Pakin

How do you go on vacation when you’re on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere? Travel to an even smaller island in the middle of nowhere! Over Christmas Break, Ben and I took on the open ocean in a tiny motorboat to visit the outer atoll of Pakin. (Thank goodness for our fabulous driver, Simone. Neither of us had seen – let alone been in the middle of – waves that big! I have a new level of respect for the powerful Pacific!)



Wearing our welcoming garlands

Pakin has less than 100 residents, yet still manages to boast both a Protestant and a Catholic church – I guess the missionaries were battling it out even on the tiny atolls. The elementary school has only one teacher and 20 students grades 1-8 – talk about a challenge! There’s no high school, so the high schoolers go to “boarding school” on Pohnpei. 

The elementary school and church



There are lots of challenges to outer island life like limited water (it had been three weeks without rain when we arrived) and no access to healthcare or prenatal care. The previous Peace Corps volunteer on Pakin, Ap, did lots of community work to help out. We were given a tour of the basketball court and community house that he helped create.

One of the best parts of the trip was playing with the kids! We played on the beach, organized a trash pick-up, and made a little “trash village” before getting rid of the garbage.

Another highlight was listening to people play the keyboard that Ap sent them. There were lots of church songs, but we were also treated to “Funky Town” during breakfast. Can’t get much more random than that!

Looking through my pictures, I realize that most of the photos fit into two categories – palm trees on the beach... 

 ...or baby pigs.

Unlike most of Pohnpei that keeps pigs in cages, the Pakin pigs were free-roaming, and they were everywhere! The piglets were ridiculously cute.

We were so fortunate to stay with Jonathan – the principal of Pakin Elementary School – and his family. They took good care of us (and served us the best sashimi EVER!).

with Jonathan and two of the kids, Pelma and Ryan