A Farewell

The Chinese government graciously volunteered to build the new Tuna Commission headquarters building in Kolonia. They shipped in all the supplies and the workers and build a beautiful building.

To house the workers, they put up two large, temporary buildings in a little valley down from the construction site. They looked like huge mobile homes.

Every morning when I rode my bicycle to the causeway I would pass by those "houses" and was always impressed by how well decorated they were and how the workers had planted beautiful gardens. Those residences were nicer than most Pohnpeians' houses I have seen.

Many mornings I would see some of the workers walking around in their underwear carrying a bowl on their way to get some rice. Sometimes they would walk or run on the causeway while I was there and they were always very friendly.

Construction is done now and this morning when I bicycled past, I noticed that their housing has been removed, just the cement slabs remain. It was a cloudy, windy morning and scraps of their Chinese New Year decorations were blowing through the abandoned, overgrown gardens.

It made me a little lonely for these people who I could not speak to, barely knew and will never see again. I wonder where they are now?