Pacific Island | Must See Destinations

Health concerns in the pacific islands

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

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.

Filed Under: Cons Tagged With: Climate change, Health, Japan, Oceania, Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

Was there someone before Columbus who found America?

Researchers think that navigators from Polynesia might have landed in America much before Christopher Columbus did in 1492. Researchers feel that the Polynesian explorer might have chosen the Pacific Ocean route, and landed on that part of the shore.

Historians are now wondering if the first contact of the Native Americans with the outside world was indeed through Christopher Columbus. In references to historical achievements, the conquests of the Pacific Island explorers are often overlooked. Based on the fact that during that time Columbus had the best navigation technology, the abilities of other land-discoverers were questioned.

Many stories did their rounds to finally get Pacific Island explorers out of the list. They felt that discovery of land was beyond the navigational capabilities of ill-equipped primitive explorers. But what about the theory that was developed by the Europeans that the Earth was flat and sailing far away will topple them off the Earth?

On the other hand the explorers of the Pacific Islands were fearless. Even if they felt that the Earth was flat, they were brave and unflinching in their explorative zeal. Anthologists felt that Polynesian navigators sailed far and wide in hope of finding new lands.

But most of these endeavors were not documented. Due to the illiteracy of the Polynesian explorers, everything remained word-of-mouth. Whereas, when the Europeans travelled, much of it was documented and projected to the outside world. This is where the Polynesian explorers fell flat.

An examination of Polynesia’s orally transmitted historical inferences reveal their settlement patterns. Even cultural inferences raised a lot of interest, in that it perfectly tallied with certain elements of culture that was prevalent in ‘undiscovered America’.

A lot of prominent researchers, historians, academicians, anthropologists, anthologists, and scientists are engaging themselves to prove this fact. If proved it will be a big blow to conservative beliefs that America was discovered by the Europeans. Surely, it will be a big and controversial revelation if proved, that someone came much before Columbus.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, Exploration, Flat Earth, Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, United States

SOPAC: PACIFIC ISLANDS APPLIED GEOSCIENCE COMMISSION

The SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC) was established as a part of the regional cooperation plan established by the leader’s forum of the Pacific islands. SOPAC has traversed a lot after it was setup in 1972. Initially it was a part of a UN programme that looked into mineral mining potentials, but now it has acquired far more prominence and stature in various other activities.

From looking into mineral mining potentials in the seabed and on the shore, it is now employed to do a lot of other things like, protection of coasts, and assessing biologically hazardous activities and substances amongst other things.

SOPAC has several acting members including Australia, and New Zealand. The SOPAC is an important agent of change, and development for the countries of the Pacific islands. SOPAC has three main arms that deal in specialized activities. One arm deals with activities related to islands and the sea in general. The other deals with issue related to water, sanitation, and living conditions. The last arm deals with matter relating to handling emergencies and hazards.

SOPAC provides valuable technical knowledge to the governments of the nations in the pacific islands. It effectively dispatches technical knowhow on things like ocean resource utilizations, oceanic policies, coastal improvement programs, strategic partnerships, and a host of other things. All these are enablers of positive economic change for the nations in the pacific islands.

Sanitation programmes of the SOPAC have given governments the focus to better manage their water resources. Due to the lack of natural storage capacities, small islands in the pacific need the use of technology to bail them out. SOPAC provides invaluable advice, and partnership programmes to meet the needs of the people in these areas.
Timely help in situations of emergency and disaster is what SOPAC is known for. It advises member nations on policies related to handling hazardous activities and substances. Policy setting, disaster recovery, and welfare activities is what SOPAC is known for.

Filed Under: Islands Tagged With: Australia, Business and Economy, Economic Development, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Island, Tonga, Travel and Tourism

Problem of Unsafe Water in the Pacific Islands

: Image via Wikipedia

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.

Filed Under: Cons, Islands Tagged With: Climate change, Drinking water, Environment, Health, Japan, Oceania, Pacific Island, Water

Media Awareness in the Pacific Islands

: Image via Wikipedia

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.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Climate change, Federated States of Micronesia, Japan, Journalist, Media, Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean, Svalbard Global Seed Vault

What Do You Know About the South Pacific Island of Fiji?

While most consumers can easily identify water that is supposedly from Fiji, very few people know much else about this South Pacific Island nation. Though it is true that Fiji contains pure and delicious, high-end water that is bottled and sold, Fiji is much more than that to savvy businessmen. Tropical and lovely, filled with waterfalls and coated in candy-gold sands, Fiji appears as peaceful and serene as it is distressed and dilapidated.

Military rule has been the law of the land in Fiji for more than four years, now. This lovely little Pacific Island has become the home of terror, slums, and pariah-like qualities that make its mishaps seem untouchable. Though the royal family of England is still beloved by Fiji citizens, the land has been suspended from its membership in the Commonwealth. This humiliating punishment is shocking for people who understand what the Commonwealth is to its people.

