Namdrik

There are only two hospitals for the entire Marshall Islands region. One is in majuro and the other is in ebeye/Kwajalein I believe.  All the other islands have a clinic with a nurse practitioner who treats conditions to the best of their ability. If a person's condition is too great for a nurse practitioner, they will come to Majuro to get treated at the hospital.  

The ministry of health also sends teams to the outer islands periodically (at least once a year) to do well baby checks, immunizations, health/nutrition education, etc.  Chinilla and I got invited to go to some atolls to do hearing screenig and see deaf children on the islands. The one that finally worked out was namdrik and we went there on Monday. I was very excited because there are two volunteers on island and they had told me that there are two deaf children that they know of. 

We boarded a two propeller plane with about 24 seats run by Air Marshall Islands and flew over to Namdrik.  The plane ride took 50 minutes over mostly the blue ocean. We flew over two other islands/atolls. 

Bye Majuro!  It is from the airport looking towards Rairok, Delap and Rita.

Can you see the land through the clouds?

Jaluit atoll! (Hey to Taylor, Veronika and John!)

Then we spotted a small island.  It was Kili island!  I didn't realize that it was so close to Jaluit. It is a bit hard to see in the pictures because it is so small haha.

Look to your left of the propeller almost exactly in the middle of the picture.  That is Kili.  Close up pic below. 

Approaching Namdrik.  I was so surprised to see so many trees on the island, compared to Majuro. 

The water looks so clean! 

I also tried to find the runway.... Nope... Landed on a strip of grass. 

Off the plane! 

When we got off the plane and walked to the "airport", a bunch of people (police officers, etc) walked towards us and shook our hands. 

Damn, I have to bring the life jacket with me.  World teach requires us to have a life jacket and beacon anytime we travel on a boat.  I was hoping I could leave the life jacket on the plane.  

Welcome to the airport which is basically one room building with bathrooms. 

Then we got on a boat to go across the lagoon to the village.  The airport is about 5 miles away from the village on a dirt road through the "jungle".

Of course I had to get "christened".  While getting on the boat (pontoon boat), my shoe came off in the water and then I slipped when I put weight on the foot without the shoe and gave myself a nice bump on my shin.  That is Namdrik' gift to me, haha. 

Namdrik's lagoon and pontoon boat

Namdrik' postal service. Packages come on planes a few times a week, then it is put on a wagon, loaded onto the boat and delivered to residents.  Everyone knows when planes come so they wait by the water to see if they got any mail. 

Sailing over the crystal clear waters across the lagoon on plastic lawn chairs 

A selfie!

You can see the village in the distance. 

Village with a welcoming committee of children and adults. I immediately found the two volunteers.  The guy has a white tank top and red/white hat, the lady has a blue floral dress.  They are standing near the yellow building. 

They were very surprised to see me.  They were standing there because they were waiting for some packages to arrive.  They were very excited to show me their life on island.  I saw their home, their school (see below), and just the village. 

They also pointed out the two deaf children immediately, who were surprise, surprise, waiting to see who came to visit. 

About 400 people live in this atoll.  There used to be about 1,000 but most of them moved to America. 

Dirt road through the island, this view goes towards the airport. There is only one vehicle on the island and it was broken when we arrived so that is why we rode the boat. Most people get by on bikes. (See below)

We worked in this building.  It is a community center and the clinic is right behind it in cream/maroon colored building. 

People waiting for their turn in the community center to get whatever they need done. 

Chinilla doing hearing screening on a baby in a clinic room.

Deaf girl! Tolplynn.  She was fascinated by me but also shy (like most Marshallese people).  She would nod her head anytime I tried to get her to sign so finally I just pointed to her hands and had her copy me. At the end of the day, she wouldn't leave my side and had learned maybe 10 signs! 

Rebekah teaching middle school students the alphabet. They were very excited to spell their names to me. 

The girl in the blue shirt is Deaf.  The girl in orange shirt is her classmate I think.  They both were glued to me all day. 

Namdrik Elementary school.  It is k-8 school, there is no high school on island. High school students go to Jaluit high school. 

Another view of the path. See two poles with a rectangular thing on top? It is solar panels.  Most homes are powered by solar electricity on Namdrik. 

