Youth and Nation Building
April 2, 2007
(**Note: This article was first published in Tia Belau Newspaper and later appeared in the Bridge_List on November 24, 2002. It has since been re-posted again to the Bridge_List a few days ago, and it is worthy of reprint here as well.- Administrator)
Father Francis X. Hezel in his book titled, “The New Shape of Old Island Cultures”, discusses many social issues that are subtle but serves as markers for the gradual fading away of our values and culture. In this book Father Hezel misses one of the most critical markers of a fading culture, which is the empowerment of youths as a cultural and an economic strategy in nation building. As he writes about “family, land, gender roles, birth, marriage, death, sexuality, political authority, population and migration”, it becomes clear that the initiation of the Palauan youths toward a true ownership of the future of this country should not be a passing thought for our leadership. It must be a true commitment in harnessing active engagement and tangible investment in terms of mobilizing our youth toward such ownership, the true ownership of our future.
Where are the youth of Palau? Are they only recognized as amateur athletes? Does spirit of nationalism fare well in this time of wavering cultural and political transition identity? What active strategies toward the development of youths as leaders of tomorrow exist today in Palau? Is the current educational system truly prepare the youth to become good leaders? What is the track record? Where are the traditional mentors? Is the Convention on the Rights of Children as it is translated into actions practical in forwarding the agenda of developing our youth to be leaders? What about the Youth Congress? Is it effective in mobilizing the community support toward measurable progress toward youth and nation building?
There is minimal authoritative, passionate and directed pulse of recognizing youth development as an economic or political strategy for Palau. In this day and age we must expect more from our youths and our youths must learn to expect and receive more from our country. While there are exceptional young people out there, my intermittent contact the Mr. Victor Kumangai, Jr. and Mr. Obichang Otto has convinced me that Palauan youths has the intellectual capacity to move this nation. But what will it take for these and the many young people to feel empowered as participant of a larger political agenda.
Young people in Palau must actively participate in the development of this nation and this nation must not passively participate in their development. Their development must be sought actively as an economic development package by this country. There must be a national initiative that is funded to support such development of youths as leaders, youths as citizens and youth as true Palauans.
Mr. Boori Pryor, an Aborigine, in his book, “May Be Tomorrow”, is paraphrased to say the “knowledge is passed on to those who are strong enough to keep it. The elders have to see that strength in the youth to know that the youth can hold the knowledge.” The leaders and the elders in Palau must take an active role in evaluating and empowering our youth to be strong as Palauans and as true leaders of tomorrow. This is not a passing thought, but critical element of a developing nation. The development of youths must be an active participatory process mandated and supported by the governance, the culture and the very ideals of building a nation.
As such, the issue of national service post High School may be a good idea in building that sense of pride, nationalism, national identity and develop the spirit of ownership for the country. This will allow for the country to actively participate in the development of our youth to the extent that they are empowered to lay claim on her ownership. In the end, that is what we owe the younger generation.
By Stevenson Kuartei, MD
November 28, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Dr. Kuartei,
You pose so many questions that are both important and real. Ironically, the reality is that only a handful of Palau’s youth will actually read this fine article and the aforementioned questions. And here are a couple of reasons why:
You’ve already mentioned that there are social issues that serve as markers of the “fading away” of our culture. These issues are present in all societies, especially in the Micronesian Islands, especially in Palau. Issues such as irresponsible leadership, unstable and inadequate economy, limited lifestyle activities and slow development, among others pose a real threat to Palau because they force the nation’s youth to seek a “better life” elsewhere in the world, particularly in the US. Therefore, once they do move away, they automatically lose their particular interests in issues faced domestically by the nation (they probably aren’t even aware of this site’s existence).
What the youth fail to understand is that once they vacate their homes and the lifestyle that they’ve grown accustomed to here on island, they will have a difficult time reversing their adaptation to the fast pace life of and the availability of numerous and varying choices offered by alternative cultures and lifestyles. Palau simply cannot “advance” itself overnight to mirror or even compete with the ideal lifestyles of the western world, whose display bombards us everyday on TV, radio and the Internet. Because of this, plans made by a Palauan who lives overseas to return back home and “settle down” would soon change after they arrive, making their visit a mere vacation.
Another reason is that Palau’s educational system, based primarily on the United States’ is designed and set up to teach, equip and familiarize the youth to become successful in a western society. A single example of this is, the business courses offered by our nation’s only tertiary education institution equips students with tools to gain success in a money-friendly economy, and by money-friendly economy, I mean an economy that is stable, and/or growing, one which has a firm foundation and is widely recognized and adapted to globally. Hence, I think it IS necessary for Palau’s youth to seek education abroad simply to afford themselves skills in dealing with a small, unpredictable and slow growing economy such as Palau’s.
There are many more reasons why Palau’s youth appear to be insensitive and uninterested towards the nation’s future but the list is too long to discuss. Palau’s youth today do not need examples shown by today’s leaders because their respect for them has declined in recent years. What they do need are examples to be shown by peers, relatives, friends and ordinary people they know showing that they care about Palau’s future. When this happens, when ordinary citizens collect their minds and efforts into portraying patriotism and nationalism in a unified manner, we’d have the youth looking forward to the day when the reigns are handed over to them for them to command.
What we all need to understand is that the course of this very nation is not governed by the acts and wishes of its government but by the deepest desires of its citizens. The youth cares about Palau. It’s just that at the moment we’re trying really hard to know why…