Eye for an eye

We went to a funeral the other day of a teenager who had gone to the SDA School his freshman year and then gone to Chuuk High. I had heard about his death earlier that week, but hadn't known the connections he had with my students. But that day they met me as I was heading for class and asked if they could go to the funeral. So we quickly informed the principal and the teachers, and then the high school students clambered onto our rickety blue flatbed.

Chuuk can be a violent place and for whatever reason this boy had done something to upset somebody, who had retaliated by stabbing him and slashing his face. He had died soon after because of his injuries. In Chuuk the saying an “eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is taken quite literally – sometimes to the extreme. 

Unfortunately that had been the case with this young man. On the way to the funeral I asked Minako, one of my seniors, about the boy who had died. He was a senior at Chuuk High, and she remembered him as being a good-humored guy who was a very fast runner.

We got close to where the funeral was, so the truck pulled over and we all got out. Then we walked in a single file line over to the home – boys in the front, girls in the back. When you go to a funeral in Chuuk you’re supposed to each bring a dollar to give to the family to help cover the expenses. Kind of like when you bring a dish to a family in mourning while in the States.

The line of students started to go into and out of the door; I moved forward, shaking the hands of a few men of the family who greeted us at the door. The room seemed to be divided in two – men on one side, women and children on the other. The coffin was in the middle of the room and a picture of the young man was to the right with a basket full of dollar bills. It was open, which surprised me. The teen was wearing sunglasses, a beanie, and a bandanna covered his mouth and neck; the only part of his face that was showing was his nose, hiding the wounds he had received. Pain and grief was written on the faces of the people in the room, and shock still was evident in multiple pairs of eyes. I wished to stop and sit with the family for a bit, to express my sympathy, but the moving stream of students pulled me back out of the house into the sunlight.

Bake/Snack Sale for the graduating classes

The family provides all the guests with a small take-out meal and bottled water, so I took that and we headed back to the school. Funerals are bigger than weddings; when somebody dies all the family will go back to Chuuk to be together, whether they come from one of the surrounding islands, Guam, or even the States. There have been multiple deaths and injuries that I've heard of while I've been here, which just goes to show what a messed-up world we live in… and makes me long for heaven.

Things have been pretty busy around here. We had parent teacher conferences the other day, which consists of me sitting in my classroom for the majority of the day with the fans on as I swat at mosquitoes and wait for the occasional Chuukese parent/guardian to venture into the high school building to get their student’s grades. We exchange pleasantries; I give them the grades and explain why the Accounting grade is still nonexistent, and then we talk about any places their student needs improvement in. Most of the people who come only speak halting English, so I do the best I can.

I've been busy with graduation plans, Valentine’s Day banquet plans, Math/Science Fair plans, fundraisers, lesson plans, grading, and trying to find time to enjoy living on an island. Recently Jules and I kayaked over to the Mormon church, which took a good hour, and I invested in a $10 bag of frozen peaches and made crisp.

My students and I have reached the mid-year slump, and I’d really appreciate your prayers and encouragement more than ever right now. Each Skype call and note I receive completely makes my day, and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. 

And might I just add - Senioritis, my friends. It’s a plague!