Federated States of Micronesia – A Different and Memorable Experience

Federated States of Micronesia – A Different and Memorable Experience
Amitabha Datta, 1974 Civil Engineering

(Convocation and receiving my Degree, year 1975-76)

I may as well tell you at the outset that I keep a writer’s block all the time. Though I am not at all comfortable in writing, I have authored many technical articles and made professional presentations in seminars and workshops nationally and internationally. But at the time of our Ruby Year of carrying the stamp “ENGINEER” on our back, I thought I should make the effort to tell you about FSM.

In my professional life, I have had the opportunity of working in many states in India as well in about 12 other countries. Looking down the memory lane at a varied experience in this period in different lands, my days at Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) stand out so much that I thought I must share it with you all.

I was in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the year 1998 in connection with a Capacity Building Project in the field of Municipal Services. Let me give you some details about the FSM. The FSM is an independent sovereign island nation consisting of four states namely Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei & Kosrae – that are spread across the Western Pacific Ocean. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands. The land area is about 702 sq. km. covering a distance of almost 2,700 km north of the equator. They lie in between Guam and Hawaii, which belong to the United States of America. The official language is English. The FSM was formerly a part of the United Nations Trust Territory under U.S. administration, but in the year 1986 it became an independent country under a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Prior to US control, these islands were once occupied and ruled by the Japanese. As a result, both Japanese and American influences are visible. The people of the FSM are culturally and linguistically Micronesian, with a small number of Polynesians. Micronesians are heavily built whereas Polynesians are of slighter build. The type of people, their culture and nature vary widely and I, for one, feel that each island is a separate country. Traditional attire also varies, but with the US influence Bermuda, colorful printed Hawaiian shirt or round neck tee shirts were mostly worn by both male and female. Hawaii sandals are of course very popular considering their very large size of feet. Getting Hawaii sandals of our size in FSM is not so easy. But the island of Yap was an exception. There the people stick to their traditional attire. Skirts made from hibiscus fibers decorated with colorful shells were commonly worn by both men and women; both are generally topless, a point of embarrassment for visitors like us.

Just to give an idea how big the country, or rather each island, is:
Chuuk, 128 sq. km, with population of 54,500
Kosrae, 110 sq. km with 9,500 people
Pohnpei (Capital), 345 sq. km with 35,000 people
Yap, 119 sq. km with 16,500 people
Note: population data is dated 19xx
Note: I felt little bit at home when was stationed at Chuuk, for reason obvious from the above figures

First Brief Visit – Visa & Arrival
In April 1997 STUP Consultants was short-listed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila for bidding for a project titled “Capacity Building of Municipal Services with focus on establishing metered water supply system & setting up computerized billing and accounting system” in all the four major islands in FSM. For understanding of the service requirement and the setup of all the municipalities, prior to bidding, I had to visit FSM. Not having a clear idea of its location, we were not sure of the means of travel to our desired destination, and finally on searching it was found that US visa was required for the travel. Accordingly, I applied for the visa at our US Consulate at Kolkata. The very next day I got a call for an interview. The lady at US Consulate explained to me that they were issuing US visa but were not very sure about my safe landing in FSM as this is the first time Kolkata Consulate had been asked to issue a visa to someone for travel to FSM. She also assured me that she would endorse an Annotation in my visa mentioning about the reason of my travel as well a request to extend cooperation. She assured me that in any case I would get full support on landing at Guam (entry to all the 4 islands is through Guam only).

The travel route to FSM is quite lengthy: Kolkata – Manila – Guam – Pohnpei with night stay both at Manila and Guam. Micronesia flights are hopping flights Guam – Yap – Chuuk – Pohnpei – Kosrei – Hawaii. On landing at Guam, I was told by the Immigration Authority that I do have the appropriate visa and need not worry but at FSM they would issue me the FSM Immigration Card for travel between all the four Islands.

