Inafa'maolek.us

To learn more about our community programs, events, & what we do, visit www.inafamaolek.us Inafa'maolek (to strive for harmony, to make good) is a gift from our good CHamoru ancestors. We know it well through witnessing the ways of our Manåmko' (elders) so we give thanks and honor them. We are humbled to continue to learn and share the way of Inafa'maolek. This organization was initiated in 2021,

centered in Alameda, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people. The roots connect to dialogue between mother and daughter confronting the challenges intergenerational trauma and the relationship to present-day systems of oppression in their respective fields of education and health. Resilience and abundance in familial, cultural resources as well as our physical body and earth were recognized despite colonization and past harms impacting mind, body and spirt. Family and friends gravitated to create an intentional space of gathering and practicing the healing medicine of Inafa'maolk with the larger community. It has been movement of peace. Inafa'maolek exists in the legacy of belated mother/nana Rita Aguero Castro directing her descendants to "stay together" during a time close to her transition and a life of nurturing. We are alive with strong roots to Guahan and value our mixed heritage, interconnections. We welcome you to join us in creating the beauty that's possible when we stay together, center inafa'maolek and celebrate fa'maolek (when something is fixed, repaired, made good) in the present. Saina ma'ase (thank you translated as "the elder is merciful")

Mission:
Our mission is to inspire hope and strengthen our CHamoru Bay Area community. Vision:
Our vision is to have a world where all can walk with inner peace and thrive with harmony. An important note about our name:
Inafa'maolek is central to CHamoru culture, way of being and represents what moves our work. In our journey to becoming a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, after being approved by the State of California with honoring Inafa'maolek in our name, we were initially denied by the IRS. We were told that we could not use, "special characters" in our name, thus, we changed our organization name from inafa'maolek to inafamaolek.us. Although we have an oral tradition, and written Chamorro language is modern, the apostrophe represents how inafa'maolek should be pronounced. We acknowledge inafamaolek.us is not the same. Until we are able to use "special characters," our organizational name will be Inafamaolek.us. We respect the ancestral language of our people and the depth embedded.