Word: micronesia
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Micronesia...
Having spent two years of my life in Micronesia, I can personally attest to the neglect the people have received under the hand of the American colonialists. Of the eleven trusteeships established after World War II, Micronesia's future status is the last one to be resolved. Perhaps the U.S. will finally receive the two rewards that it has struggled so hard to attain in Micronesia-embarrassment and shame...
There are no paved roads, despite 30 years of U.S. administration. Electricity comes in irregular spurts. There is no long distance telephone service. The people seldom pay their bills. Once proficient fishermen, the islanders of Ponape and, indeed, of the rest of Micronesia rarely put to sea any more, preferring to collect a range of federal social benefits. (Though its waters are among the world's richest tuna grounds, Micronesia imports more than $ 1 million worth of canned fish annually.) Says Ponape District Attorney Minor Pounds, a native Texan: "If we're going to have a Western society...
...Micronesia's most stalwart fighters against social erosion is Father Hugh F. Costigan. A former New York police department chaplain, Costigan directs the Ponape agriculture and trade school, an isolated 200-acre experimental farm reachable only by boat. Assisted by a volunteer staff of 40, the cigar-chomping Jesuit offers 155 Micronesians courses in construction, mechanics, horticulture and animal husbandry. When not in class, teachers work on such projects as manufacturing coconut soap and designing miniature diesel tractors and other small farming equipment. Says Costigan: "The most gratifying reward after 30 years in Micronesia is seeing my school kids...
American Samoa's rural villages are clean and dotted with palm-frond fales (houses), instead of the jumble of cinder block and clapboard houses commonly found in Micronesia. The magnificent Pago Pago harbor that initially attracted the U.S. Navy in 1900 is no longer pristine, but two busy canneries make the trade-off acceptable...