7 Saipan students to join native youth leadership congress

Inafa’maolek Youth Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress Delegates, from left, top row: Melady Manahane, Angelica Mario, Juneya Quitano, and Kina Rangamar. Bottom row: Richard Lacson, D’anahlei Rodriguez, and Jude Litulumar. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Seven students in the CNMI, ranging in age from 16 to 17, have been accepted into the Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress and will be joining the NYCALC as Saipan’s very own Inafa’maolek Youth Ambassadors, alongside their mentors and advisers, Eva Aguon Cruz, Jessielyn Quitano, and Rep. Sheila Babauta (D-Saipan).

The mission of the NYCALC is to develop future conservation leaders with the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to address environmental change and conservation challenges to better serve their schools and communities. It is hosted annually in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, and New Mexico Wildlife Federation. 

All seven students are juniors from the CNMI Public School System and were selected last April 5th, 2022. Angelica Mario (Kagman High School), D’anahlei Rodriguez (Kagman High School), Juneya Quitano (KHS), Melady Manahane (KHS), Kina Rangamar (Marianas High School), Jude Litulumar (KHS), and Richard Lacson (KHS) will represent the CNMI at this national event, joining other indigenous groups from across the country for a weeklong program based in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Together, they will focus on becoming effective conservation leaders in addressing environmental challenges that are occurring within their own home communities.  

The youth delegation has been meeting regularly with their mentors since April, planning not only for the big trip in July, but also for a food security project they will implement locally as an output of being a part of the event. 

“Being able to participate in NYCALC is such an amazing opportunity and I’m blessed with the greatest team,” said Rangamar. “Implementing and advocating food sustainability within our community is a big step in catering to our environment. We’re so excited to be able to represent the CNMI and bring this project to life.” 

Manahane adds: “We come from an island where farming and fishing is a source of survival. I believe that it is imperative we learn new ways to improve these practices.” 

The youth ambassadors will undergo intensive preparation to enhance their representation of the CNMI through Inafa’maolek Youth curriculum, which will explore themes of the complex local history, the unique cultural traditions and values of the people of Northern Marianas descent, and offer workshops to create gifts and attire for cultural exchanges that will take place at the NYCALC. “This is great occasion for our youth to share our story at a national level, where other native youth can learn about us and these beautiful islands in the remote Pacific we call home,” said Cruz. 

The group is set to depart Saipan on June 24, 2022, and arrive in Washington, D.C. on June 25. They will then participate in various team-building activities such as habitat restoration service-learning projects, outdoor environmental workshops, interactive scavenger hunts and career fairs, and cultural one-on-one interactions. Afterward, the delegation will have a day tour in the nation’s capital, and then proceed on a three-day visit to Hawaii to learn more about the island’s systems of sustainability. 

“This would be my first time traveling outside of the CNMI, so I’m very excited for the diversity and new experiences that come with being in this program,” said Mario.

This early, Jude Lituluamar is already thrilled. “I feel incredibly grateful to be given an opportunity that brings personal growth while also uplifting and guiding others in the process. It is especially important [in] these times to act and understand that every little thing leads to a huge difference in our environment and our lives.” 

As the seven prepare for departure and develop their sustainability project, they constantly remind each other of their ultimate goal and responsibility as CNMI representatives: to gain as much knowledge and skills from this experience and bring it back home to build better systems for the Commonwealth’s overall welfare.  

Inafa’maolek Youth is a youth heritage and empowerment program sheltered under the non-profit organization, Manhita Marianas, and the NYCALC youth delegation is supported in partnership with the Office of Rep. Sheila Babauta, who chairs the Committee on Natural Resources. If you would like to support this cause and/or for more information about Inafa’maolek Youth or this specific event, contact Cruz at (671) 484-0111, or email inafamaolekyouth@gmail.com. (PR)