Tech Matters: Using tech for positive social change

Micronesia left quite an impression on me. It's great to go to completely different places, spending time learning about history, politics, issues and culture from new perspectives. I think it's one of the great perks of my job, working in the nonprofit sector. Plus, the people I visit give me the benefit of the doubt that I'm not an ugly American. I try hard to return the favor by being respectful: it's not hard given my high degree of interest and curiosity, and the dedication of the people I met. Something that made a big impression on me were the wrecks. The first thing I saw from my hotel balcony were wrecked ships in the harbor below. I couldn't find out much about them, other than that they were relatively recently wrecked (don't know if that means ten years ago or thirty). Apparently, typhoons are a big deal in Micronesia. Guam has special building codes for typhoons, kind of like California's earthquake-inspired building codes. Waste dispos...

We rejoined the Island Hopper for the short flight to Chuuk . During World War II, Americans knew this island as Truk, the main Japanese naval base for the Western Pacific. It has a huge lagoon, with lots of islands in it. This is unlike Pohnpei, which has one major island and a few small ones. Chuuk is having a hard time. Weno, the island with the airport on it, has a reputation for corruption and crime. Most tourists are scuba divers who go immediately to a ship (called a live-aboard) for a week of diving the many Japanese ships sunk in the lagoon. The state is bankrupt, and the soaring price of fuel has crimped travel in an place where motor boats are the most effective means of transportation. The government offices we visited were without electrical power. The roads were in a terrible state: you usually travel at 5 miles per hour, dodging the largest potholes. Internet is really expensive. They have a state-back monopoly, and they would pay over $1000 a month for a c...