The Latest Quake

December 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Earlier this month, hundreds of villagers were forced to seek shelter on their remote Pacific Island home when they were hit with a major earthquake. The island, which is part of the Japanese chain, took the full brunt of a 7.4 quake. The enormous quake also set off the latest in a string of tsunami alert. The quake, which occurred in the early morning hours, forced the citizens of Ogasawara Island to take heed of potentially tsunami strength waves. Five hours later, the warned was downgraded. Luckily no one was reported injured and damage was minimal.

The island of Chichi-shima witnessed a slightly different event. It was here that 120 citizens were evacuated and temporarily brought to higher ground. Many local residents stated that the quake itself was the biggest in their life. Still, the residents consider themselves lucky. Buildings and facilities remained intact, with not a single crack reported.

Like many quakes in the region, the aftershocks and chance of tsunami were the greatest concern to residents. Aftershocks, some as high as 5.6 were reported for several hours after the initial quake. Tsunami strength waves were reported as well.

The Ogasawara Island chain is comprised of 30 or more tropical and subtropical islets. It is located approximately 240 kilometers from Iwo Jima. The islands, which were for a time controlled by the United States after World War II, are part of Japan. It unique geography and topography has created a diverse subculture. The area is the “Galapagos of the Orient” The area may have benefited from the enhanced early warning system that is currently in place.
The area is part of a larger area prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. As recently as 1995, 6400 people were killed in Kobe after a 7.2 quake hit the city. It is because of this quake that the advanced system was developed.

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Health concerns in the pacific islands

December 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 05: Australian Pri...
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Health concerns have been raised at the Pacific islands after the WHO (world health organization) issued an alert on the spread of epidemics. Islands have geographical challenges, in that it is predisposed to being epidemically quarantined. Because of its isolated geographical disposition, epidemic diseases might not get out of the geography easily.

Apart from infectious diseases, the WHO also spotted cardiovascular diseases on the rise in the pacific islands. Even obesity was on the rise. Since the islanders have a propensity to indulge in drugs and alcohol due to the tourist influxes, inhabitants now have addiction problems too.

Most diseases prevalent in the pacific islands are lifestyle-induced. Statistics indicate that the Pacific islands have the highest lifestyle-induced diseases. This is an alarming trend, and the WHO is taking steps to resolve this.

Recently the WHO held a workshop to help people realize the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The workshop covered aspects of nutrition, and healthy lifestyle patterns. Intending to promote an increased level of awareness, this workshop was worth its efforts in spreading the message of healthy living.

Top ministers and politicians of the Pacific met in Vanuatu, in August 2010, to discuss this problem. They developed a guideline for applying a successful approach to resolve issues related to diet and lifestyle. Emphasizing the need to restrict minors to alcohol, the guideline will pave the way for a more controlled availability of lifestyle food and beverages.

WHO in coordination with the leaders of the Pacific islands, and other global healthcare consortiums are coming up with ways to tackle the problem. Aiming to block the access of alcohol and narcotics to children is the primary concern of the WHO. Young addicts are becoming common in the pacific islands. Given the influx of foreign nationals in most islands, the situation often times is something that is difficult to control. The health of the people of the Pacific islands need to be salvaged, before it is too late.

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Pacific Islands Ethnic Museum

December 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Pacific islands are some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Close to 30,000 islands are known to fall in the pacific island list. Pacific islands lie in the Pacific Ocean, which is a vast ocean starting from North America, covering Asia, and finally Australia.

The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum opened on October 15, 2010.With its main aim to educate people about the culture, tradition, and mystery of pacific islands, this museum will houses all relevant artifacts. Considering that certain islands of the pacific ocean had no one visiting it for centuries, until lately, there definitely is a lot of mystery left that is unexplored. This is the area where the museum will delve into to get more historical discoveries.

Some islands have colorful cultural backgrounds. Aspects of such cultures can be brought to the museum. Given the fact that there are close to 30000 islands, one can imagine the kind of cultural, and biological diversity that might exist. And the museum has a lot of potential in documenting those evidences by way of showpiece specimens.

The museums chief had started of the process of putting together a museum in the 1990s iteself. At that time the museums founder travelled and met with the chiefs of the tribes that resided on these islands. By doing this a lot of information was taken, and this paved the way to the opening of an art institute in the micronesian islands in the 1990s. A point to be noted is that the pacific islands are structured into three distinct entities namely, polynesia, melanesia,and off course micronesia.

Apart from showcasing art,the Pacific Islands Ethnic Museum will also offer background information. Visitors will be highly enriched in their knowledge about these islands from the background information. The museum will help people understand how geographically dispersed islanders live their lives. It will offer a glimpse of how human beings in general adapt to living in geographical isolation.

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Problem of Unsafe Water in the Pacific Islands

November 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Mwamanongu Village water source, Tanzania. &qu...
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Water-borne diseases are on the rise in the Pacific Islands. Countries in the Pacific Islands are now raising concerns of a potential mass-spread of an epidemic. The SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC) is coming forward to deal with this problem.

