Celebrating Mes CHamoru with the Military Community

By Marissa Garcia

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With thousands of service members and their families living in or visiting Guam, it is an exceptional opportunity to learn more about CHamoru culture. USO Guam teammates like Jadine Lujan shared “I love sharing our native CHamoru heritage and culture with our military service members and families through food, music, and storytelling. Hospitality and ‘inafa'maolek’ (to make good and bring harmony) are a big part of our culture, so getting people together to celebrate the unique beauty of our island and people is an extraordinary honor.”

Our nation’s heroes and their families can enjoy the influence of CHamoru culture and food at any of USO Guam’s three locations throughout the year. This March, USO Indo-Pacific Mission Partner Enterprise Rent-A-Car enthusiastically celebrated Mes CHamoru with USO Guam (CHamoru Heritage Month.) Peter Borja, team leader of marketing Enterprise added, “The work we do at the USO helps service members stay connected with what matters most. We love to celebrate Mes Chamoru because it is a fantastic opportunity to share things about our island that make Guam home for us, and perhaps can make Guam feel like home for them too. Biba!”

194 patrons at USO Andersen had the opportunity to learn about historical locations in Guam. They tasted CHamoru dishes like chicken kelaguen, a spicy combination of chicken, coconut, and lemon. Attendees enjoyed the chance to make connections while tasting red rice, barbecue chicken, empanadas, kimchee salad, hagun suni, shrimp in coconut milk, and various local desserts.

Si Yu’os Ma’åse’ (thank you) to everyone who came out to enjoy this special program. “We are grateful to our friends at Enterprise for sharing this same passion,” added Lujan. Biba Mes Chamoru!

The USO in Guam operates three locations including USO Naval Base Guam at Camp Covington in Santa Rita, USO Andersen at Andersen Air Force Base and USO Tumon Bay. For more information, visit USO.org.

For more information about Enterprise, visit www.enterprise.com.

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