Four quarters, two semesters, one year as an educator in a "developing" nation. I have oftentimes discussed with fellow Jesuit Volunteers how difficult and seemingly impossible it would be to describe your experience as a teacher in Micronesia on a resume in two simple lines. What a lot of it comes down to is unlearning preconceived notions of the American teacher's role in Oceania. On a subconscious level, I was hoping to ride into town with my American education and bachelor's degree and address the issues that are affecting public and private schools in Pohnpei (and Micronesia for that reason) in detrimental ways.Obviously, I am not the first volunteer teacher in these islands and will not be the last. That fact in itself is the thing that has been surfacing lately in my melon. What does my presence mean for the local inhabitants of these islands? Am I deepening an already strong dependency on American aid or am I enabling the education system to become more structured and independent. Unfortunately, I know that it is a combination of both.
There are three volunteer organizations that I am in close contact with in Pohnpei: World Teach, Peace Corps and Jesuit Volunteers Corp. There are also some independent volunteers who work at the College of Micronesia and other public schools on the island. Recently, the new United States Ambassador in Pohnpei, Peter Prahar, invited the World Teach and Jesuit volunteers over to his residence in Pohnpei to discuss the state of education in Micronesia and spark dialogue that might yield constructive criticisms and ideas.
It was interesting to hear the experience of public school teachers versus that of teachers who work for the Catholic mission. Myself and my community mate Samantha were the only ones at the dinner that belonged to the latter group. The idea of this post is not to point fingers at any single institution or person, but to share both my positive and less positive cross cultural experiences in the Pacific.
When I came to Pohnpei almost one year ago, I never thought I would become so invested and interested in the education system or reform. My love was for visual journalism, not the classroom. My school year ended one month ago and I have had some time to reflect on why I have such strong feeling towards my new profession. It was very obvious; yet, I almost missed it in the daily grind.
My responsibility to Pohnpei Catholic School and my students is the most powerful thing I have ever had in my life. I have worked many mundane, yet respectable jobs in my life. Never have I had the opportunity to have such an impact on people, on kids, on my island. I have heard many twenty-something blowhards explain how a top-down, governmental approach to education reform is the only way to make a difference. While that is one way, I favor another. Creative lesson plans, challenging research assignments, public health awareness, spiritual retreats, cultural celebration, promoting volunteers service - The teachers at my school helped me introduce all of these powerful things to eighth grade students in hopes of forming respectful, hardworking, and intelligent high school students. At 23 years old, I am much happier working on the ground floor rather than passing legislation at the top.
While I found my job empowering and awarding most days, there are so many underlying problems in public and private education in the FSM that began to surface throughout the year. These were both personal things that I experienced at my school and stories I heard from other teachers around the island. As the ambassador prompted us with questions, tales of failing teacher attendance, corporal punishment, sexual harassment, misused funds, missing resources and lacking discipline were shared by many different teachers. The shadow that all of these things fall under is the lack of accountability within the family structures that dominate the islands.
This nepotism, or favoritism shown to relatives, within the education system is causing stagnation on many levels. Put simply, these islands are small, really small. Everybody seems to be related to everyone in some way. These familial relations are beautiful to experience at celebrations, rituals and households. But on school grounds, they aren't as positive. Missing teachers aren't confronted by their relatives with administration positions. Students aren't reprimanded for infractions because it is such a cultural no-no to offend anyone. But it isn't the fault of one person. Many teachers on this island are yearning for progressive movement, but taking a stand could mean alienation from the group.
And these realities are not new. There have been numerous management plans and reform strategies for public schools in the past that have fallen short because of this sociological roadblock.
All of these things bring me to one burning question - Should Jesuit Volunteers and other foreign volunteers be doing something about it? One element of my job here is to incorporate Catholic Social Teaching into my experience in Pohnpei. CST calls us to See, Judge and Act throughout our time in Micronesia and later on the future.
The things I have mentioned above are what I have personally SEEN. Many times, these sights have left me feeling helpless, hopeless and worthless as a foreign volunteer. The next step would be to JUDGE what should be done, and ACT appropriately to work towards a desired improvement.
I spent the last week on an island in the Chuuk lagoon known as Pisar participating in a retreat led by our Program Coordinators for Jesuit Volunteers. It was there that I came to a comforting realization. I AM TWENTY THREE YEARS OLD. The best thing I can do is educated myself by simply seeing. I am still very new to this island and to education in general. In a linear sense of time, I am still very naive to the systems here. My ministry here is not to buck the system and blow whistles. It would be more beneficial for me and for my school to save my judgments and actions for a later time in my life. Especially since those judgments and actions are probably misguided and not exactly thorough.
I seem to have gotten lost in all of this social analysis and forgot that just one month ago, I had the proudest moment of life. I watched 18 students from Pohnpei and Chuuk walk down the aisle at Our Lady of Mercy Church and receive well earned diplomas. The pride came from knowing that they learned, grew and matured in significant ways at my school. They did their homework, they raised their hands and they tried so damn hard. They will go on to be successful students and successful people. These students are being educated and I just feel blessed to be a part of it.
Dressed in their shiny white and blue uniforms, my students belted out a rendition of "We Are the World" on a cramped stage in front of proud parents and friends. As the sun poured in through the windows, powerful words floated through the church.
"We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving. There's a choice making, we saving our own lives. It's true we make a better day, just you and me."
So I'll end with a big thank you, kalahngan en kupuromwail, to my students and staff at Pohnpei Catholic School. You have taught me so much in only year and I hope I did the same for you.