2 Deaf kids and I... The boy is quite hilarious, very theatrical.  He is able to communicate with people using gestures and is very easy to get along with.  He did know a few signs.  He watched us teach the alphabet and show some children how to spell their names.  He understood that we were talking about names and would point to different people to get their names spelled out.  Finally, I pointed to him and asked "what".  He didn't know so I found out his name and taught him how to spell his name.  He was thrilled and memorized it after one try. At the end of the day, I had Chinilla ask him and he spelled it all by himself.  He was very proud. 

One of the last babies we tested's mom has an older brother who is deaf.  I asked her about him, seems like he does not have any formal language.  I wanted to see him, but she said he lives too far from the village to be able to go and come back quickly.  

Just some Namdrik kids.

Kids on dock waiting for us to leave.

 Bye Namdrik! :-(

Thanks for a great day!

Back to the airport

Shot of the full plane 

As we were leaving the village, Chinilla saw the pilot standing among the residents (argh!) so we had to wait at the plane til he was ready to leave.  Thankfully it wasn't too long of a wait.  Welcome to Marshall Islands! 

Waiting... Group shot

I really enjoyed myself seeing how the people on outer islands live.  There are only two "stores" that sell canned meat, personal items, and some candy.  There is no phone or Internet service although some of the other outer islands do have Internet service.  

We all were exhausted and most people slept on the plane ride back.  I couldn't sleep because I was too excited to see what I would find in the water underneath me (nothing major). I took a good cold shower when I got back to my room.  It was very hot with very little breeze so we all were soaked within 15 minutes of arriving 

Ekiden

Ekiden is a Japanese style relay race.  The Embassy of Japan hosted the first annual Majuro Ekiden.  Schools from the entire island had teams of 18 people running different distances, including children (running short distances).  10 schools in total participated.  The race started at Laura, and ended at Delap park after going close to Rita, the other end of the island.

When I first found out about this race, I was excited and wanted to participate, then I found out that teams went by school.  I got a little worried because my school would not be participating due to the small number of students.  No one contacted me asking me to join their team (childhood all over again haha) and I asked some people I knew who would be running. No response so I signed up to volunteer figuring that I would be involved somehow  if I would not be run if.  When I sent that email asking to volunteer, I mentioned that I would prefer to run but couldn't find a team, madness started. 

I sent that email last Saturday, got a response telling me to call someone (Carlon) cuz some schools were still looking for runners.  On Monday I called the number and he told me that Uliga school was still looking for a runner and at the same time the woman I originally emailed told me that Laura was still looking for a runner so I emailed both schools, no response from either person so I emailed Carlon on Wednesday telling him that neither school responded. He told me he signed me up with the Uliga team running 1.5 miles.  I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping to run a longer distance but at least I would be running.  I asked him for information, he told me that Uliga team would have a meeting.  On Friday (day before the race), I emailed Carlon again telling him that the captain hasn't told me details of the race (what time and where to meet), he told me that Uliga already found someone else but that Delap was still looking for someone.  That was at 415, schools close at 5 so Chinilla called Delap school, the school said they would look for the person responsible and call us back.  By 430, no call yet so we decided to drive to the school and find him.  He was not hard to find and I signed up to do the 17th leg, 2.5 miles.  Good thing the island is small enough to be able to arrive to the school before 5!  We agreed to meet at 6:30 where he would pick me up. 

So I met him at 6:30 the next morning.  He drove me to Delap park where all the other teams were meeting and they rode onto buses to their legs of the race.  Since I was close to the end, he told me to come back around 11 at my leg starting place.  I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to go for a little run before the run.  I ran 4.5 miles, finally had a good run because I have been sick for a while. 

It was time to go to my leg starting spot. I arrived, and waited 2 hours with the other women.  Finally the runners from leg 16 were on their way.  Laura team came first, with a 3 mile lead.  Then coop, then Woja, then Ajeltake, then Assumption, then it was my turn.  I steered running in 6th place and ended my leg in 4th place.  I stayed after I was done to see the final leg runners come in.  I never saw the final Delap runner come in. I left after 8 runners came in, and saw the 9th on the road.  No Delap.  I hope he is ok. 

