Famoksaiyan Wins Rising Peacemaker Prize

On September 24th, 2009, the Chamorro organization Famoksaiyan received the Rising Peacemaker Prize from The Agape Foundation during the foundation's 40th Anniversary/5th Annual Peace Prize event at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, CA. Each year, Agape commemorates the International Day of Peace by honoring peacemakers dedicated to nonviolent social change. The Rising Peacemaker Prize awards groups or individuals that have made a significant contribution, for five years or less, to create peace in their national or international communities. Famoksaiyan, which started in 2006 and translates into "the time or place of nurturing or growing" or "the time to paddle forward," has worked to effect positive change for Chamorro communities in the Mariana Islands and the United States. Nominated for the prize by Margo Okazawa-Rey, the group received a cash award as well as a contract with the media consultant group Spark Action. Angela Tennison, Jon Blas, and Craig Santos Perez represented Famoksaiyan at the event.