Basketball Court Groundbreaking

Last Saturday, my community held a big celebration for the groundbreaking of the area for the construction of our basketball court. Although the fundraising money is still far from reaching our goal, they are eager to get started on the preparation of the land. They want everything to be ready for construction when the money and materials arrive. The actual pouring of the cement and erecting of backboards is the easy part. A half dozen guys can do that in a week or two. The real work is turning the jungle into a nice piece of flat land.

There are 16 huge trees that need to be cut down and uprooted in the area. Towering coconut palms and thick trunked breadfruit trees stand in our way. Chopping down the trees is not too much of a challenge, but the uprooting presents a lot of problems. We don't have bulldozers or heavy machinery to pull the base of the trees from their deep homes in the rock soil. Days of shovels, pick axes and ropes will get the job done. I don't know the exact mechanics about how they are going to make it happen, but the locals seem confident that they have a scheme to get those trees out of there. However, whenever I try to pry for more details about the exact process, someone will usually shake his head and just say “its going to be very hard”.

I have seen trees get cut down, so I can basically imagine how all of that is going to happen, but I am much more confused about how they are going to manage to create a giant piece of flat and solid land. The area is full of volcanic boulders and lumps of tightly packed dirt hills. It slopes severely down to one side towards the back. If we had bulldozers we could just crunch the hillside off and push it into the gaps. But all we have are shovels. So the men are going to slave away at the rocky ground and move the land with the power of their arms. They will crack the rocks with hammers and carry the shards to the lower part of the area. A rock wall will be erected on the edges of the land and a mixture of dirt and smaller rocks will fill in the center. This backbreaking process will probably take a couple of months of serious work. I keep voicing doubts about the feasibility of making this jungle spot into a legitimate basketball court on a strong slab of land, but the locals continuously alleviate my fears with reassurances of their abilities. One guy said to me, “Look around at our houses. Do you see how they are built? For everyone of those houses, we made the flat land out of the mountain” So they do know what they are doing, it just seems like a lot of work.

During my service here, I have been involved in three major projects and have had three groundbreaking ceremonies. My water tank and distribution system was a laborious process with very little community support. It was like pulling teeth to try to beg people to work or come to meetings. It was probably the most beneficial thing I could have done for their livelihood, but they still didn't give a shit. I also did an agriculture project for the students to farm, and the groundbreaking was a good success. Lots of parents and community members showed their support in the beginning, but after a few months enthusiasm faded and the success of the project faded with it.

            But this court is different. The people want this court. They really want it. I have not had to ask for meetings, they have been called and organized by the locals. I have not had to convince people of the benefits of this project, they have inundated me with constant requests for its construction. The project is being led from the inside. Its not just a gift given to these people. They are working hard for it. This is how Peace Corps projects are ideally supposed to go, I hope mine continues on this stellar path.

            The groundbreaking ceremony drew hundreds of people from the community and all the important leaders. We gave speeches and ate food like at every Chuukese meeting, but the events at the actual site were much more interesting. The groundbreaking was undertaken with three separate styles (god, tradition & America) that together comprise the identity of the modern Chuukese people. First, there was a lengthy prayer involving the Deacon and Catechists to bless the area. They read lines and lines of blessings before sprinkling holy water across the ground. Next, one of the chiefs led a slow march in a circle on the court. He chanted ancient island sayings and asked for permission from the sea and the mountain. It was a display of cultural tradition (itang) that I have yet to see during my time. Finally, another one of the chiefs popped a bottle of champagne and squirted the bubbles into the air.

            The time frame to finish my project is slim and the people will have to work tirelessly to finish it quickly. I also have to continue to seek funding from my American friends and families in order to have the money to complete the project. For this to happen, everything is going to have to fall in place and work smoothly. While I understand that the words “work smoothly” are unknown in dysfunctional Chuuk, I am an optimist and think that the desire and motivation of the people will lead to timely success on this project.