The Laura runner for leg 16 is another volunteer and when he came in, he told me that the Laura team wanted me on their team but found out I was on the Uliga team.  Sorry, Laura team!  If I had known I would have joined Laura team. 

I have a bib from the Marshall Islands to add to my collection!  05 is school number and 17 is leg number. 

Large group of young boys (interestingly, no girls) waiting at start area with us. 

They had this chart telling people which team was where and in which place.  So cool to see the changes!

Placements after my leg.  Notice that Laura already finished the race before I came in!

I ran past Delap school on my leg and many kids/staff members were there cheering me on. It was nice to get that support.  There were also people on the side of the street close to the end of my leg watching and cheering us.  I saw one of the babies that I do home visits for.  He was confused to see me.  Haha. 

The end for legs number 17 and 18 was at Delap park.  I got some food and waited for the last leg runners to come in.  While waiting, I saw one of my students from my kindergarten class and the brother of another child I do home visits for.  This island truly is small and I bump into people I know all the time. 

I enjoyed myself at the race.  I will post more pictures if I find any more from other people. 

Sick

The sick bug finally caught me.  I think I have the flu along with the cold and bronchitis.. Just everything bundled together at once.  I went to the doctor and he took a minute look at my throat and then gave me Azithromac without looking at anything else.  I hope that the medicine will make everything go away soon!  I hate being sick. 

Wōn (turtle)

There are sea turtles all over the region although I have yet to see one.  I hope to see one before I leave.

The Marshallese people eat turtles at big events such as a kemen (baby's first birthday), funerals, etc... We were warned during orientation that if we see a turtle lying upside down on their shell on land, we have to leave it alone although we would want to turn it back right side up and let it go.  It is a dishonor to Marshallese people if we did that.  Fortunately I haven't seen any upside down turtles or been served turtle meat.  People on the outer islands have talked about their experience with that. 

On Saturday, I was riding in the back of a truck to get to Laura beach.  While riding through Ajeltake, I saw four men carry a turtle onto the bed of a pick up truck.  It was already dead and upside down.  I was thrilled to finally see a turtle outside of aquariums and zoos.  I still hope to see a live turtle in its natural habitat. 

6 months!

1/2 of the year... How did it arrive so quickly?!? 3 months until I return to America...

Some highlights of the month:

-my birthday 

-yoga

-irooj funeral

-Chinese new year-made dumplings and spring rolls

-baseball game

-saw a turtle (dead one-more on that later)

-first time being sick here

I read 10 books this month, including "Gone Girl"... Still reeling from that book!

For the next month anniversary, Jenny will have come and left! Her visit is gettig closer and closer!

Overdue updates

Iakwe aolep (hello everyone)...

I know this post is long time coming.  I have been busy (well busy and not so busy at the same time).  The major reason I haven't updated in a while is because I lost my beloved phone.  I was very sad and felt naked although I could use it only in NTA wi-fi areas.  I use it for a lot more than just phone-it was my camera, my pen and paper to communicate with people, my blog entries, and of course to keep in touch with people when I am in wi-fi areas.  I put an announcement on the radio but it hasn't been returned to me yet.  Life moves on.  There are worse things happening in this world.  Luckily, my sister Damara had an old phone that I could use for now until I return to the states when I plan to upgrade my phone.  Thanks, Damara, mike, holligan and Melvia for finding me the phone and mailing it to me!  Thus, the reason I haven't really updated my blog.  I usually write an entry in my phone, then post it when I am in an Internet area. I can't type the blog on the spot on my laptop when I am in an Internet area.  I type the blog on my phone wen I feel inspired to do so and post it when I am in an Internet area.  So... I apologize to my family and friends who have been waiting for a new entry.

I am doing good-as good as I can be considering I have this pesky cold that has been going on for 2 weeks.  If it doesn't go away by Monday I am going to the doctor.  I have been putting it off because you all know how much I love to go to the doctor.

My birthday came and went.  I started the day with a very good 8 mile run where I saw a shooting star, then did laundry and went to tide table where I video chatted with family and friends. Abby and I discussed our trip to Europe and we bought our plane ticket to fly to Europe that evening!  There was also a beautiful sunset thy evening.  It was a good, low key day. 

