A Funeral

I’ve talked about how funerals are a big deal on the Island of Pohnpei.  Sadly, one of the PICS High School English teachers died suddenly yesterday morning.  She was young—early forties, but apparently had a heart condition.  The principal made the decision to call off school for a day and a half, and the faculty met to determine what they would do to honor the deceased.  The decision was made to collect a donation of $10 from everyone and use the money to buy a pig and some sakau.  Below is a picture of the PICS’ pig in the back of a pick-up, about to meet its maker.  Also, some sakau.

I was asked if I would like to attend along with the faculty, so I spent the day at a pretty unique event.  In broad strokes, the Pohnpeian funeral traditions are similar to ours—a funeral service followed by a short service at the grave site followed by a reception.  Beyond that, however, totally different.   Below are pictures showing the first phase.  People filed in and out of the building where the funeral service was taking place.  Others, like me, paid our respects by sitting outside on the red benches underneath the shelter.  It might have been a bit more somber if it were not for a female dog in heat seeking refuge under the benches while a couple of very focused males tried to reach her.  As you will see from the pictures, dress was very casual.  I was a bit over-dressed in my best black Hawaiian shirt and flip flops.  I struck up a conversation with the guy trimming the skin off a mango with his machete.  He was a retired teacher at PICS and had spent time attending the University of Oregon.  He frequently managed to work “Go Ducks” into the conversation.

Location of the funeral service

Go Ducks!

When the service ended everyone trekked up a hill to a burial plot behind the church.  The pastor led prayers and people sang several hymns.  One of the pictures below shows young men passing large rocks down from the hillside which were placed in the grave.

From the grave site we walked a couple hundred yards to a large open pavilion where the festivities began.  As we filed into the pavilion we passed by a dozen or so pigs that had been disemboweled and a large fire pit where each was seared before becoming part of the ceremony.  In a couple of other areas there were men preparing sakau on large stone tables. The Nahnmwarki and other dignitaries sat on a raised cement platform at one end of the pavilion.  The rest of us sat along the sides or on chairs in the center area.  We were first served rice and pork in little plastic containers.  After an hour or so, the show began.  A small army of young men carried the seared pigs down the center aisle and placed them on large palm fronds in front of the dignitaries.  They, in turn, were followed by men carrying large woven palm baskets full of breadfruit and yams.  The men carrying the pigs used machetes to hack apart the carcasses.  Much of the meat was then passed out to all of us in the audience—not to be eaten there since it was minimally cooked, but to be taken home.  I did receive a section of pork ribs but gave them away, given my limited cooking capacity.  The lady sitting next to me received a pig’s head.  Once the meat course was over, the same group of young men brought in sakau branches and roots and piled them in the center aisle in front of the dignitaries.  There were a half dozen speeches—I wish I could understand what was said.  The final speaker was the Nahmwarki.  Ceremonial offerings of prepared sakau were then provided to a select few.  At that point most of the sakau was removed from the pavilion, ending up in the back of pickup trucks.  What sakau remained was prepared for distribution among the people who remained.  I left at that point to catch my ride back to Kolonia.  Sitting on hard cement for 2-3 hours is about the limit for me.  Another interesting experience!   Sadly, given the death rate, probably not my last.

Fire pit

Searing the pork

Sakau root on a large stone table after having been beaten by rocks

Straining sakau through hibiscus bark

Seated in the pavilion.  The PICS principal is the gentleman in blue jeans

Carrying in the pigs

Distributed pork

The pile of sakau brought in for the ceremony

Breadfruit

Even More Odds and Ends

Pete  A post or two back I mentioned Pete, my driver.  Here’s his picture.

