Heart disease and diabetes are major factors contributing to a shorter lifespan in Micronesia. During my one year on Pohnpei I established an outreach program to discuss health issues with the people of Pohnpei with the two main topics being the improvement of eating habits and exercise. Going community to community I discussed these issues as well as checking eyesight and distributing over 900 pairs of reading glasses and for those who had acromatopsia, a rare eye disease, which causes extreme color blindness and intolerance to daylight, I distributed hundreds of special sunglasses.


With Pelihna B. Moses RN of Pohnpei State Hospital, coordinator for outreach on Pohnpei, many positive outcomes were obtained. I wish to thank her for her extreme care and devotion to the people of her island and as contact person when I observed health related problems of the people of Pohnpei, as I worked in the field.

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The United States gives The Federated States of Micronesia approximately 200 million dollars a year (150 million directly and around 50 million in grants and other assistanc - information from the US Embassy). The monies encompass a number of areas, paying the salaries for the college system, the president of the country and most all other services. They are there as help for Micronesia as outlined in a compact between the US and FSM.

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There are many outer islands and atolls that comprise Pohnpei and many other islands that make up the Federated States of Micronesia. With an annual rain fall on Pohnpei of 240 inches, it is one of the wettest areas on earth. Many local people are stating that they have noticed less rain than in the past and that it is getting noticeably hotter. It will be interesting to see if these observations bear out.

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Pacific Partnership 2011

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

In July 2011, by air and by sea, via the USS Cleveland, a multinational group of doctors, nurses, optometrists, veterinarians, dentists and a large contingency of assistants provided free medical care to Pohnpei state. The services were non surgical except for that of the veterinary care, which also provided for surgical needs. Three sites, Nanpei Memorial High School, Lukop Elementary School and Pohnpei State Hospital were utilized at different times from July 6 to the 13th.

For eye care, Dr. Amy Eisenberg PhD and I have continued to check eyes and distribute reading glasses and sun glasses that were contributed from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and the Pacific Partnership 2011. Further information on exceptional eye care needs can be read about on the link below pertaining to improving eye sight.

As of September, 2011, we have given out over 1000 pairs of glasses.

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Assault and Battery of Dr. Amy Eisenberg

On April 27, 2011, Dr. Amy Eisenberg was attacked on the college campus in Kolonia. Unfortunately she sustained nerve damage in her right arm as a result of this attack. A charge of assault and battery was lodged and an arrest was made. The evidence was deemed strong enough to warrant a trial. Prior to the trial Dr. Eisenberg was false arrested with the intent to get her to drop her charges. The arresting detective knew what to say and stated with conviction, that if Dr. Eisenberg dropped her charges, the charges would be dropped. What the charges were that were filed against Dr. Eisenberg was never made clear, nor would the detective, Retly Olter, friend of the attorney of the accused, give her name. It was later that another police officer identified Retly Olter as the arresting officer. I was witness to the statements by Retly Olter. Dr. Eisenberg would not drop her charges and the district attorney stated that there was no substantive charge against Amy and no charges would be filed by his office.

This gross misuse of a public office is being investigated by Mr. Lino Amor the Pohnpei Police Commissioner. Mr. Lucas Carlos, the Director of Public safety, when informed of the false arrest made it clear that this information should be made known so that the police department would be as transparent as possible.

The attacker, Totoa (Toa) Currie, a Samoan and College of Micronesia employee, gave conflicting reports. The district attorney Jack Harris, reviewed the statements by Mrs. Currie on her admitted assault of Dr. Eisenberg and stated that the various statements by Mrs. Currie were inconsistent. There was a report from the arrest of Mrs. Currie, a College of Micronesia report and statements in court morphed to a point where Mrs. Currie stated in court, that Dr. Eisenberg had struck her with the car door that Dr. Eisenberg had flung open. Witnesses never stated that Dr. Eisenberg flung a car door open nor was this ever stated in previous testimony. If Dr. Eisenberg had flung and door open, and Mrs. Currie had blocked it with both of her arms, as she stated in court, the big question is, how did she at the same time gently touch Dr. Eisenberg's arm to get her attention when Dr. Eisenberg was on the opposite side of the door?

The statement by the examining doctor, Dr. Joel of the Pohnpei State Hospital, was that the grasp around Dr. Eisenberg's right forearm had to be significant in order for the nerve damage, which she sustained, to have occurred. It could not have been a light touch or even a moderate grasp but an extreme force as documented by the doctor's examination and photographs showing the large bruised area that resulted from this trauma.

The above manifested after Dr. Eisenberg briskly walked up to VP Jim Currie's college vehicle to ask him a question related to work. This was on college time and was appropriate for the time. As Dr. Eisenberg put her hand on the door handle to ask VP Currie a question, as the window was rolled up and it was the only way she could communicate at the time with him, VP Currie's wife approached from the front of the vehicle where she had been standing and grabbed Dr. Eisenberg's forearm applying considerable force with a resulting neuropraxia. Dr. Eisenberg did not respond in kind nor did she present any defensive action as she was extremely surprised and shocked by the aggressive maneuver. More than a year has pass and Dr. Eisenberg continues to suffer from the attack.

Dr. Eisenberg has been diagnosed with nerve damage and triangular fibro cartilage complex injury (TFCC) to her right arm. She is currently undergoing treatment, which is continuing as of 2012 by various specialists.

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A Canon 5D II, 7D, and 5D were used for documentation. I also use the Leica M9.

images and text by: John Amato

Site constantly updated with new images.

While on Pohnpei we are staying at Yvonne's Hotel: Yvonneshotel.com email at: Yvonnehotel@hotmail.com

Copyright. Use of any image is strictly forbidden without my explicit written permission.