A lot of people die every year after consuming toxic water. Unsafe water is quite a bad thing to have in the picturesque countries of the Pacific Islands. Children are worst affected. Due to bad sanitation of the houses, children are getting infected faster. Hygienic imbalances are also creating perilous living conditions in the Pacific Islands.

Another contributing factor to this unhealthy condition is the spread of drought. Certain countries are experiencing prolonged periods of drought. Such situations aggravate matters, and make water storage a matter of survival. Water storage creates hygiene issues, in that it also creates a perfect setting for mosquitoes to breed.
SOPAC is now revving up plans to educate the people about safe ways to store water. They are also coming out with programmes to education people on how to make water clean and drinkable. Things like sanitation and general healthy living conditions are also being planned-out.

It seems that the only way out would be to educate people. As the saying goes that prevention is better than cure, education is in a way a preventive measure. Largely plagued by mass-illiteracy, some islands nations will offer challenging propositions to the volunteer organizations and SOPAC.

SOPAC had come out with a Drinking Water Safety Plan to encounter this problem. Successfully implemented in various countries of the Pacific Islands, the same is being envisioned across a lot of other countries.

To better dispense the program, communities living in the cities as well as the villages will be engaged into action. After providing them training, they will be given the tools and methodologies to conduct inspections. Trained people will then go forward and train others. In this way, a multi-level induction of training is achieved.

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Electricity services will receive a boost in Marshall Islands

November 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Coat of arms of the Marshall Islands
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Electricity services will receive a boost in Marshall Islands, thanks to support from the Asian Development Bank, and Japan. The poor people of Marshall Islands will now have prepaid access to electricity which might not have been possible before.

Marshall Islands is a country in Micronesia, which is a part of the Pacific Islands. It is located close to the equator. The government here functions in a parliamentary-presidential combination mode. In the past ten years, the general domestic product of Marshall Islands has grown over a percent. The country has faced severe drops in tourism and other economic activities.

Due to recession, and lack of funds available in Asia, very fewer investments took place in Marshall Islands. There was also a severe drought that affected agriculture and allied activities. It has to be noted that the World Bank commended Marshall Islands as being the most inexpensive hiring and firing employer. But it scored low on winning investments and converting them into long-term contracts.

Now the situation is seeing a change with the a grant of close to two million dollars from the Asian Development Bank to Japan for investing in the Marshall Islands. This fund is from the Poverty Reduction Fund of the Asian Development Bank. Helping poor people in the Marshall Islands get access to uninterrupted electricity is the aim of the fund.

A survey will be conducted to determine the demographics. Households that are below poverty line will be identified. Majuro, the capital of Marshall Islands, will be targeted in the initial phase of the survey, but the survey will move on to other regions as well.

Marshall Energy Company will employ prepaid meters that will enable the people to better manage their electricity utilizations. The power generation unit will have an innovative concept to supply it the fuel. Copra producers will be engaged to produce a combination fuel. The combination fuel will have coconut oil as one component, and diesel as the other.

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Media Awareness in the Pacific Islands

November 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Dagobert Lindlau (deutscher Journalist und Sch...
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For many years, journalists in the Pacific Islands have been trying to create awareness of the media. Many residents of the Pacific Island territories do not pay attention to the media or the news coverage of their area or the whole Pacific Islands. There is a public outcry from journalist because of the lack of knowledge for residents of the Pacific islands on the media. Journalists have set out to make the residents aware of crisis in their territories.

Many journalists in the Pacific Islands are freelancers that report for various news sources for companies in other parts of the world. Many residents do not understand the obstacles of covering major conflicts such as militant wars, natural disasters, and the poor. Because residents do not have a respect for what journalists do and refuse to watch media coverage of events, journalists are trying to make them understand.

Most residents of territories in the Pacific Islands believe that all journalists are corrupt. They believe that journalists in the media threaten, harass, and give into extortion, which is why they do not believe the news coverage is credible. Journalist want the residents of the territories to understand that their coverage is not bias and they put themselves in danger every day to make sure that the residents understand what is going on in order to keep them out of harms way.

The neutrality of local journalist are questioned by the residents whereas foreign journalist are well respected and listened to by the residents. Most journalists believe that the lack of knowledge of journalists is their own fault because they have not educated the public about the laws that are set to protect the community from corruption by media. Journalists are working hard to create awareness starting in schools so the future generation of the territories will come to trust the media in the Pacific Islands.

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Crazy Pentecost Hobbies for Pacific Islands People

October 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Pacific Island grave plot
Image by SandyEm via Flickr

People who live on the 83 islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific Islands are familiar with the freakish and dangerous hobby of cliff diving, but they are more familiar with its horrific cousin, land-diving. The bizarre practice of land-diving was discovered by a tribal wife from the olden days of Pentecost, when she could no longer take the abuse of her husband and ran away to teach him a lesson. She climbed up a coconut palm tree, tied a knot around her foot, and jumped from the tree to what she supposed would be her freedom from her life in the Pacific Islands.

Currently, only men are allowed to land-dive in Pentecost, which is a bit ironic considering the source of their sport. Men are lined up to jump in small villages like Pangi, for the entertainment and amusement of their elders, who have already succeeded. With a good leap and a lot of luck, the men, ranging from 12 to 50, barely brush the ground, or come within inches of contact. Though they have not even seen most of their region of the Pacific Islands, they’re only too happy to shut their eyes and dive to possible death.