At the track  Below are a couple of pictures of the track and field near PICS High School.  It's a great track, built as a result of a large grant.  I come here often and there are usually a wide mix of people, young and old using it.  A couple of weeks ago I had a nice chat here with the United States Ambassador.  I met her at the Peace Corps swearing in ceremony early on, and more recently, at the Japanese embassy.  She is a self-described Pollyanna, finding the good in most anything—which, I guess is a good attitude to have for someone in her position.  Lately, I often see a large group of young people training for a Micronesia-wide track meet that will be taking place in early June.  I am looking forward to seeing it.  As for me, I continue to run—although not all that far nor all that fast.  Other than my family and a few friends, most people at home question my sanity when it comes to expending all of that energy.  Here, I am even more of an odd ball.  Most people just don’t run around in this heat.  They just look at me funny.  I can’t quote the science as to the release of endorphins or whatever—I will leave that to my son-in-law the phys. ed. teacher and coach.  Whatever the reason, the exercise does help put negative thoughts in perspective and seems to open the mind to new and better interpretations. 

Dogs, Pigs, and Festivals  I was riding home from Nahnpei High School when we came across a bunch of dogs having a conference in the road.  My driver asked if I had dog.  His English was not the best, so I thought he was asking if I had a dog.  I started telling him about Digger when he said, “No, have I had dog?”  I dawned on me that he was asking if I had eaten dog.  When I answered no, that I didn’t think my own dog would approve, he began telling me about dogs, pigs, and festivals.  Seems that dogs were on the island long before pigs and were once considered an important food component at local festivals honoring the king.  Men would honor the king (Nahnmwarki) with yams, dogs, and sakau.  Once pigs were introduced on the island, however, they were obviously much bigger and considered a more worthy gift than a dog.  Lucky for dogs, they seem to have fallen out of favor and apparently are not eaten that much anymore. 

As for festivals, Pohnpei is divided into Kingdoms (what we would call provinces) each of which is ruled by a (now largely ceremonial, I think) King or Nahnmwarki.  Anyway, starting in late August through October and November, the local villages in each Kingdom still invite their Nahnmwarki to a festival at which men still traditionally present him with yams, pigs, and sakau.  I said I would like to attend a festival or two.  He said I would have plenty of opportunity.  He compared it to our Thanksgiving.  Along with honoring the king, the festivals traditionally promoted the hard work of growing yams, raising pigs, and making sakau, all of which served the people well.  Interestingly, he raised the whole culture-in-transition thing, which I keep mentioning.  As money has become more important in everyone’s lives, some have begun to substitute money for the traditional gifts.  Seems the Nahnmwarki are OK with that.  

Lapw Kepwou  I had another “Pohnpeian” lunch, this one with a science teacher who during lunch doubles as a caterer selling pre-boxed lunches of rice and fish or hot dogs under a big shade tree.  She invited me over to where she was sitting and insisted I have lunch with her.  She is by nature a jolly woman and was fun to talk with.  She offered me a plastic fork, but (like the principal in a previous post) she informed me of the Pohnpeian custom of eating with fingers, so I had to forego the fork and accept the challenge.  She also filled a water bottle with kool-aid and placed it in front of me.  I didn’t realize right away it was for the both of us.  Anyway, I thanked her for her hospitality and she explained that there are three important aspects of Pohnpeian culture:  Friendly greetings, respect for family, and offerings.  The word used to convey offerings (what we might call hospitality) is Lapw Kepwou which translates literally to “Untie the basket.”  Apparently, before refrigeration, etc. people would store food in baskets tied to the rafters of their house.  When visitors came people would untie the basket and offer food to guests. Neat word derivation.

Sokehs Ridge  A couple of miles west of Kolonia is a high ridge overlooking the west side of the main harbor in Kolonia.  I had read that it is the location of some of the Japanese artillery left after World War II.  I took a walk this afternoon, headed in that direction, and without giving it much thought, ended up climbing the ridge.  I need to go back—I didn’t have my camera with me, my i-phone was low on battery life, and I should have had more water, so I didn’t stay to explore the whole ridge.  Funny thing happened at the parking area, just below the peak.  As I was coming down a man was taking pictures at an overlook.  He asked if I would mind standing in the foreground, looking out at the view while he took some pictures from behind me.  Apparently, he liked my red shirt.  So I stood there, pretending I was looking out at the view through imaginary binoculars.  He was a photographer working for United Airlines.  They are planning some advertising, hoping to lure people to Micronesia—which makes sense since they are the only airline serving these islands.  So anyway, if you see a United Airlines ad with some old guy in a red shirt looking out over the ocean, I will be glad to sign autographs.  The photographer was from Rochester, NY, attended RIT and was intimately familiar with our area of the Adirondacks.  Small world.  Below are some of my own pictures of what I saw—one artillery piece, some bunkers, and great views of the harbor.  

