Imagination and Reality

This week presented interesting ideas and challenges to my experience in the RMI. In my reading classes, Bill inspired me to do a unit on imagination. On Monday, we discussed what imagination was and I instructed my students to draw a picture of a fish with legs, feet, and fur, who is singing while making a pizza. The point was to teach the students that the same picture formed in their minds from my instructions are the same kinds of pictures they should have in their minds as they read. I also showed my students the video clip of "Pure Imagination" from the original Willy Wonka film. They had never seen it before and were mesmerized by it (one of them asked if it was real in fact!). The next day, I read from a wonderful children's book called What If... by Regina Williams. The book is a collection of beautiful illustrations of "what if" situations a little boy is dreaming up before going to bed. Some of these scenarios included gardens made of candy, dogs growing on dogwood trees, and clouds becoming what they look like and putting on a show in the sky. The assignment was for the students to make up their own "what if" situations. My two favorites were "what if I flew a plane into a rainbow and broke it," and "what if it snowed in the Marshall Islands." On Wednesday, I read from one of my favorite books from elementary school, The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, which I had been reading to the students before. I then had them draw pictures of what they saw in their minds from the chapters I read. On Thursday, final day of the unit, I showed the students a book that Mandy has used in all of her classrooms previously called Flotsam by David Wiesner. The book has no words but tells the story of a boy at the beach who discovers an underwater camera that has fantastical pictures on it such as huge starfish with islands on their backs, schools of robotic fish, and tiny aliens riding on sea horses. It was a delight to see the faces of the students change from wonderment to shock as each page turned. The students were then asked to write the story themselves. I think that the unit was well received.

At the same time, each night Mandy and I watched movies that were about or involved imagination. On Monday, we watched Hook (the word "bangarang" is thankfully back in my vocabulary as a result), Tuesday we watched Finding Neverland (about the creation of the story of Peter Pan; an absolutely amazing film if you have not seen it). Wednesday we watched Howl's Moving Castle, (in an effort to lighten the mood after watching such a sad film the day before). Thursday we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I think that watching these movies in juxtaposition to doing a unit on imagination really reawakened my inner child (well, that and working with children everyday). I concluded that as a result of this week, when I come back for the summer I want to work at a summer camp, because I myself never went to one (and also because after seeing Hook I have an irrepressible urge to be in a food fight).

On Friday, I took my two winning teams on a field trip to WAM (Waan Aolen in Majol) to go on traditional Marshallese canoe rides and to have ice cream. The students really enjoyed the trip and it was nice to play with them outside of the context of school (pictured above).

This weekend, I moved quickly from a week full of childlike wonderment to the reality of the world around me. On Thursday evening, after dinner at Yvonne's house, I learned more about the culture and politics of the Marshall Islands. I realized that this is the first country I have ever visited that I knew literally nothing about before coming (besides the little information I gleaned from Wikipedia). Politics and culture are very ingrained in the everyday life of the Marshallese. I believe this is because of the scarcity of land and familiarity that everyone has with one another. It is a testament to the Marshallese that while the Marshall Islands is heavily influenced by outside countries--especially the United States--the people have successfully held on to their roots. In addition to having a president and a republic, the Marshall Islands also have iroojs, who are highly respected community leaders and landowners. The Marshallese concepts of land, power, and money are very different from the American concepts as a result. I think this is why it is difficult sometimes for volunteers to come and attempt to help with various aspects of Marshallese life. We just do not know enough about the culture, and, in many ways, we never will since we come from such a different context. The Marshall Islands are a small group of islands and atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They have followed their customs for many years and no word view could or necessarily should change that. There are so many ways that I want to help here, but I learned this weekend that the help has to come out of the Marshallese context and perspective, not an American one. What is progress? What is advancement? What is beauty? These words mean different things to different people. When I look out at the lagoon, I still have a hard time believing that what I am seeing is real. When the Marshallese look out, they see the same water that they have seen for hundreds of years. They see a life force and a source of food, commerce, and transportation. I was shocked to find out that many of my students do not even like to swim! I need to first see things with Marshallese eyes before I can try to work for change. It will take a lot more time and patience on my part to learn what I need to know to help outside of the classroom and I worry that a year is not enough time. There is still much to learn. I feel fortunate to be in a place where I am required to listen more than speak so that I can in fact learn as much as possible. I hope that in my time here I will be able to make a difference inside and outside of the classroom by working with the Marshallese and their culture.

More shockers from the island:

23) The realization of how Americanized the RMI is yet how different it is from the places I am familiar with was striking to me, especially after having been here for two months.

24) Despite the idea that the pacific islands are isolated and paradisical, the islands (including the RMI) have had major influence from outside parties. They are not as disconnected from the rest of the world as one might think.

That's all for now!

Bar lo kom,

Andrew