Project cuts down on graffiti
Umatac mobilizes to paint school bus stops

By Kevin Smith
For Southern Weekly

The southern village of Umatac has a natural resource more precious than gold: community enthusiasm. And though the treasury may be as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard -- like so many villages today -- Mayor Tony Quinata thanks his lucky stars that he has friends, young and old, willing to volunteer their time to clean and maintain one of Guam's most historic villages.

The mayor beams when he talks about his village of volunteers: Connie, Donna, Ray, Vincent, Joseph, Gary and George, to name but a few. These people are the heart and soul of the fine athletic program the village has, and possibly the reason why their love of sport can be found in their youths, who can be seen every day practicing at the center's basketball court or playing out their personal dreams on the new baseball diamond at F.Q. Sanchez Elementary School.

Quinata is especially thankful to his hard-working staff and other volunteers, who spent three weeks painting and landscaping at F.Q. Sanchez. Without them, the school would not have opened its doors on time to the village children for the school year.

The future looks bright for this community too, remarked the mayor. He is hopeful that two GHURA grants, totaling $3.5 million will provide a pavilion for an indoor basketball court and a new building next to his office for a multi-purpose community center that will hold a library, senior citizen center, computer center and other various needs for villagers.

One of many projects on the agenda for the summer is painting the bus stops, coordinated by Connie Santiago. Approximately 13 volunteers from Southern High School, F.Q. Sanchez, Oceanview Middle School, the Youth Crime Watch and the Department of Youth Affairs will be on hand with the mayor's staff to repaint six stops in the village. Quinata has received paint with help from first lady Joann Camacho, DYA and contributions given to the village for such needs.

The mayor believes in empowerment; giving the youths of his community the opportunity to take action and responsibility for the needs of the village.

"If we don't take care of the environment, we will abuse it and won't be able to use it for a very long time," said Quinata. "I really appreciate the youth getting involved because they are the ones who will use all these resources in the end. These are their (bus) stops and they are taking care of them."

The result of allowing youths to take responsibility is quite evident.

"Now that the students are getting involved, it sure does minimize the graffiti," Quinata said. "And this is not just for the tourists that come down here. It's for everybody that uses the village."

When asked if the effort was developed to deter specific individuals from using graffiti again, the mayor said, "This program is more than just a deterrent, but hopefully one where youth find themselves as responsible members of the their community."

The times may be hard, our trials plenty, but as we see in the village of Umatac, enthusiasm goes a long long way.