Kathy Martin

Kathy is from an island in the Chuuk lagoon called Piis. After graduating from Saramen Chuuk Academy she earned her Bachelors degree in Social Work from the University of Guam. She came back to Chuuk to teach, even though many who have their degree tend to stay in Guam or head for the mainland. I asked her what she would want you all to know about Chuuk and the islands. She decided to speak about this time of year and what it reflects about the social tendencies of Chuukese culture:

“This time of year people really like to give gifts, like in the U.S. Gifts are given with your family, church, and school. On my island, Piis, we all exchange gifts-everyone on the island. There are 500 people on Piis who meet in their clans at the church and the uut (traditional meeting house). We are always sharing everything all of the time; food, kitchen supplies, clothing…and we are always taking care of each other’s children with out pay or notice. It is my job, my duty for my family. We all live in a compound together so we share living space too and just sleep where ever. There is no exclusivity. This is really shown through my student’s journals. They will write and always use the pronoun ‘we’ when they mean I or you. We…we is all over their journal. People are very communally here. Most of the Christmas and New Years traditions are similar to the ones in the U.S. People yell, and make noise during New Years (last year a JV saw three children dragging a refrigerator down the road banging on it). This is all to celebrate the New Year and go out to visit others around the island.” –Kathy Martin

There are two parts of Chuuk that Kathy speaks to which have struck me the most since being here. First, the kinship and community which provides and overwhelming social safety net for the Chuukese. Second, the extent to which the U.S. has influenced a place that most of its citizens don’t even know exists. This is logical considering that all of Micronesia only covers half the land mass of Rhode Island and spans across an area the size of the mainland of the U.S. Still, it is important to understand or at least examine the affects the U.S. has on the world. Since being here I have been the most surprised by how present U.S. culture is here in the islands.