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The CNMI\u2019s delegation to the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture is still short of around $100,000 to facilitate their trip to Hawaii this June.<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture director Gloriana Teuira and 2024 FestPac NMI Delegation committee organizer Mary Margaret \u201cMaggie\u201d Sablan said $99,000 is still needed to purchase $160,000 worth of airfare tickets for over 100 delegates.<\/p>\n
While FestPac is still a few weeks away, both acknowledge that they need to pay the airfare tickets today, May 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we are hoping the rest of the money will kind of fall into place. We\u2019re praying that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d said Sablan.<\/p>\n
Teuira shared that there is a portion of the funding expected to come from Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, but unfortunately time is not in their favor as they haven\u2019t been able to receive the money yet.<\/p>\n
Not wanting to overburden the government, Sablan shared, \u201cThe money we asked for from the government, didn\u2019t cover our airfare 100%. Because I believe that we are all hurting\u2014the businesses, the government, the people, our residents, our families\u2014so we have to show our leaders also that we are trying to help ourselves. This is not a joy ride for us, we are working hard also. We are fundraising, we\u2019re asking for sponsorships, and you know we\u2019re also asking family also to come out and support us, and if we have to, we can also stand outside on the curbside and ask for money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already made deposits for the tickets but it\u2019s not enough to fully cover the tickets. We\u2019re waiting for the SNILD, because [Gov. Arnold I. Palacios] did his part already, all of these things [funding received] are going into what we can put in for the tickets, but I\u2019m just saying that if they\u2019re not going to give it, just say that they\u2019re not going to give it. It\u2019ll be a very big challenge for Hawaii if we are down to the last minute and we say that we are pulling out. Imagine all the things they have to go through to take us out of the housing and the program, and it\u2019s on their website already,\u201d said Teuira.<\/p>\n
Teuira also shared that as they are in the 11th hour, \u201cI think the coordinator side of me is talking right now that tickets should\u2019ve been paid off three months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still following up on letters we\u2019ve sent out,\u201d said Sablan, adding that they are still welcoming donations even during and after the FestPac.<\/p>\n
Sablan shared that each delegation was given four years to prepare for FestPac, but unfortunately for the CNMI, organizing the delegation only started six months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was appointed in October and so we didn\u2019t have very much time and that is why our categories of participation are very small.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shared that at the festival itself there are 10 categories of participation\u2014fashion, culinary, blacksmith, carving, and floral designs, among others. With a total of 100 delegates attending, the NMI will have participants in performing arts, which include dancers and musicians, then visual artists, seafarers, carvers, and weavers from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery FestPAC, each country is only given 100 delegates that the hosting country will cover. Anybody outside the 100, their delegation has to cover them from food to lodging, etc.,\u201d said Teuira. \u201cSo, this 100 going to Hawaii we only need to bring them down to Hawaii then Hawaii takes care of their food lodging, transportation, and accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both admitted they\u2019re not included in the 100-member delegation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe prioritize the artists and our ambassadors, so we are kind of like on the edge, but we\u2019ll figure ourselves out, but it\u2019s okay, as long as our 100 are taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teuira and Sablan added that they still also need to provide everyday needs like first aid kits and water for the delegation and since there are 10 different locations across Hawaii for the event, transportation for officials to the sites are also needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to see how to make things more efficient and still take care of our delegation in Hawaii,\u201d said Teuira.<\/p>\n
Sablan said that along with the airfare, they are required to bring gifts to the host, organizers, and each of the 28 countries participating, as well as pay for the delegation\u2019s uniforms, banners, and flags.<\/p>\n
Teuira said that she\u2019s been thinking of conducting a coin drive since that was pretty successful in the past and said if everyone in the community gave even just $2 each that could potentially cover all their needs.<\/p>\n
Both Teuira and Sablan hope to see more sponsorships and funding come in as well and shared their appreciation to those in the community who have joined to help in any way they can.<\/p>\n
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The CNMI\u2019s delegation to the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture is still short…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}