Kosrae Lwen wo

Sleeping Lady Awakens
by Harvey Segal

At the beginning of time, the powerful gods planned to create this mountain in the shape of a man. Later, they thought that if they made it into the shape of a man, it wouldn’t produce seeds known as people. So they created the mountain in the shape of a woman.

This woman had 3 children, two boys and one girl. The lady told her children that when she died, the older son was to stay in Lelu. The word Lelu means “lake.” The second son was to stay in Tafunsak. The word Tafunsak means half wood and half human. Her daughter had to stay in Malem, and when she had a child it was to go and stay in Utwe. The meaning of Malem is “first woman,” and Utwe is “where things come from,” or “next producing seeds.”

About Kosrae

Kosrae (pronounced kosh-rye) is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia. The state includes the main island of Kosrae and several nearby inhabited and uninhabited islets. The most significant nearshore island in Lelu Island, which is nearly 2 sq km in area and has a population of about 1,500 people. Kosrae is divided into four municipalities — Lelu, Tafunsak (including Walung), Malem, and Utwe [1].

Average temperature in Kosrae is 74-88^oF. There is no official rainy season in Kosrae, though rainfall increases slightly in November through March [2].

[1] http://www.fsmgov.org/info/people.html
[2] http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?pikosr

Education

The Kosrae State Department of Education operates six public elementary schools (Tafunsak, Malem, Utwe, Lela, Sansrik, and Walug) and one high school (Kosrae High School). There is also one private school (Kosrae Seventh-day Adventist School). As of 2013, Kosrae DOE serves 2,165 students (1,484 elementary, 681 high) with 222 teachers.[3] About another 40 students attend the private school. [4]

[3] http://www.fsmed.fm/index.php/public-info/jemco-indicators
[4]http://www.fsmed.fm/index.php/documents/category/18-audit-reports?download=36:kosrae-state-audit-report-march-2010

For additional information about weather and climate in Kosrae and FSM

• Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project: http://fsmpacc.blogspot.com/
• Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (NCA, 2014): http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/hawaii-and-pacific-islands
• Federated States of Micronesia, PEIN Country Profile (SPREP): http://www.sprep.org/Federated-States-of-Micronesia/federated-states-of-micronesia-pein
• Climate Change in the Federated States of Micronesia: Food and Water Security, Climate Risk Management, and Adaptive Strategies (SOEST, 2010): http://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/climate-change-federated-states-of_micronesia
• Current and Future Climate of the Federated States of Micronesia (Pacific Climate Change Science Program, 2011): http://www.pacificclimatechangescience.org/publications/country-brochures/
• NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office, Guam (for weather alerts in Micronesia): http://www.prh.noaa.gov/guam/

PCEP Partners

• Kosrae State Department of Education
• Kosrae Islands Resource Management Association (KIRMA): http://www.kosrae-environment.org/wordpress/
• Kosrae Conservation & Safety Organization (KCSO): http://kosraeconservation.blogspot.com/
• SPREP Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change: http://fsmpacc.blogspot.com/
• Yela Environment Landowners Association (YELA): http://www.rareplanet.org/en/campaign/campaign-island-resilience-yela-yela-ka-forest-watershed-0