Aquarius Beach Tower Hotel on 10/20

William Hunter and 30 other volunteers from DPH, BEH, Moylans, Commerce, NMC, and CUC (not to mention a pair of retirees) adopted the Chalan Kanoa Beach between Sugar Dock and Pacific Gardenia Hotel.

They removed 580 lbs of litter and planted over 40 coconuts saplings. After the cleanup, Will Hunter was overheard saying, "the beach never looked so clean."

You can believe Will or you can let the pictures do the talking.

A FEW PHOTOS TAKEN BEFORE THE CLEANUP:

A BUNCH OF PHOTOS TAKEN DURING THE CLEANUP:

AND FINALLY, A FEW PHOTOS TAKEN AFTER THE CLEANUP:

Now doesn't that look nice? Great job everyone!

Moana's Diary

Mai, a local dive shop operator, wrote about her 1020 on 10/20 experience on her blog. Saipan Aqua Marine, another local Japanese dive shop, also wrote about us on their blog.

Psssst....they both write in Japanese. Nihongo ga wakarimasu ka?

Front page news and a few more pictures

Yesterday's 1020 on 10/20 went better than I could have ever hoped. When we first floated the idea of recruiting 1020 volunteers to clean our island on one day it seemed like an insurmountable challenge. I never expected to meet our goal three times over. And oh yeah, we were on the front page of the Saipan Tribune.

It was a really exciting day. I drove around visiting as many of the cleanup sites as I could.

I started out at 7 AM. My first stop was with the Marianas Eye Institute volunteers picking up trash along Beach Road. They were led by their CEO Russ Quinn.

My next stop was Java Joe's for a hot cup of black coffee. Along the way I saw volunteers from DPL and I think NMC cleaning up the road

After that I drove to Kagman. Along the way I saw volunteers from MOVER cleaning up Isa Drive and the Lt. Governor's office and family cleaning up As Lito Road.

The Kagman Komunidat Association, along with the Lao Lao Bay Golf Resort, Kagman Highschool, Kagman Elementary School, and Cha Cha Oceanview Junior High School, were cleaning up the Kagman Peninsula.

Here are pictures of some of the participants:

After Kagman I drove to Koblerville to visit with Cinta Kaipat, her office, her family, and CNMI Forestry. They were continuing with the Beautify CNMI! project to build a public park at the old substation and abandoned airfield.

Here is a picture of Cinta with her sister Vi, nephew Kyle, and Ben Cepeda from CNMI Forestry:

After that I headed North, passing by the Mayor's Office working in San Antonio. Then I stopped to visit with the Aquarius Hotel, the Hunter family and DPH cleaning up the beach in Chalan Kanoa (where they planted over 40 coconuts), before heading to 13 Fisherment to visit with DEQ.

DEQ, in addition to cleaning up the beach and the road, planted 25 coconut trees and painted one of the pala palas with paint donated from Sherwin Williams.

After that, I visited with Hopwood Junior High School cleaning up their school and their adjacent beach and then PIC cleaning up the beach south of their hotel.

It was truly an amazing day! I didn't get pictures of everyone I saw, but I'm expecting all of the adopting groups to send me pictures along with reports of their cleanups. I'll post those stories and pictures on the this website when I get them.

The total right now for the number of participants stands at 3210, but that number should increase as other volunteer groups get back to me with their number of participants.

MOVER on 10/20

MOVER adopted Isa Drive in San Vicente from San Vicente Elementary to the US Post Office.

They didn't weigh their trash because Public Works picked it up for them, but they did collect 38 lbs of aluminum cans along the road. They sold them for $11.05.

See, environmental protection really does pay!

Here are the pictures that MOVER submitted:

A Smashing Success!

I started my cleanup off with a cup of coffee. How about you?

I traveled around this island all day today visiting as many of the cleanups as I could. I have just one thing to say:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The latest count for the number of participants stands at 3,210! I know that there were several cleanups going on today that aren't listed on this website. We want to give you credit and we want to add the number of volunteers participating to the island wide total. If you aren't listed, please contact me to let me know that you participated.

Also, please start emailing before, during, and after pictures to angelovillagomez@gmail.com. Tell me what you did, where you did it, who participated and I will post your story on this website.

Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved in today's overwhelmingly successful event!

Beautify CNMI! and hope

Saipan Tribune, Friday, October 20, 2006
By David Khorram, MD
Special to the Saipan Tribune

I believe we're all inspired by high ideals. Beautify CNMI! is an inspiring group. Every week or so, this group of volunteers sets out to beautify some area of the CNMI. It's a simple idea that comes from love of one's home, pride in one's land, and a desire for beauty. It is these sentiments that inspire me. They are a grass roots movement that welcomes everyone to join in.

What inspires me more is that the work of beautifying the island is divine work. Every faith looks to a day when human beings will live lovingly with one another and when civilization will not be the mess that we see around us today. There is a yearning for that “Kingdom of God on Earth.” It may seem a distant dream, but I take hope when I look around the world, because there is clearly a dual process taking place. There is a process of disintegration whereby various segments and institutions of society are falling apart. This is the process that manifests itself in much of the horror we see around us, the convulsions of dying ideologies. So, yes, the world is falling apart, but I see it as a required process of movement toward a better world.

Parallel to this process of disintegration, there is a clear process of integration taking place. If you look for it, you will see it. We see people arising to work together. We see old barriers to human relations coming down. We see science moving us toward a global community, requiring the recognition that we are inhabitants of a common homeland, one in spirit. And we see grass roots movements around the world tapping into the roots of human motivation to better their communities. Beautify CNMI! is a part of this integrative process that uplifts humanity.

Their work is also divine work because they are engaged in the work of beauty. I see any process that seeks to add beauty to the world as “symbolic of the nature of the transformation which is destined to occur both within the hearts of the world’s peoples and in the physical environment of the planet.” It is part of the process of movement toward that day when the lamb will lie down with the lion. Beautify CNMI!'s work is symbolic of that transformation destined to occur.

Congratulations to one of the planet’s integrative forces, Beautify CNMI! Today is a big day for them. Their goal has been to have 1,020 volunteers by 10/20. They have exceeded 3,000 volunteers. Hooray for all of us! Today and tomorrow, you may see Beautify CNMI! volunteers undertaking an islandwide beautification project. In the midst of the chaos and rubble around us, if you look, you can see the forces at work that are moving the world toward its sublime destiny. Beautify CNMI!'s work is not just about picking up trash. It's about inspiring hope. To join this process, call Tina Sablan at DEQ, 664-8545 or visit www.BeautifyCNMI.com.

(David Khorram, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist and director of Marianas Eye Institute. Comments and questions are welcome. Call 235-9090 or email him through www.MarianasEye.com. Copyright © 2006 David Khorram)

Islandwide cleanup starts today

Marianas Variety, Friday, October 20, 2006
By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

VOLUNTEERS will clean up “adopted spots” all over the island today.

More than 3,000 have signed up for the Beautify CNMI!’s 1020 on 10/20 program, and these include acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez and his family who will help clean up As Perdido Road from Beach Road to Chalan Msgr.Martinez.

In Kagman, Reps. Cinta M. Kaipat Covenant-Saipan, and Absalon Waki, Covenent Saipan, will lead volunteers in cleaning up the stretch of the road from the top street down to the village area.

The islandwide cleanup campaign starts at 7:30 a.m.

The Beautify CNMI! 1020 on 10/20 program aimed to enlist at least 1,020 cleanup volunteers, but Angelo Villagomez, the group’s restoration chairman, said they had already exceeded their target number as of Wednesday.