Creating a Camp

A few weekends ago Megan and I had a chance to visit a small island in the lagoon about 1 mile off shore of Pohnpei. A portion of this island was given to a member of our church and he in turn gave it to the church. It is to be used as a camp by the church and also by a school that is run by the church. Eventually they will construct a handful of grass huts for sleeping as well as a large meeting hut. Before this construction can take place the land must be prepared, water must be installed and money must be raised. Our job was to clear the jungle.

We arrived with ten to twelve others in two boats with two chainsaws and a dozen machetes. As it is custom here the men set about to the chopping and clearing while the women piled the brush and prepared lunch. The jobs of the men and women where equally interesting to me. Armed only with a machete I chopped down banana trees, bamboo trees and bread fruit trees along with grasses and shrubs. Watching some of the locals fall large trees with only a puny machete was very interesting. We would drop banana trees 20 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 8 inches with one swing! Meanwhile the women started a fire and using various leaves and stems they created the tools with which to prepare lunch. Among other things they made tongs to turn and pickup meat on the grill and a brush to add the marinade sauce. It was very educational to watch them use things from the jungle to accomplish basic tasks. For example, one man cut himself on a piece of bamboo ( FYI the edge of a recently cut bamboo shoot is as sharp as glass) he then cut up a part of a banana tree trunk squeezed some liquid out of it then tore a piece of his shirt to wrap the cut and then he went back to work.

Unfortunetly I did not bring my camera so I don't have any pictures to share with you. I did however find a fun picture that I took of Megan quite some time ago. Hope you enjoy!