Kiribati – Betio Continued

On Thursday I had the great pleasure to meet Admiral Willard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Willard), a four star Admiral who commands the Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Navy. His accomplishments include commanding two different aircraft carriers, running the TOPGUN school, and has twice served on the Joint Staff among other activities. I was asked along with a representative of each partner nation to provide some feedback directly to the Admiral on our experiences and how they can be improved. Along with his wife Donna, the Admiral was personally responsible for organizing and planning this mission. It was a great honor to be able to provide a suggestion for improving it in the future, a proposal I'm sure will be considered for the next mission. After our meeting was concluded he gave us his personal military coin, which how I understand it, is an even greater honor.

We were asked to vacate the Betio Sports Complex for several days as they were holding an amateur boxing competition against rival Fiji islands. The two day event plus Sunday being a national day of rest turned into a 3 day weekend for myself. Dr. Marks and Phengphan each went to a different outreach site, an opportunity I will get to experience in the Royal Marshall Islands.

On Saturday I attended a health fair confident I could lend some support based off previous experience with APhA health fairs at the school. What I wasn't counting on was this fair being Kiribati style. Instead of having patients walk through the various stations and be screened, the I-Kiribati prefer to educate through song and dance. This made for an interesting afternoon as the Navy and USPHS healthcare providers were forced to come up with skits on the fly. Another important thing to note is the difference between the Navy's definition of time, if you're on time you're late, and the I-Kiribati definition of time, it'll happen when it happens.

On Sunday, the day of rest, some of the doctors and I went on a self guided tour of the Japanese defenses from World War II. We first passed the bunker the Japanese Admiral that commanded the island used. The building was pockmarked and overgrown but still rich with history. He died in the bunker on the 3^rd day of the invasion. As told, the bunker had gasoline pumped inside and was ignited via grenade, so deeply entrenched its defenders. Further down the road we found the Japanese artillery guns, still pointing ocean side. These gun batteries were huge and surprisingly still in great condition, though I doubt it would launch the coconuts stuffed down the barrel. The artillery shells were prepared in the pillboxes and bunkers behind the guns and transported via a rail system to the guns. Ironically, the guns were manufactured in the UK and sold to the Japanese prior to the war. All the directions on the guns are in English.

Tomorrow we start our five final days at the Betio Sport Complex before we steam ahead to the Royal Marshall Islands.