‘Back to our roots’

Last weekend, my wife and I happily drove our 70-year old uncle “Boya” around the island. He is a retired Army veteran of the Vietnam War. He has gone through heart bypass surgery and qualifies for the Accessible Parking Placard from the Department of Motor Vehicles due to his mobility limitations.

To our dismay, we saw many locations around island that display the accessible parking logo (also known as handicapped parking), but don’t have an accessible route to their front doors. An example would be our very own public hospital, Commonwealth Health Center. There are many accessible stalls at CHC, but the entrance north of the emergency room door is not an accessible route. It does not have a slope on the sidewalk nearest the accessible stalls, which people who use wheelchairs or have mobility impairment need to access that entrance of CHC. Furthermore, we observed many vehicles without the accessible logo in their windshields parking in these stalls. There must be a reason for all this. Either they don’t care what the law says or don’t know the law itself, or have lost touch with our “island” culture.

Growing up as a little boy on an atoll in the middle of nowhere (Falalop atoll in Ulithi Yap), I realized that since our population of about a hundred people was so small, we had to help each other in order to survive. When I went fishing with my uncle Joe, he told me to give up half of our catch to the people living near us as a way of helping those who may not be able to fish anymore. What a noble idea, I thought.

Then, when we barbecued a pig (very seldom), we distributed pieces of meat to as many people as we could, sometimes, we would have only enough meat for one meal out of the whole pig. It didn’t bother us much; it actually made us happy to see others eating. In addition to that, every time we see a passerby, we invite them to come and eat, even if there was very little food. My fondest memories of childhood took place on Falalop, and I believe these ideas to be true on all our islands in this Pacific Ocean (Micro, Mela, and Poly Nesia).

It is because of these cultural aspects of our islands, that I find it very disturbing that as we modernize or westernize these days, we seem to be losing these traditions.

This Saturday, July 26, 2008, the United States of America and all its territories including the CNMI, will be celebrating the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. A civil rights law for people with disabilities that promotes equal opportunity, its premise is simply to create, as much as possible, a level playing field where people with disabilities can compete for jobs that they qualify for, get services from the government without physical and/or other barriers, and have equal access to goods and/or services of privately owned businesses providing to the public.

I’ve come to know the ADA because I work for Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems Inc., also known as NMPASI. You may visit us online at www.nmpasi.com to learn more.

So help celebrate independence this July by accepting that there are people on our island and in the CNMI and all across America that really need these accessible parking stalls. Like days of old, we still have to help those in our community. Not by giving them money or donating food, but by just following the laws that exist and not using the accessible parking if you don’t qualify or have a placard for them. A little will go a long way.

This is not just for my uncle, but also for our grandparents, parents, aunts, cousins, family and yes, also yourself. It is said that a disability is a natural part of the human experience. It is also taught to me that our island cultures dictate that we take care of each other.

It may be time to go “back to our roots”. Please tune in this Saturday on Power 99 Fm (99.5fm) from eight to twelve in the morning for more information on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Si yu’us ma’ase, olomwaay, ghilisou, kamagar, mesulang, kalangan, komol, salamat po, and thank you for being generous with your time.