Micronesia: the Context for PIBC

Steve Stinnette the VP of Development for PIBC wrote this as a part of publicity piece. I suspect it will get trimmed down to a few bullet points but I thought it was good enough to grab in the raw form for our supporters.

Change and continuity are characteristic of every living civilization. Civilizations survive because of their adaptability and flexibility. The small isolated island societies in the Western Pacific known for years as Micronesia are no different.

Micronesia is the name given to the group of islands in the Western Pacific north of the equator, between Hawaii and the Philippines. Geographically isolated and culturally insulated from the rest of the world, these 2,203 tiny islands were first populated centuries ago. Discovered and then colonized by four different world powers over the last half millennium, they were thrust into the world’s forefront by the events of World War II. In the past 60 years, the 400,000 people who inhabit 117 of these islands have been the subject of research. Historians, anthropologists, linguists, and archaeologists alike have invaded their shores and curiously observed and studied their cultures, both in the rural outer-lying islands which still mirror pre-western contact, and in the town-like island centers, where western influence and development has become predominant.

A postwar United Nations mandate gave authority to the United States to develop them politically and economically. Since that mandate, Micronesian culture has collided with the West and has been permanently affected by this collision. Cash economies have replaced subsistence economies, simple tribal-like lifestyles have been seduced by western materialism, and its relationship with the West has created a welfare-dependent mentality. Western ideals and values have slowly wormed their way into the social fabric of these simple, laid-back, island communities. The present generation of young people is caught between the pull of old values and the curious draw of the new ones. Micronesia as a society seems to be without a clear sense of identity, both on a personal and a national level. The forces of globalization have assaulted both its national consciousness and its social structures without consideration as to whether Micronesian society itself is adequately prepared to accept or embrace such change.

Micronesia’s struggle today is to survive the challenge of both change and continuity in the 21st century. At first glance, the way forward appears unclear and definitely unmarked.

More later...