MCCA to cap the year with Åmot Walk on Tinian

Having just completed their three-day Luta tour this past Nov. 10 to 12 as part of their Åmot Walk Tours throughout the Marianas, the Micronesian Climate Change Alliance is gearing up for their final Åmot Walk this upcoming month, this time on Tinian.

Cami Egurolla, director of Communications for the Micronesian Climate Change Alliance, told Saipan Tribune that this is going to be a significant event as it will cap the Åmot Walks for the year.

“We’ll be going to Tinian and arriving on Dec. 8, leaving on Dec 12. Right now, because of the collaborating nature of it, we’re still fine-tuning the itinerary. It’s being led by Carmen and Dorothy San Nicolas. They’ll be the one organizing and putting the itineraries together,” she said. “The one on Tinian will be the last Åmot Walk that we’ll have on an island. Right now on our flyers, Tinian is the last Island that we’re going to be stopping by.”

She conceded that it is part of their intention to incorporate the Northern Islands, but “we’re not going to be able to go to any of the Northern Islands north of Saipan [right now]. If we do go ahead with our intentions for Gåni, it will probably be out on the water,” she said.

That makes Tinian the last stop for Åmot Walk. “Tinian will be really important to this year’s Åmot Walk because it will be closing out on a specific landmass,” she added.

She said the Micronesian Climate Change Alliance is hoping to get the word out before they go to Tinian, especially with what’s going on in the Pacific right now.

“There are a lot of calls to peace and the Åmot Walk is our way to offer prayer, and is even a sense of unity for the folks on our islands. While our islands are constantly being talked about in these political spaces…we want to make sure that folks are aware of what is going on, and feel called to join us as we call for peace and unity in Pacific,” said Egurolla.

She said their past Åmot Walk on Luta had been a great experience as they joined with Lemai Love, Our Commonwealth 670, alongside the Municipality of Rota, the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, and the Rota Municipal Council, for the three-day activity. She said they had a unity ceremony, as well as tours to various historically significant sites, a gupot, and an Åmot Walk at Hatdin Åmot Chamorro, Rota’s very own Garden of Chamorro Medicine.

A total of 15 participants joined the walk, and the hospitality team was another six people, and this doesn’t include the crowd at the opening ceremony.

Besides the Amot Walk, the group had traditional demonstrations and on-site cooking demonstrations, Egurolla said.

“It was a three-day event filled with food and great connections with each other. We were so touched by the amount of hospitality that the people of Rota [showed] us,” she said. “Rota was truly so magical, the island was so welcoming.”

Egurolla said the Rota walk had been their third one so far, with the first done on Saipan during the Marianas History Conference, and the second in Guam.