Students eating from a basket of donated food from the Onoun community. Photo courtesy Floren Akkin.
Northwest High School located about 120 miles from the Chuuk lagoon has officially run out of food for the 255 boarding students from the small remotest islands of Pafeng, Pattiw, and Namonweito. Classes are canceled indefinitely until the food problem is resolved.
Northwest High School, formerly Weipat Junior High School, is the only public school for the three outer island regions. It has seen a dramatic increase of enrollment after the Chuuk State Department of Education turned it into a 4-year high school without additional resources.
The food shortage was inevitable from the start of the school year as the shipment from the Department of Education which oversees all public schools in Chuuk was well below the needed amount. For several weeks leading up to this week, the principal Fr. Floren Akkin, has sent urgent emails and radio transmissions to the Department of Education office warning them of the impending food shortage.
Poor planning and lack of funding have been cited for the problem. The food shipment came down from Weno without the usual biscuits and canned fruits to supplement breakfast. The cooks had no choice, but to feed students rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This unhealthy menu of white rice for all meals has sped up the food shortage.
“DOE Central Office knows very much of our problem,” said Father Akkin, the Catholic diocesan priest and principal of Northwest High School.
“They knew very well that our enrollment has increased yet they have not increased the amount and variety of food for our students,” pleaded Father Akkin.
This week the school completely ran out of food for the students who have had to travel hundreds of miles over the open Pacific ocean to live in poor living conditions in leaky dormitories.
Fr. Akkin has turned to the people of Onoun to help share their own meager resources with the students, but added that “the people do not have enough resources themselves to feed the students.”
Classes at Northwest High School are canceled until the food situation is resolved. Parents and leaders from the Northwest have been alerted. The problem is that the parents of the students are themselves scattered throughout the region hundreds of miles away separated by ocean.
“This is a matter of life and death,” wrote Fr. Floren, adding, “How can we expect to teach students when students’ lives are at stake?”
A non-governmental organization called Fanapi Center (www.fanapi.org) is currently being created by the Northwest leadership to help support educational efforts in these outer islands in the Northwest. Until the NGO is fully chartered and operational, please contact Fr. Floren Akkin (floakkin@gmail.com) if you wish to offer help.
