Ponape Transportation Authority 1969 – 24fps HD H264

This short 14-minute documentary titled ”this is the Ponape Transportation Authority" is a silent film. It was shot in Micronesia, Ponape District (now Pohnpei) in 1969 as part of my Peace Corps service. I shot it without a script, using a 16mm Bolex camera. I simply tried to document some of the road and bridge construction that was starting in the District. The film was edited in 1970 at Capital Film Labs in Washington DC, but I did not have the money to pay for narration and music. (And yes, the lower case punctuation in the title is intentional.) At the time there were only foot trails around the 129 square mile Pohnpei Island, except for Kolonia, the main population center, which had dirt roads for the handful of pickup trucks and Japanese cars. Today there is a circumferential road around the island. Kolonia is a major business hub, and nearby Palikir in Sokehs Municipality is the capitol of the Federated Sates of Micronesia. It all began with small, and not so small bridge, ford and culvert projects to make river crossings safer, especially for children. The projects were planned and supervised by the newly formed Ponape Transportation Authority back in 1968. Its first director was Wayne Judd, a Peace Corps Volunteer and engineer Marty Heede, also a Peace Corps Volunteer, who served as Commissioner for a year. Two other key Volunteers who contributed to making the various projects a reality were Charlie Lachman and John Dennerlein. Virtually all of the work was done by hand by local residents, including the felling of trees and the building of scaffolding, mixing and pouring of cement, etc. The delivery of materials was by boat, then hand carried to the construction site, including steel I-beams. The gravel was hand picked from the riverbeds and collected in gunny sacks by women and children. The film shows number of projects: the Lehn Diadi bridge in Madolenihmw Municipality, a ford over the Kahmar River in Nett Municipality, replacing disintegrated wooden pilings with cement under the Dauensokele bridge also in Nett, a small slab over a stream in Kahmar, and a 500-foot long footbridge connecting two islands on Kapingamarangi, a coral atoll just north of the equator. US Navy Seabees were great help with equipment and know-how in building the Kahmar bypass leading to the ford construction site. I am personally grateful for their contributions to our fledgling community development efforts.  Most impressive to all of us Peace Corps Volunteers was the willingness, the energy and the talent of the people of Pohnpei (and throughout Micronesia) in tackling and completing these projects under the most challenging conditions. Kalahngan kumail koros.