The ridge in the distance on the left is Sokehs Ridge, where I took the pictures.

There were a couple of bunkers like this just behind the artillery piece.

The trail up the ridge.

If you look closely at the large island you can see the straight landing strip for Pohnpei and the causeway leading back to the mainland.

An Update on My Work in Schools

After a month in Pohnpei’s three high schools, I am beginning to get a clearer picture of the issues, the needs, and my perceived role.  There are myriad systemic issues, starting with funding.  Nearly all of the money to run schools still comes from U.S. aid, which has been ongoing since the Federal States of Micronesia (FSM) became independent in the 1980s.  There is a joint committee made up of both U.S. and Micronesian representatives that determines how to divvy up the aid package, including that which is targeted for schools.  One problem is that student outcomes have been pretty dismal for years, and there is the concern that future aid may dry up if schools do not improve.  To address this concern, an accreditation system was imposed on the schools to focus school improvement.  It consists of a series of standards the schools must meet to achieve and retain accreditation.  It is clear, however, that these standards were written and delivered to Micronesia from an outside consultant who did not fully recognize the context within which these standards would apply.  They are fine, but as written, are more appropriate for a school and staff in upstate New York than in Pohnpei.  They assume a level of understanding and set of values appropriate to U.S. schools; they are not, however, as well aligned with the understandings, traditional values, and cultural biases still in play here.

The above is more than you wanted to know, I’m sure, but it is the requirement for FSM schools to meet this western-based accreditation system that defines my role.  I am to work with and mentor school principals dealing with very real accountability issues such as administrator, teacher and student attendance, the number of student attendance days, the need for record keeping and data-driven decision making, teacher accountability, and facilities maintenance.  With department leaders and teachers I am to focus on basics such as lesson plans tied to curriculum objectives, more varied teaching and learning strategies, better classroom environments, and student record keeping.  None of this is rocket science, but much of what we would consider basic accountability expectations in the States have not been in place here and are foreign to those who we are expected to influence.  In addition, most teachers and administrators have had minimal training—typically two years at the local College of Micronesia with perhaps some extension coursework from the University of Guam or Hawaii.  Nor does their training necessarily prepare them for what they teach.  I met a teacher the other day who said his background was in the social sciences, but when he noted that to the Secondary Chief, he was placed as a biology teacher.  Complicating all of this is grossly inadequate funding, unclear priorities for what funds do exist, and a Department of Education that has many of the same short-comings as those found in the schools.

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it?  All true, but equally true is the very positive reception I have received over the last few weeks.  Despite the sometimes overwhelming issues, the administrators I have begun to work with have been unfailingly respectful of me and seem eager for any help I can provide.  Their required Accreditation School Improvement Plans recognize the issues and have identified some concrete steps to address them.  The key will be follow-through—helping principals, assistant principals, department leaders, and teachers execute the actions they have identified on paper. 

Presently, I am working with principals on teacher observations, both short “walk-through” observations and more formal full-period classroom observations.  We are doing some of these together, comparing notes, and then meeting with teachers.  Next week, I am meeting with department leaders to develop relationships with them and determine what staff development will most benefit their teachers.  At PICS High School I have made it my mission to see that the campus gets cleaned up and better maintenance becomes the norm.  In particular, I am determined to see that electricity gets reinstalled in a whole building that has been without it for months.  So, I’m busy!

The pictures will give you an idea of both Nahnpei Memorial High School and Medolenihmw High School.  I was able to take them while classes were in session, so lots of pictures of high school students.  As you will see, these teenagers would look at home in any high school in the States.  While they deserve better than they are getting, they are pretty happy just being kids in school.

First, Nahnpei Memorial:

Medolenihmw High School:

Many teachers require that you remove your shoes before entering their classroom.