17 July, 2011, Pohnpei, FSM. We crossed the equator northbound on 27 June at longitude 129 deg heading to the lush tropical state of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began raining more frequently and the weather was hotter and more humid than at our previous stop in Dili, Timor Leste. Opportunities for stargazing were limited, but the night sky was lovely on a clear moonless night. The clouds are especially spectacular in this area of the Pacific at any time of day, making fantastic sunrises and sunsets, and frequent rain showers make frequent rainbows. Cleveland arrived at Pohnpei on Sun 3 July, and for various reasons was unable to anchor so she remained underway outside the reef at a slow speed during the entire mission stay. Life aboard ship became trying as severe water rationing was implemented. There were strong winds and rough seas outside the reef for the first few days, so recovering the LCU (landing craft unit) back into the ship was a nail-biting experience, and the crew was rewarded with cheers upon successful re-entries. My first trip ashore was for festivities in the port town of Kolonia on July 4th, which included the Pacific Partnership 2011 Opening Ceremony, a softball game pitting the Cleveland Navy team versus a Pohnpeian team (who trounced the Navy team), and the Navy band concert at the Spanish Wall stadium. We had a little time to check out the local markets in search of cold drinks, snacks, and shade. Did I mention how hot and humid it is here? Early on there were a few days with only a few rain showers because a cyclone north of here was sucking the clouds into itself, but once that moved away the expected pattern of showers every few hours re-established itself. There are beautiful flowers everywhere, and of course one of my favorites is the “ground orchid”, Spathoglottis plicata, the purple variety of which seems to planted nearly everywhere.
A limited number of medical personnel traveled by small plane to work sites in the other 3 states - Yap, Chuuk (previously know as Truk), and Kosrae, but both of my work assignments were in Pohnpei. The first site was about 45 minutes by bus from Kolonia through dense, lush tropical landscape to the Nanpei High School, where relatively new buildings were available to set up a clinic because the students are on summer holiday. The humid climate meant that we saw many patients, mostly children, with tropical skin ulcers and abscesses, some of which required cleaning and dressing in the wound clinic where I worked for one and a half days. The locals seem to take mid-day siesta seriously - only a few arrived after 1 PM, thus enabling us to complete our workdays without turning away patients, and there was even time on the first day for an impromptu volleyball game. The second site was the Pohnpei Hospital in Kolonia where we provided additional capacity to the hospital staff and held continuing education seminars. I spent one day cleaning and dressing wounds and giving antibiotic injections, and the second day in the patient registration/triage area. The hospital staff treated us to local eats including bananas 5-ways (fresh on the stem, fried, chips, fritters, and bread hot out of the cafeteria oven - divine!), yam chips, breadfruit chips, pineapple, avocado, papaya, coconut, and watermelon.
The Cleveland had a schedule change requiring departure for Honolulu a day earlier than originally planned, so I needed to cancel my last day of work to pack, complete disembarking procedures, and say hurried good-byes. My last LCU ride to shore was on the afternoon of 13 July (exactly 3 months after embarking in Tonga on 13 April). My sister Hilarie had arrived at our hotel a few hours earlier, so I threw my bags in the room and headed for the Closing Reception that evening at the US ambassador’s residence, which was a lovely end to the mission with a spectacular view of the reef, a buffet (including a huge roasted pig sent by a local chief), drinks, speeches, and native dancers.
So now I’m relaxing with Hils at The Village Hotel outside Kolonia. The Village is a charming, rustic thatched hut establishment in the jungle on a ridge above the lagoon, and we have a fantastic view of the reef from our hut. The jungle is rich with continuous motion and sound - rustling and falling leaves and coconuts, bugs and birds flying and singing, chickens clucking and crowing, lizards running up and down the trees, and raindrops from the frequent showers. And then there are those sounds of the night! We’ve gone on a day trip that included snorkeling with manta rays, lunch and reef snorkeling at a tiny island, visiting ancient basaltic ruins, and swimming in a waterfall. We’ve been to town to view and purchase local handicrafts. Hopefully tomorrow will be another day of snorkeling before we leave for Cairns, Australia on 19 July. I’ll finally be home on 26 July.
People have been asking the inevitable questions - “are you glad you did the volunteer mission?”, and “would you do it again?” The answers are YES. But I wouldn’t want to do the same thing twice, so “again” will have to be different. At this point in time I don’t know what is next for me, but I know that I had an extraordinary experience that most people won’t ever have or even know that they could have. I want to give my deepest heartfelt thanks to all of the people that I met and worked with from the Pacific Partnership, the USS Cleveland, the partner nations and host nations; to all of the patients who entrusted us with their medical care; and to the staff, mission volunteers, and donors from Project HOPE. You are indeed very special to me.
Wishing you all good health and cheer!
“Nurse Bridget”
Project HOPE Volunteer, Pacific Partnership 2011
www.projecthope.org