Finally, after two days of journey and tense, I landed at Pohnpei. However, I was not aware about what surprise was waiting for me next. The flight landed at Pohnpei, and I was the only person to deplane. Unfortunately, there was none to follow or accompany me, in which case I would have been a little more at ease. However, I got my Immigration Card and came out of the security area and found that the airport was almost deserted. There was no sign of the car which the hotel (which I had booked through the Guam hotel where I had stayed). Finally, a fellow appeared and seeing me standing (expectantly) there, asked me “which hotel?” Hearing the name “Park View”, he told me that a car had come, but had left as the flight was delayed. But he asked me to wait and assured me that someone would certainly pick me up. Just after a few minutes a Toyota Pick-up came, the driver got down, picked up and dumped my luggage at the back of the truck and asked me to get in. I was relieved that finally the hotel car had come but I was wrong. The very next question the fellow asked was “Hi which hotel”? I got tense but gave him my destination. Within 15 minutes the car reached Park View Hotel and the guy dropped my luggage at the gate and just disappeared without a word. I was quite confused but finally the hotel clerk told me that this was a common courtesy in their islands. Anyone arriving at Airport and not having transport, must be picked up by any car passing by. Normally hiring a car from “Rent a Car” agencies at Airport is the practice there.

Second And Longer Stay
In January 1998 we won the project, and being the Team Leader, I had to spend about 5 months in the islands, with few breaks in between. Along with myself there were two Australians and two Indians in the team. Unfortunately, the time input for 3 out of 4 experts was very short. The fourth one, Jim Andrews was with me for a longer time.

This time my visa was not a problem and for a 6 month’s project I got the US visa for 10 years and I reached Pohnpei without any hassle during the travel. But there was no end of excitements. As was advised last time, I took a car on rent from an agency at the Airport. I just had to sign an agreement paper giving the name of the hotel where I would be staying. The girl gave me the key and the car number was already mentioned in the agreement form. She made only one condition; I must wash the car everyday to keep it clean, a practice which is a very common practice in the island. I got into the car and immediately realized that this one was Auto gear which I had never driven before. One more thing I must tell you, FSM’s cars were like those in USA, they are left hand drives. I had no other way but to drive the car and reach the hotel. It was a great experience as I was sweating like anything, negotiating with two unknown systems in tandem. I survived and succeeded mainly because the traffic was not much and other drivers on the road were really very considerate. I still remember, on the few occasions I got into the wrong lane, they stopped and signaled me to change lane.

This time I shifted from the hotel to a serviced cottage where Mahbub, a UN volunteer from Chittagong and working with the Pohnpei Municipal Corporation, was also staying. It was great to find Mahbub, as passing time after work without company was a real problem. Slowly I got acquainted with one young Bangalorian named Raghu Ram (Computer Systems Expert) who was working with the Ministry of Finance of the Govt. of FSM, as also teaching Computer Science at FSM College. Govt. had provided him with a very big house. Through Raghu, we met a Nepali couple (Kumar & Nita). After few days, we converted Raghu’s house as our evening meeting cum cooking cum dining place.

Raghu was such a nice and considerate person that though a total vegetarian, he allowed Mahbub to cook beef as that used to be Mahbub’s favorite. I, who was the erstwhile big chef, was relieved as Nita took charge of making handmade rotis & non veg. items (mainly fish, as this was available plenty) for all of us whereas Raghu used to prepare vegetables for all. I was made the bazaar sarkar and discharged my duties diligently. Raghu was very special not only to us but to all the people there. He used to be always there for everyone who needed any sort of support or help. There he was known as “Problem Solver”. There is a saying that “Good people are short lived”. Raghu proved that once again. Sometime in 2001, we came to know from Raghu’s brother that he was no more. It came to us like the sky falling apart. He was detected with a terminal disease and was brought back to Bangalore, but all the love could not keep him amongst us.

After about 2 weeks I had to leave for Yap. I reached Airport and got my boarding pass etc. but found that the girl from the car rental agency was not there and their kiosk was also closed. I was worried as I was supposed to return the car as well pay the rent before leaving the island. At last, I found a guy from another rental agency. I understood from him that the girl had gone out to another island; he very coolly advised me to keep the money inside the dashboard and lock the door from outside leaving the key inside. Exactly I did what he told me. On my return after a week the same rental agency girl smiling offered me the latest model.

