Photo courtesy of Ben Wu
Taiwanese YouTuber begins visiting Taiwanese allies
Ben Wu — a Chinese YouTuber — is partway through his goal of visiting and sharing his travels to all the countries that have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). He says his aim is to boost awareness of those countries as a backpacker.
Viewers of “Ben’s Adventure” will find the narrative in Chinese, but with English subtitles.
The posts of his travels to three of those countries: Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands in November 2018 have already attracted thousands of views. Wu described the Marshalls Islands as having a “better infrastructure than Kiribati.” Apart from a sailing trip on the Okeonos Marshalls boat, he spent a night on Arno. Wu made a pit stop in Australia, but told Guam Business Magazine on March 19, “I’m traveling in Paraguay now.” After a seven-day stop, he says, “Next stop is Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Saint Kitts and Nevis. And in mid April, I will visit Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua. It will take about two months to finish the project.”
Former Peace Corps volunteer donates to Yap Museum
Arthur R. Mergeist, a Peace Corps Volunteer and teacher in Yap during the 1970s, donated his collection of historical artifacts including yearbooks from the school where he taught, paintings and a string of traditional shell money to the Yap Living History Museum in Colonia.
The Mergeist collection is on display at the FSM Consulate General at 1755 Army Drive, Dededo from Monday to Friday, pending completion of construction of a new museum, according to the Yap Visitors Bureau.
Non-profit focuses on territories news
Stephan Berimbere is the Guam Affairs Intern Correspondent at Pasquines, which is a non-profit news organization “dedicated to ending the insularity between the United States and its territories,” according to pasquines.us.
Originally from Burundi, Berimbere is a 4th year student of political science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, according to his resume on the site. Berimbere has covered a variety of recent issues that affect the island economically, from the lack of funding for the Government of Guam’s websites, to the potential disruption of $750 million in funding for the Guam military buildup due to President Trump’s border wall.
Palau receives sustainability award
At the 2019 Internationale Tourismus-BörseBerlin tourism trade fair, held in Berlin from March 6 to March 9, Green Destinations — a non-profit foundation for sustainable tourism, named Palau the recipient of its Earth Award. Palau was cited for its 2009 creation of the world’s first shark sanctuary, the 2015 designation of its marine sanctuary, the 2017 introduction of the Palau Pledge for visitors and the banning of the sale and use of “reef-toxic” sunscreens from 2020. Green Destinations recognized 100 sustainable tourist destinations of which Palau was in the Top Ten.
Guam recognized at expo
Guam’s CHamoru culture was recognized with the best performance award at the 26th Philippine Travel Agencies Association Travel Tour Expo, held at the Mall of Asia SMX Convention Center in Pasay from Feb. 8 to Feb. 10. The Guam delegation included Guma’ Taotao Tano cultural performers. The three-day expo attracted an estimated 120,000 event-goers, travel agents and travelers, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau.
Delegate promotes shark fin ban
Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan, the Northern Mariana Islands’ delegate to Congress, was featured on ChannelNews Asia’s “Feature story news” the week of March 18 on the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act or House Resolution 737, which he sponsored.
Hattori-Uchima
Nursing shortage in Guam shared nationally
The Nursing Administration Quarterly published an article by Dean Margaret Hattori-Uchima and Associate Professor Kathryn Wood of the University of Guam’s School of
Wood
Nursing & Health Sciences on the shortage of nurses in Micronesia. In addition, the article brings “attention to the significant health disparities” in the region, according to UOG.
The article appears in the January-March issue of the magazine which focuses on challenges and triumphs in various locations. The article can be read at journals.lww.com/naqjournal.
Influencers help promote NMI
The Marianas Visitors Authority invited Korean travel platform Traveholic’s photographers, videographers and models to the islands in December to participate in a three-minute travel video, a series of images in Saipan and Tinian, and card-news content of the Northern Mariana Islands to promote hotels to general consumers. MVA says the clip saw 16,700 views on YouTube, more than 4,800 reactions on Facebook and 7,900 likes on Instagram.
Photo courtesy of University of Guam
UOG professor publishes book
JustFiction published “Winter Woods: My Journey into Tanka” by Yukiko Inoue-Smith, a professor of educational psychology and research at the University of Guam’s School of Education on Jan. 2. The book of classic Japanese poetry and essays is based on Inoue-Smith’s moves from Japan to the U.S. mainland and Guam and contains some previous works, according to UOG. The book can be purchased through JustFiction and Amazon.
UOG also announced April 3 that Taiguini Books, a division of UOG Press, will publish an updated edition of “The Best Tracks on Guam,” by David and Beverley Lotz, both well known in the hiking and “boonie stomping” community. Abby Crain and Jerred Wells contributed photos and trail information.
