Easter Islanders down and out in paradise
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Many mysterious statues, some 15 feet high and weighing 14 tons, were carved from volcanic rock by early Easter Island inhabitants.
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HANGA ROA, Chile (Reuters) -- Easter Island's isolation draws tourists fascinated with the mysteries of how humans first made their way to the globe's most remote populated island, how they developed their culture and how they erected enormous statues of faces carved from volcanic rock.
But living on a tiny island thousands of miles from the nearest hospital is not as romantic as it may seem.
Two-year-old Ariki's skull was fractured by a horse in November and she survived only because the Chilean government spent $30,000 to rent a private plane to fly her 2,500 miles to a hospital on mainland Chile.
"If they hadn't taken her, she would have died," said Ariki's mother Ana Liempi.
Ariki's case is not unique. Minimal medical supplies, educational resources, transport and even difficulty in getting rid of garbage are daily problems for the island's 3,800 people.
The remoteness of the 70-square-mile island, has earned it the nickname in the native tongue "Te Pito te Henua," or the navel of the world.
Rapa Nui, as it is called by the people who live there, is closer to Pitcairn island, a British colony 1,200 miles away, than Chile, which has had dominion over the island for 115 years.
Price of Tranquility
Accidents can be life-threatening on an island that has only three doctors, one dentist, a run-down hospital that was donated by the United States after the Vietnam war, and no daily flight to the mainland.
There are only two flights a week from mainland Chile between March and June and three a week in the peak tourist season from July to February. Most tourists are drawn by giant stone heads, some 20 feet tall and carved between 400 and 1,300 years ago. The heads weigh up to 82 tons.
"It's crazy that we have to travel thousands of miles for an operation or to treat an accident," said Alberto Hotus, president of a local association of senior citizens.
People on horseback gallop up the main street of Rapa Nui's only town, Hanga Roa, jostling for position with four-wheel-drive jeeps and motorcycles ridden by barefoot women with babies in arms.
When emergencies occur, such as was the case with Ariki, "most likely the person will die," said Raul Gonzalez, director of the Hanga Roa hospital.
Gonzalez says some progress has been made in health care. For example, despite minimal resources the Rapa Nui inhabitants successfully controlled the worst epidemic in the island's history when a third of the population became ill with the dengue virus in March 2002.
An intense campaign by Chile's Health Ministry swiftly brought the disease under control. There were no fatalities.
Education suffers as it is hard to attract good teachers and books are in short supply. The high cost of traveling to Chile hinders many students from going on to higher education.
"There are few that dare to come and live on Pascua," said Claudia, a Chilean photographer who has lived on the island -- called Isla de Pascua in Spanish -- for five years.
"It's great for tourists, living here is difficult. There are the problems of health, education, and the high cost of living."
The price of basic foods such as flour and milk and most fruit and vegetables are three times higher than in Chile since most things are flown in or brought by ship. A head of lettuce that costs 20 U.S. cents on the mainland costs $1.60 on Easter Island.
There is some consolation. Gasoline is subsidized and is cheaper than in Chile and islanders do not directly pay taxes. However high living costs more than neutralizes these advantages.
Tourism is the future
One way to improve living conditions on the island is through more tourism. But hotels can take in only 300 visitors a week.
"There's no point in having daily flights if you don't have the infrastructure," said Enrique Cueto, vice president of LanChile, the only airline with flights to the island. "There should be at least one decent hotel."
While some residents object to the invasion of foreign capital, most islanders recognize that tourism is the only way to connect the island to an outside world where communication is the order of the day.
"Distance is an obstacle we have to struggle against and the only way to do this is through tourism," said Easter Island's mayor Petero Edmunds.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
