“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”

            For all of my life, the only poverty that I have seen first hand is that of the starving, those who are unable to obtain health care, those who cannot use their voice and speak out against the government, those who surely stick out to anyone physically poor and needy. We have served those who mourn, who want peace, who are treated unfairly and need help. But for the first time in my life, I have seen a new type of poverty. A type that might not stick out or be seen with our eyes, but one seen within our hearts.

            Beginning on the plane ride over. Many of the people we spoke with about Chuuk thought it was crazy that we were going to be on Chuuk for two years. They told us that it was the “ugly stepchild” of the FSM and there was no hope, no love, nothing encouraging or promising about the island.

            Then learning more about our new home from our second years continued to paint a picture of Chuuk. Much of the reason why Chuuk is failing is due to the respect, of each other and of one’s family. People don’t go to work here and everyone has so much respect for each other that no one gets fired for it, especially when its family. Because of this teachers don’t show up for school and nothing is done about it. The students continuously miss class because there is no one there to teach them. The road, which has digressed and become worse, is being rebuilt, but it will take years for a project that should only take months. Government money goes missing. Crime between villages sometimes ends in murder. The is violence which prevents people from leaving their house after dark and people don’t trust the police. And what is the hardest part is no one seems to care. There isn’t hope for this place. My students, especially the ones that do no come from Chuuk realize the failure of much of this state, yet, no one is working to fix things and it is usually foreigners or peopled educated in the States that see this. And even when they do see it, they can’t wait to get out.

             And so much can be done here, this place has so much potential. So the question then is, what is my role here as JV. Have I just romanticized that idea of volunteering for two years and who I thought I would be helping. Have I only thought that I would be able to help the poor if I fed or clothed them and given them shelter? I think once I saw the different type of poverty here, I felt more at peace. For a while I have been struggle with my placement not only as a teacher, but here in Chuuk. I saw so much injustice, but the part that made me struggle the most was the hopelessness that was in many of the minds here, that things will always be the way they are, and that it was ok.

            Maybe my role here is to give people hope, but maybe my role here is to give myself hope. As part of the JVC covenant says, “Not for their benefit, but for mine.” For a while here I struggled with not being able to share my passions as well as not give the community what I thought was my strengths. But I think one of the real reasons I was called to be here, to Chuuk, is to find an inner hope in myself. To find out what I would fight for, to find out what gives me hope, to find out what my deepest set of passions are.

            And maybe I won’t be able to use those gifts here, maybe the part I need I will not get here. It might take all two years or two years after I leave to figure that out. But I am lucky enough to have been raised and taught to  have hope, to have drive, and to want better for myself, my family, and my community.

            So even though, we may not be called to change things here, maybe we are called to a higher expectation, a higher calling. The Bible verse from Luke 12: 48 says, “to those much has been given, much is expected.” We have been give much. Not only in educational and health, but we have been hope. Therefore, because we have been given so much, much is still expected out of us. So I can’t say that I am going to change things here, but I hope  that I will bring change to myself. That I can promise.