The social importance of this act is widely unknown, but believed to serve as a coming of age ritual in the Pacific Islands, and a means of proving oneself. Nowadays, the men are jumping for anxious tourists, which is causing more regularity in the jumps, and thus more injuries. Although the travelers understand that comprising an audience and paying for entertainment could equal death for a 12 year old “man” they don’t seem bothered by that possibility.

Pangi villagers talk to tourists about their aspirations of a performance area with mosquito netting, and of training younger and younger men to perform. They are excited about their ability to attract foreigners from distant lands, and their financial prospects. What the Pangi villagers do not often realize is that the tourists are trampling the nature out of their serene habitat, and that the attraction could attract unsavory land developers.

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Pacific Islands Journalism

October 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

There are many programs available to aspiring journalists in the Pacific Islands. The programs offer resources to aspiring journalists on Pacific Island issues and provides scholarships for students to study journalism anywhere in the Pacific Islands and America. The program available to Pacific Island students provide analysis and commentary from teachers on ongoing Asia Pacific stories and updates the online news coverage to teach students what stories are important to the area and how to cover them with objectivity.

There are over 50,000 journalist alumni through out the region of the Pacific Islands that speak to students about their experiences and the work they have done since graduating. The East-West Center in Honolulu is the Mecca for media and journalism in the Pacific Islands. Their information on journalism fellowships is constantly updated so that students have the information to help them get started on their journey. Part of the curriculum of the program is to offer students and professionals in journalism a better knowledge of the region and dialogue of the Pacific Islands through travel.

The East-West Center keeps their students and alumni updated on the Pacific Island Journalism trends by emailing reports of the news each day. The center wants their students and alumni to be able to know what is going on in the area so they can better learn how each story is covered. These new releases keep their students current and help them research prospective stories.

Students of Pacific Island journalism schools learn the professionalism needed to work in the business through guest speakers and class textbooks, but also by being in the field learning from a professional. The schools available to aspiring journalists want to give their students all the resources they need in order to be successful in the business of media and journalism.

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Journalism Awards in Pacific Islands Get a Makeover

October 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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In the Pacific Islands, journalism awards are getting a makeover to include more territories and more journalists. These awards are to encourage media that provides more coverage on public issues and to gain more coverage worldwide for the Pacific Island territories.

There are not many journalism awards available in the Pacific Islands. The makeover of the awards available is a step to increase the amount of awards available both locally and globally. The foundations set up to present the awards available in the Pacific Islands have been formed in memory of journalists who paved the way for the media in the territories to be widely recognized.

These past journalists are an example for future journalists because they represent the backbone of Pacific Island media and journalism by contributing creative and informed journalism of the territories gain national attention and put the Pacific Islands on the map as being more respected by other countries globally.

Every year, the awards are analyzed to ensure they are recognizing the right journalist and if they are creating awareness of the Pacific Islands. The awards have been successful through the years, but board members for each award do not believe they are doing enough. Journalism awards have been getting a makeover, which includes a monetary award that helps journalists travel to the United States and Europe to help create awareness of the Pacific Islands and their contributions to the world.

The Pacific Islands have not been recognized for their ideas on global policy that could provide solutions to the many problems faced by all nations. Journalism awards are presented to outstanding journalists that have created awareness of the territories and pressed the policy ideas that the territories have for global change. The award makeovers are an attempt to help those journalist take their coverage to the next level and get the Pacific Islands in the game of changing global policy.

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News and Journalism in the Pacific Islands

October 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Pacific Islander American
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People who are avid readers and lovers of Pacific Islands culture have heard of the recent upsets on various islands, of the airplane faux pas, of the totalitarian bigots who are in office, and also, of the gorgeous and pristine lands that are still there. Although news and journalism in the Pacific Islands often covers atrocities and wars, riots and rapes, the truth is that more peace and love occur in the Pacific Islands region than almost anywhere else.

Though the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) strives to keep the media positive and focused on the good aspects of Pacific Islands news, often, the links available for casual online readers do not tell charming tales. Other than tourism blogs and photo pages, the Pacific Islands are rarely celebrated as the breathtakingly serene place that they are, in essence. Yes, bad leaders occasionally take control of various islands, and news and journalism in the Pacific Islands tends to place great emphases on these sorts of incidents, but the personal stories are the ones that accurately portray the people.

Stories of love and friendship, hard work and endurance, poverty and hunger, and of course, serving without being served, are common tales amongst Pacific Islands locals. The give to tourists of their time and lands, but are too often thanked with liter and snooty remarks about the travel time. Pacific Islands people, when removed from the resentment of serving others constantly, are blissfully happy. They are happy to be, and to share their bountiful lands with foreigners. News and journalism in the Pacific Islands should put less emphasis on tourist experiences, and much more emphasis on the genuine affection of Pacific Islanders who welcome the tourists. Guests on the islands should be excited to share of the beauty of the Pacific Islands, and not always be looking for the next paradise.

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