By By Gary Kuper

Copyright guampdn

I attended a fundraiser at LeoPalace Resort Guam this past weekend for a local dance troupe hoping to raise money to travel to the Philippines.

They started out the event with, O Asaina. “Please give us permission to dig on our island.”

As the crowd joined in with song and dance, you could feel the CHamoru pride swell in the room.

Unfortunately, as I drove around the island in the coming days, I wondered what our ancestors felt about how we are letting the beauty of our island fade away—graffiti covered bus stops, roaming dogs, abandoned vehicles, disregard for zoning, and homeless islanders dotting our landscape.

Failing their descendants with substandard education has to be one of our most disappointing legacies.

If not for all of us, who will correct this and make our ancestors proud of the way we respect their teachings?

Guam, a beautiful island!