Tech Matters: Using tech for positive social change

Donna’s friend Kathy Mori was able to arrange a boat trip on short notice to Eot, which is an island on the other side of the lagoon in a group of islands called the Faichuks. It was a 45 minute ride in an open motor boat that held about seven of us. We walked around the island along a path that ran near the water. Donna explained to me to watch Kathy and take my lead from her, since we were able to visit here based on her connections and reputation with the community. Kathy would stop and chat with different people as we walked around the island’s circumference, checking in before taking our party further. People eat a combination of imported and local food. The preference for rice has led to deficiencies like the girl with vision problems caused by a lack of Vitamin A. This is the tropics, so bananas grow easily, as do food plants like breadfruit, taro and the like. When our path went by a small shack built on a volcanic rock outcrop, we found a girl diving for sea cucumber, a...

In addition to meeting with key leaders and visiting schools, Donna McNear really wanted me to see blind children in their homes. Donna is the main reason I'm involved with this project: she's an itinerant teacher of the blind in rural Minnesota. But, she's a teacher with a national reputation and a fierce dedication to improving and reforming the system for educating blind children. She has also made Micronesia her professional mission focus. For years she's been coming to these islands, helping health professionals and teachers better serve the blind and visually impaired children. She's even been to Pingelap with Mary Kidd from Guam, taking the ship Micro Glory for 24 hours, sleeping on a straw mat on one of the upper decks. I'm dedicated, but not that dedicated! Donna feels that seeing the child in his or her home environment is essential for development and assessment. She's been visiting a handful of kids on Pohnpei, and wanted to take me out to ...