Why Chuuk is the way it is...

If you were to walk down the roads of Chuuk you wouldn’t be overcome by beauty. Everything is very green, but it is also muddy and dirty. Trash is everywhere on the ground, and the streets are full of potholes big enough for a person could bathe in. However, if you were to walk down the street of Yap or Pahnpei you would have a very different experience. Their roads are paved and clean, their runways are longer and nicer, and the overall living conditions of the people are more advanced and at a higher level. The reasons why Chuuk is behind in all the improvements that their fellow Federated states of Micronesia have taken is an interesting story.

                At one point, in the history of Chuuk, before World War II, Chuuk was very advanced. The Japanese came in and all of a sudden running water, electricity, roads, hospitals, and restaurants popped up. There is even evidence of a rail road system that went throughout the island. It had baseball fields, five theaters, and even a “little Tokyo”, with strip malls full of restaurants and other stores. In 1920 however, Chuuk was overtaken as a military base and it was this island that the majority of the planes that attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor flew out from.  As a result, of this attack, the Americans sent nine planes over the island of Chuuk and desolated it. Chuuk, luckily, was forewarned of the incoming planes and got many of its ships and other machinery off the island. If they had not been forewarned there would be MANY more sunken ships around these islands. In result of this bombing about 3,000 Japanese died and 300 Chuukese died.

            After the treaty was signed to end the war America came in to Chuuk and took over the process of “advancing” them. At this time, because of the bombing, the island was ruined. Roads were torn up, restaurants demolished, and to this day there are still many gutted and torn apart building all over Chuuk . So, America came in and tried to help the people in hopes that if another war were to happen that their island would not be used as a force against them. One thing America did for Chuuk is they gave out free food to the people. The Chuukese no longer had to work to feed themselves or their families and the people became lazy. This is apparent not only in the older generation on the island but even our students.

                The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), came soon after. Chuuk was the state that pushed for it and still holds many of the representative positions in the government. Each of the islands in this federation are different from each other and hold many different cultures. For this reason it is a challenge to keep all the states within the federation. Chuuk, as the main leader in the nation, in attempts to hold the states together has given the majority of money given to them, to improve Chuuk, to other islands. At one point 26 million dollars was given to Chuuk, but Chuuk took it and put it into improving the run way in Pahnepei. Because Chuuk has chosen to put all other states first, it has formed a federation that is much more stable. It is only recent that improvements have been made here in Chuuk. At this moment America is pumping 26 million dollars into improving Chuuk’s roads, which is a long ongoing process.

                Although the bombing on Chuuk ruined the advanced way of living that the Chuukese experienced, it also one of the main ways Chuuk produces income. The now sunken ships that surround Chuuk entice scuba divers from all over the world to what is known as the best World War II diving in the world. It is this industry that supplies jobs and money for the state. Famous people such as John McCain and the producer of “Terminator” are common visitors. Part of the Titanic was also filmed on the island.

                The sad thing is that a lot of the jobs that open up around Chuuk are not filled by Chuukese. Rather, men and women come from the Philippines or Japan and take these jobs. This is because the people in Chuuk do not care to get a job, don’t do the job properly, or are not qualified. What’s even sadder is students are paid to attend the college here on this island. They are PAID, but they get tired of studying and don’t care to continue. FSM is also the only country in the world that can travel back and forth to America without a visa, and at one point a passport wasn’t even necessary. The people here are used to a relaxed non-hard working life. Life in America is fast paced and stressful. What is super boring here for me is normal and relaxing to them. It is one of the biggest cultural differences I think that separate my culture from theirs.

                The man that was telling us SMs the history of Chuuk made one point that really stuck with me. He said that the biggest downfall for Chuuk that caused this “laziness” was when America started handing out food. In our culture, soup kitchens and giving out free things is the “missionary” and “caring” thing to do. To them it was an excuse not to work. If food is handed to you than why bother working. I know that I am just another biased American who thinks everyone should work hard, and there are Chuukese who are hard workers and have big dreams. However, when I look at and talk to my students in school who blow me away with how brilliant they are, it breaks my heart to hear that they have no dreams. They have no goals or dreams for themselves after highschool, they will hopefully get married and that’s it. They have the chance to go to college, to become doctors, to travel the world, but no one has those dreams here. It’s just too much work.