(MVA) — School is out, but lessons continue with the Marianas Tourism Education Council and Marianas Visitors Authority, who held a tourism and hospitality presentation at summer camp on Wednesday, July 24.
Through a variety of activities, the MTEC/MVA team conveyed the message that “tourism is everyone’s business” to around 70 children aged between 5 and 12 years old at the Youth Services Division’s Youth Empowerment Summer Camp.
Musician and MTEC board member Larry Lee, ukulele in hand, led students in singing the welcome song “Hafa Adai.” Dance instructors Leilani and Vina Marciano took it a step further, teaching the “Hafa Adai” dance, and students quickly learned the coconut shell clacking moves.
Outdoors, under a tent, banana print artist Brian Ruben gave a tutorial, leading students in creating an array of crabs and other designs. April Lepeke and Nicole Tikienco of the dance group Simyan Marianas taught students how to weave coconut leaves, helping them weave fish, hearts and more, which students proudly showed off throughout the afternoon.
At different stations, students posed as visitors or friendly locals and imagined “boarding a plane” from Korea or Japan waving flags; being “welcomed at the airport” with seashell leis and island maps; taking a “bus tour” of various scenic spots while watching an MVA-produced video; “fitting up” with snorkels and fins for diving in the grotto and other sites; and enjoying one of the most common cultural practices in the Mariana Islands: food sharing – Chamorro cookies to be exact.
“MTEC is grateful to the Youth Services Division, especially Ms. Anna Langhamar, for inviting us to participate in summer camp,” said MTEC Chair Vicky Benavente. “The young participants had the quintessential Mariana Islands tourist experience. They had fun and learned a lot from the local artists and musicians.”
This outreach effort was strongly supported by cultural workers deployed through Pacific Development Corporation, Simian Marianas Corporation, and Chamorian Cultural Village Corporation.
“It is important to preserve, promote and continue our indigenous Chamorro and Rifarhuash culture for future generations,” said Gordon Marciano, co-owner of PDI and MTEC board member. “Our ‘cutula’ and ‘koche’ (Chamorro and Rifarhuash culture) connects us all.”
MTEC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster and enhance the community’s understanding of the tourism industry, to educate the public, especially students, on the value, social benefits and economic contributions that tourism brings to the community, and to instill, enhance and promote the spirit of hospitality of “Hafa Adai Tirow” throughout the community.
