history and sacred places in Lihu’e, Kahuku, Pohakuloa and the other areas impacted by its Stryker Brigade expansion. The report by an independent archaeologist blasts the Army for numerous violations and failings and calls for protection of the vast and important cultural site complex in Lihu’e, O’ahu, once the ancient seat of government for O’ahu chiefs. Meanwhile OHA sat on this urgent information.

‘Guam can be a Tiger economy’

‘Guam can be a Tiger economy’

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 01:42
by Jude Lizama | Variety News Staff

WITH or without the military buildup, Guam has what it takes to develop its economy and the island must take advantage of its assets, according to an economic developer from Arizona.

Gayle Cooper, executive director of the Economic Development Group of Eloy, Arizona, presented “Guam: Making the Pacific Tiger” during the recently concluded Guam Community and Economic Development Forum, which provided possible strategies to improving the island’s economic landscape.

“One of the first things you learn in economic development is to know your client. If you’re a good ‘economic development’ person you never look at anything from your own perspective, you look at through the perspective of your client,” Cooper said.

“This island has such a golden opportunity with or without an influx of increased military presence. It is in the ideal situation for making the best of its economy right now,” she added.

Strategies for improvement, according to Cooper, include developing and educating local talent, attracting an educated workforce, partnering with others, accentuating strengths, and minimizing the negatives of cultural diversity.

Cooper warned Guam to be wary of “CAVE men,” which stands for “citizens against virtually everything,” and can be a destructive component against development.

In order to become the Pacific Tiger, Cooper said there must be an improvement in educational levels, comprehensive on-island healthcare, preservation of culture, good jobs and wages, and an increase in housing availability and affordability. While Cooper agreed that the preservation of culture is critical, it is but a component of the larger picture to develop economically.

“You cannot be single issued in today’s world. In a global economy you cannot be isolationists,” she said. “We cannot build a wall around the island. There is a lot changing. We are all part of it.”

“Anything that is not sustainable is not economic development,” Cooper said, adding that respective projects that do not promote economic, social, and environmental benefits for the community should not be brought to the table.

Additionally, Cooper stated that the island’s cultural diversity is “a big plus.”

“Cultural diversity as opposed to a truly homogenous society is a big advantage because it brings in many different viewpoints and it brings in the advantages that we have enabled through so many centuries of intermarriage and movement around our earth to bring people more and more to the best they can be,” she said.

The Arizona based economic developer said an undiversified economy and educational levels go together.

“It is evident that without the military and tourism there wouldn’t be a lot here. You have not capitalized yet on your military presence as you’re bringing engineers and companies that produce product and work with the military your economy will grow astronomically and the jobs will grow,” she said.

“However,” she added, “you need that educational attainment in order for those jobs to be built by the Chamorros and people who live here in Guam. The big thing is we haven’t challenged our youth to go for it.”

Guam Traditional Chamorro Canoes