There is a king tide warning happening here now.  The last king tide (January) resulted in water covering the road around Rairok, blocking traffic for several hours until the water receded.  I guess that was enough to cancel school for my school since we have kids from all over the island.  The water levels were a bit high but no road flooding as far as I know.  The school closure was real nice, though.  I was able to do some errands.  School was closed on Monday as well because crews were supposed to cut down a tree behind the school because it was leaning dangerously close to the school and if it fell down, it would hit the school. So school was cancelled on Monday so crews could cut down the tree... The catch was that no one came.  The engine apparently died r something so they are working on fixing the engine then when they arrive, kids will go home immediately. I am not sure it will happen before we go home for the summer. We shall see. So basically I only had school for 3 days this week.  Gotta love 3 day school weeks!

Last week was "education week".  We weren't aware that we were supposed to plan activities for the kids the entire week until Tuesday so we planned activities for Wednesday-Friday.  On Wednesday, we went on a field trip to the fire department, to the bank and to the wellness center.  On Thursday we went to the airport to watch a plane landing (it's surprising how few kids have been to the airport considering how small the island is).  We missed the actual lading by a few seconds and waited forever for the plane to take off, but when it finally did, it was magical for the kids who were willing to get out of the van and back into the sun after standing in the sun for a while waiting. On Friday, we had activities for the entire school to participate in and to interact with each other.  After the activities. We had a bbq lunch of chicken, hot dog, fish for the adults, potato salad, rice, breadfruit, and chocolate cake.  It was good to have the entire school together and seeing how they interact with each other.

This week...  Majuro day was on Tuesday. No one I talked to has an idea of what that day signifies or what to do on that day.  I was supposed to teach sign class in Laura (other end of the island) at 4.  I had a feeling that something would happen but I didn't notify the other deaf volunteers.  I went on my home visit in ajeltake like I always do before the sign class.  The visit went a bit late so I was in a hurry to grab a taxi, no taxi vans came for a while.  I finally got on a taxi at 4.  I would have cancelled the class of it wasn't for my team teacher.  I finally arrived in Laura at 430.  The school was locked! So I got back on the same taxi and rode around picking people up, returning to majuro around 6:30.  I basically spent 2 1/2 hours jamboing the island in a taxi cab.  Fun times.  It ended up that all schools went to the event.  Of course no one told us. 

 I had a very busy Thursday evening.  First, chinilla and I decided to watch a women's softball game.  It was a championship game between delap (one of the neighborhoods of majuro) and the island chains beyond majuro but in the lagoon (I forgot the name).  The island chains won the game.  Then we went to her mother in law's home where they were cooking breadfruit.  I was so fascinated with it.

They cook the breadfruit in a pit in the ground to make the skin hard, then use a piece of broken glass to shred the burnt black skin off the breadfruit (below).  If it is not hard enough, the skin will come off.

Video of shredding the burnt part off the breadfruit. 

After that, we went to grab something to eat and then drive to Chinilla's house so she could change into appropriate clothes for the funeral of an irooj (chief) from Maloelap (her family is from that atoll).  

I think I counted 10 pictures of the irooj, it was the same picture but with different background photoshopped onto the pictures. 

View of the coffin and pictures from outside the church. 

It was my first funeral of an irooj.  I had gone to another funeral for a child before but not for an important person.  The funeral was held over several days at the international conference center where all the nitijela (congress) attended then it moved to the church.  The body will either be flown or transported by a boat to Maloelap where there will be another funeral and then he will be buried.  At each funeral, you are supposed to give at least a dollar to help the family offset the cost of the funeral and refreshments after the funeral.  There was a big Marshallese basket near the coffin that was full of money of varying denominations.  Amazing. 

Friday was the Chinese New Year celebration.  Two volunteers who know how to make Asian food hosted a dinner party.  We learned how to make pork dumplings and shrimp spring rolls.  I had a good time. 

Before it all started 

Working on making dumplings 

Dumplings that I made (before cooking)

My very first spring roll I made! Not perfect but still delicious!

Dinner party guests (volunteers plus assistant field director)

And another one with me in it!

Now that I have this phone, I should be updating more often!  Sorry this one was a long post!