Problems in “Paradise”
WE FEEL you should know that, although the islands have a paradisaic appearance, there are problems. For example, do you like insects? We hope so, because there are plenty here—mosquitoes, flies and also ants, especially the little red stinging ants.
Another problem is that sometimes, instead of blue skies, we have typhoons. These are common throughout the western Pacific islands. In recent years, devastating typhoons have wrought tremendous destruction in the Marianas. Many of the homes here are made of wood with corrugated-metal roofs that collapse in typhoon winds—winds so strong that small splinters are driven through large trees. Happily, people are now turning to concrete structures for their homes.
By the way, there is at least one active volcano, Mount Pajaros. And don’t forget the earthquakes. Yes, we have those too. Fortunately, most are not too severe, but the occasional one shakes things up a lot. In 1902 an earthquake destroyed most of the concrete buildings in the main town of Agana, Guam, and raised the entire island two feet.
Well, you can sleep under a mosquito net, avoid the ants, take precautions against typhoons and act sensibly during a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. You may have greater difficulty with the tropical fungus, however. In the warm humidity, clothes and shoes can mildew overnight. But there are other problems harder to deal with.
Pollution in “Paradise”
While the air in Micronesia is still magnificently pure, often those blue-green waters are not. Sewage disposal is still undeveloped, and in many districts the wastes are left for the tides to wash out to sea. As a result, local inhabitants who eat the fish from the reef are plagued with parasites, dysentery, diarrhea and stomach problems. Sicknesses can also result when drinking the water that comes, not from crystal-clear waterfalls, but—as often happens—from rainwater collected as it runs off the roof. And most places do not have a corner drugstore to run to for medicine to cure these sicknesses.
The 20th century has also contributed noise pollution in some areas, shattering that beautiful silence. On one island, about 12 miles (19 km) in circumference, disco music blares day and night from pickup trucks. Young people pile into the backs of these trucks, especially on those beautiful tropical moonlit evenings, and sing along to a disco beat as they drive up and down the island until daybreak. On almost all the islands, disco music is now heard in small restaurants, and in the hotels, especially on weekends, into the wee hours of the morning.
In some cases, even the physical beauty is being marred by strip-mining. Nauru and its neighbor, Ocean Island (now called Banaba), as well as Anguar, Belau, have been exploited and despoiled by phosphate strip-mining. Banaba was so exploited that the people rose up in protest, and a scandal was revealed that reverberated all the way to the British House of Commons.
Mining is still going on full scale in Nauru, although it is felt that the phosphate rock will be largely gone by the end of the century. Meanwhile, if nothing is done about it, Nauru is in danger of becoming an ugly, barren waste.
Unhappiness in “Paradise”
However, phosphate-mining at least brings income to Nauru. What about districts with no phosphate to mine, and no other source of income? Sadly, poverty is all too well known. Often, the diet is limited. There is little industrial development, and the people depend on the sea for sustenance.
Spiritism is rampant on all the islands of Micronesia. Some tourists may be fascinated by the “spirit houses” where spirits are supposed to live, but such beliefs mar the enjoyment of life of those who hold to them. The spirits are feared, and are thought to cause illness and death if not appeased. Magic is practiced, and love and hate charms are still used.
Drunkenness is another problem, especially among the unemployed. This is often accompanied by family abuse and crime. And, surprisingly, there are many suicides. Recently, on one small island with a population of only 3,000, there were eight suicides among teenagers in just three months. Obviously, it takes more than living on a beautiful island to make a person truly happy.
Finally, man’s age-old enemies sickness and death are as devastating here as they are in other parts of the world. They add to the unhappiness and grief that detract from what, in many respects, is physically a paradise.
Fear in “Paradise”
Events in the outside world make many here feel insecure. Micronesians have been subjects of four great world powers, and the coming of each has led to oppression. Some of the bitterest fighting of the last World War took place here, and these lovely islands still have battle scars. Rusted hulks of partially sunken ships, partial skeletons of downed aircraft, moldering antiaircraft guns, vine-covered artillery barrels protruding from musty caves, huge potholes in the landscape and roads—all of these bear silent testimony to the horrors that the islands witnessed a few decades ago.
After the war, a politician of the Truk district, where one of the heaviest and bloodiest naval battles was fought, pleaded: “If the United States ever decides to fight another war, please do not have them fight it in Truk!” This man had seen the one road around his island stained red from those killed in bombing raids, and tides ran red with human blood. Two years after the battle, oil from the sunken ships still washed onto the shorelines.
Does anyone listen to such pleas? Seemingly not. On the Kwajalein atoll, in the Marshalls, stands a missile site, to counter the presence of Russian submarines rumored to be seen nearby and warships that would like to spy on American military installations. Because Guam is strategically located in the Pacific, it is surrounded and guarded by the United States military forces.
In 1946, the horrifying reality of the nuclear age burst into the consciousness of the gentle inhabitants of Micronesia when the United States conducted atomic bomb tests on the island of Bikini, which is part of the Marshall chain. Because of radiation hazards, the island is still off limits to the Bikinians, and may be for many years to come. In other parts of the Pacific, Britain and France have also used beautiful islands to test their nuclear weapons.
Alarm and concern developed recently over a new proposal. Japan suggested storing chemical and nuclear wastes in barrel containers in the Pacific Ocean, near Guam. So far, however, such plans have been postponed because of the opposition of the government of Guam.
Now, please do not misunderstand us. These islands are truly beautiful, and you would doubtless enjoy visiting them. The sun still rises over the blue ocean and sets behind palm trees swaying to the gentle rhythm of the trade winds. The wooded hills, the leaping waterfalls and the sandy beaches are still there. But it is not completely paradise. Problems, many of them man-made, prevent that.
Does this mean there is no hope of living in a real paradise—where nature is beautiful and man does nothing to spoil it, where people all show genuine concern for one another and where life is truly satisfying?
[Pictures on page 6]
STINGING ANTS
TYPHOONS
VOLCANOES
[Pictures on page 7]
NOISE AT NIGHT
RAVAGED LAND
SPIRITISM
[Pictures on page 8]
DRUNKENNESS
SCARS OF WAR
OLD AGE AND ILLNESS