Rise Above campaign provides bird's eye view of Guam

by Jolene Toves

Guam - For those of us who've lived on Guam for a long time, sometimes we tend to forget just how beautiful our island is. And sometimes a different perspective may be all that's needed to appreciate all that our island has to offer. The Rise Above campaign is an effort to generate the funding needed to maintain and improve the island's beauty.

Lieutenant Governor Ray Tenorio said the intent is to "raise money to do everything from we are going to tile the East Agana wall, which is the U.S. Guam Flag with the support our troops ribbon n the middle and then we are going to have other projects including the playground hopefully in the park in Paseo that we want to build for our families."

The works along with the Island Beautification Task Force came together to give 144 government officials, island dignitaries and residents a chance to see Guam's beauty from a bird's eye perspective. Department of Youth Affairs director Adonis Mendiola says a new perspective is exactly what he hopes to gain and pass on to the youth, noting, "How living on this beautiful island we can build an expectation in children to take pride to respect to love their island love the people and love people of all cultures."

Flying 2,000 feet above the island Japan Airlines Flight 671 encircled the island before doubling-back giving all of its passengers the opportunity to view the island coast, mountains, and lush greenery. "The beauty of our island from a perspective most people never see 2,000 feet above sea level and then looking out the window from both sides because they are going to circle the island and then come back the other way," he explained. "I think the hopes is for people to be able to say, 'Hey, there's Tun Jose's ranch and hey there's our house!' You know and see Guam from a different stand point and Japan Airlines is making it possible for us to use this as a fundraising opportunity."

While in-flight passenger snapped photos in awe of the beauty they were treated to before posting them and sharing that beauty in various social media, spreading the word of how beautiful our island is.