That was not the time of Digital Camera. I was using a film camera and had to be very careful about using photo films. Shops were very few and supply was totally dependent on ships from Japan or US. Unfortunately, one day I realized that my stock of films was exhausted, and shops did not have those films in stock. I asked for help from our hotel manager, and he called up almost all the shops and finally, could find one guy who was having a couple of rolls. The manager told the shop owner to keep those for me only and the very next day I collected those reels.

There was a Disco joint named “Flamingo” in Pohnpei Island, but we never saw that open, even on weekends. I finally found out from a guy that the joint opens only on Friday late night, in fact very early Saturday (3.00 am) and kept going till 6.00 am.

One day I went to “True Value”, the only hardware shop in Pohnpei for picking up some electrical fixtures and industrial batteries for our Mini Lab (for water quality testing). As soon I got down and was about to lock the door, someone nearby asked me – “Hi, do you have anything valuables inside and if not then why locking unnecessarily?” I got puzzled as also scared and you know, why. After all that is how we think back home. I could not lock the door on his face, and finally never ever did so as long as I was in FSM. Out of the four, Kosrae Island is the smallest in size as well having lowest population. The island has a total bituminous road length of about 3.5km. In a week’s time I became known to almost all the people there. Kosrae worked four days in a week. From Friday to Sunday the people would pass time by catching fish, community cooking and eating, attending services at Church, singing songs and playing traditional musical instruments. For me & Jim (at Kosrae we had no acquaintances) the problem was how to pass time. So, I used to accompany Jim to the church all the three days and in that process the Governor of the island became our friend and he used to invite us to the community dinner.

Here, I must mention about a very old and ruined city called Nan Madol which lies off the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei. The site core with its stone walls, encloses an area approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and it contains nearly 100 artificial islets – stone and coral fill platforms – bordered by tidal canals. This place is a common attraction for tourists for snorkeling and scuba diving. For me and Mahbub, it used to be our only place for the outing. The trip to the place takes about a day. Speed boats that take tourists out there are equipped with all the items required for snorkeling and scuba diving. They supply packed lunch, water, beer and drinks.

According to Pohnpeian legend, Nan Madol was constructed by twin sorcerers Olisihpa and Olosohpa from the mythical Western Katau, or Kanamwayso. The brothers built an altar at off Temwen Island for worshiping the God of agriculture. According to the legend, all the huge stones (weighing minimum 4 to 5 tons each) were brought in from hills with the aid of a flying dragon. The city has been lying abandoned for hundreds of years.

Most probably FSM was the only place where petrol was cheaper than water (don’t know the situation now). Piped drinking water used to be supplied by the municipalities but for foreigners the instruction was to use packaged water, available at hotels or at supermarkets. Sealed bottles of one gallon (US Gallon) were available at a cost of 1.25 US Dollar as the supply used to come all the way from Hawaii. Price of petrol for a Gallon was 1 US Dollar only.

SAKAU

Sakau is the traditional alcoholic drink in FSM. Sakau is made from the root of the kava plant (Piper methysticum). Sakau is a thick, mud-like sludgy drink served in makeshift roadside joints called Sakau Bar. First, the roots of the plant are laid on “the rock”, a large, flat, slab-like stone. Next, using fist-sized stones, the roots are pounded against the rock. Water is then added to form a spongy texture, and the mixture is spread into swatches of hibiscus bark. Finally, the hibiscus is twisted around the ground root and wrung until a slimy goop slowly drips through the bark. Sakau is served in a traditional coconut shell shared by everyone in the group. One has to put a few dollars at the entry point and then join a group. The coconut shell (half) full with sakau will move from one person to the next in a rotation and everyone has to take a sip in his turn. Any time you want to skip, just pretend to sip and pass it over to the next person. That was one more opportunity for making acquaintances. One interesting thing I discovered in a Sakau joint was how to locate a person. Cars being very few in the island, one could make out who were inside just by identifying one’s car. Here, I must tell you a very interesting story of our Project Director, Roberts. He used to drink sakau a lot and his wife was always nagging him about this. To avoid getting caught, he used to park his car at someone else’s place and get lifts from friends to the sakau joints. I still remember he used to often park his car at our Service Cottage lawn and take lifts either from Mahbub or me.

From weddings to apologies and feasts to business meetings, SAKAU is the social lubricant on which the island runs.