Beyond That Horizon

We got the impression from our president that he didn’t really care how we approached the process of mission work on Yap, just so long as we consistently did something. He was all about numbers and statistics and we felt a huge amount of pressure to meet his demands and if we got really rambunctious - to exceed them. I say ‘his demands’ because he became the icon of purpose in our work and in all of our goal setting and thus, we migrated away from doing good deeds for the common good and did it for him because he was the one casting the most pressure on us through his threats and hegemony. Later in life, I reflected on this form of leadership as one that is not that productive and does not encourage creativity or job ownership in the ranks.

Through the grapevine, we heard that the Yapese high school was looking for teachers. Teachers are in short supply everywhere! We trundled out to the high school and volunteered our time. We were received with much enthusiasm. We were to start the next week and our assignment was to teach Micronesian History and Science. We played rock/paper/scissors and it was decided that Gilligan and Lunde would be the main teachers and I and Hall (new elder) would be fill-ins in case the other two couldn’t make it. None of us knew anything about Micronesian History but science was a fairly well known subject for us and that wouldn’t be a problem.

The school principal put us on the payroll and stood ready to negotiate our pay. We looked at each other and visions of $$ scrolled before our eyes. We said we would teach for free, however and the principal was elated. We explained that we were volunteers and it would go against our program and code of ethics to do it any other way. (I had a sneeking suspicion that he signed our checks to himself as an added personal incentive and bonus, no doubt!). Thus began our tenure as professional educators