Voreqe Bainimarama, a military commander who is also considered a mastermind, toppled the ruling government back in 2006 under the promise of freedom from corruption, clean streets, and an end to poverty. Now unpopular and even shunned by the Commonwealth and Fiji’s traditional allies, Bainimarama is looking elsewhere for friendship. Countries in Asia, in particular China, have become interested in what Fiji has to offer. Bainimarama called leaders from Beijing who bailed him out of debt recently, “visionaries.”

Only for those in the dark does this come as a surprise, as the Red Dragon has been gathering friends in most countries that dislike the power-hold of the West. From Burma to Zimbabwe, Sudan to Cuba, China seems to enjoy the company of any nation that’s on the outskirts of Western approval. For Fiji, this may mean much needed human services and funding, but the long term affects could prove destabilizing for a once-peaceful Pacific Island.

Filed Under: Attractions, Cons, General, Islands, Pros Tagged With: Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, Pacific Island

Pacific Islands Paradise?

: Image via Wikipedia

While the Pacific Islands are a lovely, tropical paradise in the minds of most people, they are a place that deserves more consideration than that. With the poverty levels as high on the Pacific Islands as in other third world countries, and regions of the world, it is important to consider the real cost of a vacation to the Pacific Islands.

When you travel to and from the Pacific Islands, a substantial amount of fuel is burnt in the process. This carbon footprint was once considered a meaningless trace of smoke and haze in the sky, but is now acknowledged as a growing problem. In addition to the literal and figurative cost of fuel, travelers need to consider their spending choices. In a time when most people are juggling net worth with debt, and many different kinds of debt, too, it seems frivolous to spend thousands of dollars on a paradise vacation. Instead of traveling abroad for holidays, people could take luxurious vacations to nearby destinations, and save the planet from the harmful effects of pollution.

Furthermore, traveling to the Pacific Islands only provides a few weeks (at the outside estimate) of pleasure and fun, whereas the cost could take months or even a year to accrue. With that cash, you could found your own city garden, and grow produce that would last all summer. Or, you could finally take a dent out of your college loans. With so many good ideas of ways to invest your hard earned money into yourself, it’s surprising that so many people choose instead to invest in the far away Pacific Islands for entertainment purposes.

With breathtaking landscapes, turquoise waters, and charming, friendly locals, it’s easy to understand the attraction of the Pacific Islands. Each island is its own charming world, with interesting things to discover and cultural activities. But, these same things can be found a lot closer to home, if a person is being conscientious.

Filed Under: Attractions, Islands, Pros Tagged With: Cook Islands, Environment, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Island, Travel, Travel and Tourism

Crazy Pentecost Hobbies for Pacific Islands People

: 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.

Filed Under: Attractions, General, Islands Tagged With: Asia, Fiji, Japan, Oceania, Pacific Island, Pentecost, Tourism, United States

Pacific Islands Journalism

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.

Filed Under: Islands Tagged With: Asia Pacific, Honolulu, Japan, Journalism, Mecca, Organizations, Pacific Island, United States

“Near Miss” Over Fiji Slows Tourism

: Image via Wikipedia

News and journalism in the Pacific Islands came alive when an Air New Zealand Boeing 767 nearly hit another plane just over Nadi, in Fiji. The news had people speculating about the cause of the problem, and the safety of aviation in and around the Pacific Islands.

The plane that was missed by breaths and prayers was a V Australia jet that has remained un-identified, but is known to belong to Virgin Blue International Airlines. The incident, reported in May, has led to widespread investigations, but not much information. Air New Zealand officials chose not to make themselves available for comments, though their PR representative, Lara Harrison, reported that the company is busy making enquiries.

Harrison claims that the two airplanes were in constant contact with one another, and that nothing un-planned had occured. Sources for news and journalism in the Pacific Islands would disagree with that remark, as the incident caused panic in those who fly regularly as part of their weekly commute to nearby islands. V Australia representative, Amanda Bolger, stated that the airplanes were in fact alert to the presence of one another, and that neither of the airlines could be faulted for failure to alter courses.

The two planes passed with a mere 800 foot vertical clearance, which caused both planes to retard from the force of air speed. Further specifics about the incident have been with held by both airlines, as they worry about more bad publicity. Tourism to and from Fiji has curbed since this incident, and industry experts predict that it will continue to be affected by reports of the “near miss.”

Though news and journalism in the Pacific Islands is usually slow, this story has proven a hot ticket for reporters, even past the summer when it occured. Wanting answers to enquiries that have been conducted already, Pacific Islands inhabitants pursue the journals to keep the media storm thriving.

Filed Under: Cons, General, Islands Tagged With: Business and Economy, Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, Nadi Fiji, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Island, Pacific Island Forum