Thinking Beyond Borders: Micronesia

Lorry Marvin 
Sacramento Regional Recruiter, Peace Corps 

Although Lorry Marvin is a Peace Corps recruiter, the focus of this presentation is “how geography can shape culture.” For two years, Marvin and her husband served on a remote island that is part of Micronesia. The nation of Micronesia, formed in the 1990s, includes more than 300 islands spread over one million square miles of ocean (a total land mass smaller than the state of Rhode Island). Marvin and her husband were there to teach English, at the request of the Micronesian government, so that the country, home to 17 languages, has a common language to use for trade. The island where the couple served is less than one square mile in size; the perimeter can be walked in 45 minutes, and the population is 300. The people on the island have no concept or words for “time,” “crime,” or “stranger.” Crime is unheard of and everyone knows the same people from birth to death. Marvin shares interesting anecdotes from the lives of these very isolated people. 

Recorded: September 29, 2015