What a Wonderful World
Well, this summer has really been flying…I can’t believe July is almost over. It’s been a good month. I was a little homesick for the 4th of July, the fireworks and barbecues and everything; but I had a good holiday weekend here too. A few of us Volunteers spent the weekend on Weno with the JVIs (Jesuit Volunteers International), who teach at a couple of the Catholic high schools there. That Saturday we all went for a hike up one of the mountains on Weno (I can’t remember the name of it now…). There was hardly any path to follow, so most of the way up we were weaving and thrashing through forests and hillsides of nasty sharp grass that was often over our heads. Halfway up, one of the JVIs who’d hiked the hill before with a couple locals informed us of a tradition that any visitors, on their first visit on this particular mountain, should smear a little mud on their faces as a sign of respect to the local spirits. Not wanting to cause any karmic discord – especially since we were more or less guessing on what was the correct way to reach the top – we all stopped to apply a little mud before continuing. Also on the way up we passed an little cave that had been used by the Japanese during WWII, which still had big old anti-aircraft gun in it. There were also a few other old guns scattered around the hillside. From the top of the mountain we could also see a few circular indentations further downhill where bombs had been dropped. Living in Chuuk, one is constantly surrounded by reminders of the war. There are a couple rusted out, half sunk Japanese ships just off the west coast of Weno – not to mention the many underwater wrecks, which now make Chuuk one of the best spots in the world for shipwreck diving. Most of the lagoon islands still have some remnants from the Japanese occupation: guns or tanks or other equipment; roads, caves, or building foundations. There’s not much Romanum, although the PCV who was at my site before me told me that when he was here, some of the kids actually came across some old bones, presumably from Japanese soldiers.
Anyway, back to the hike. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me, so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that the view was absolutely stunning. From the peak, which was mostly bare volcanic rock and some scruffy grass, we could see most of the islands in the eastern half of the lagoon (the view to the west was blocked by a higher peak), as well as the entire eastern edge of Chuuk Lagoon. It’s hard to adequately explain what this looks like to someone who hasn’t actually seen it for themselves. There’s just a narrow barrier of shallow reef and a few tiny islands, constantly battered on the outside by the surf – as if that thin line of coral and sand were trying to hold back the enormity of the entire Pacific Ocean. In a way it feels like looking past the edge of the world, especially from that height. It definitely makes you realize just how small Chuuk really is, and how vast the Pacific is.
July 4th itself was a bit more low-key; we celebrated by going out for pizza at Lei-Side Restaurant, which has the best pizza in Chuuk – and not too bad by American standards either – and sharing all the things we miss about America. The most popular items on the list included live music, long open highways, and a variety of good foods.
I’ve been back on Romanum since then, and have been busy working on our World Map Project at the school with a handful of students. It’s looking really good, and I’m really excited about it. A number of the kids dropped away after the first couple days when they realized how much painstaking measuring and drawing there was to do before they would actually get to paint, but the ones who have stuck around have been really dedicated and diligent. This week we finished the outline of all the countries, and we’re going to paint everything in next week. I’ve been taking lots of pictures, and will be posting them up here when the project’s done.
When our country director came to visit my site the other day, he said that I’m the first Volunteer to do the World Map Project in Micronesia (it’s most popular in Central America, where the project first developed). Which I guess is something to be proud of. But the further I get, the more convinced I become that this is an ideal project for the islands – and an important one. The lack of knowledge – geographical or otherwise – about the “outside” world here continues to stagger me. I was aware of this before we started the project – it was the main reason I chose this project in the first place – but even during the mapmaking process, the issue has become more vivid. A few examples:
One day when I was organizing some of my materials at home, my 23-year-old host sister came in and picked up a piece of paper sitting on my bed that had an image of the whole world map on it. She asked me what it was, and I said it was a map; at first I thought she was asking what the English word was (even though it’s also called a map in Chuukese). Then she asked me what it was a map of, and I realized she didn’t even recognize what the world looks like. I’ve had similar questions from a few other folks who have wandered by the school to watch us work…
Nearly all the students refer to all landmasses – countries, continents, everything – as “islands”. Even the 8th graders, who I know have learned the difference between such basic geographic terms, don’t understand the difference…
While drawing the map, one of my students found the Red Sea on the page she was copying from, and asked me if the sea is actually red…
I don’t say all this to make the people here seem ignorant of ill-educated, but just to illustrate how big of a gap there is in this area of education. Mainly it’s because of a lack of resources; how do you teach geography without globes, or maps, or anything? And of course, when your entire worldview consists of a few tiny specks of land surrounded by endlessly vast amounts of ocean, it’s pretty hard to comprehend huge continents and rivers and mountain ranges, or why things like shape and scale and the borders between countries are very important on a map. This made the actual drawing process a bigger challenge than I expected. It never occurred to me beforehand how much the students’ lack of prior knowledge about geography would actually affect things. Even though we had pages of the entire map printed out in very detailed sections, and a carefully measured grid system to follow, without any prior knowledge or a mental image of what the world is supposed to look like, much of the kids’ work ended up awfully distorted. I also had a surprisingly hard time getting them to understand why it was important for things to be in the same position on the wall as they are on the paper, or for countries’ borders to actually match up. I tried not to interfere too much, but I still ended up having to go back and fix up quite a few parts. I’ve always liked maps, and I’ve drawn and labeled quite a few in my day (thank you 7th grade geography class and Mr. Bakke); I guess I never really considered before just how much of a person’s grasp of basic geography is actually learned, and not just an innate understanding. Though of course that seems obvious now.
It was also interesting, though more expected, to see the kids’ reactions when we finished drawing the map, when I pointed out where Chuuk is – just a little speck near the eastern edge of the map – and they realized just how small the islands are compared to the rest of the world. They were surprised, but even now I don’t think most of them fully grasp just how big the globe really is. But that’s what this map project is supposed to help with. Hopefully it’ll end up being a great teaching tool.
So, that’s where I am now. I’ll be back with pictures as soon as I can…
