Welcome to my blog on my year (July 2010 - June 2011) in the Marshall Islands! The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a Micronesian nation composed on 29 coral atolls and 5 islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. I am here on the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program which you can find out more about at this link: www.dartmouthrmi.com. I am staying in the capital, Majuro, and am teaching two sections of 7th grade English Grammar/Writing and English Reading at Majuro Middle School (MMS). I am living in dorms on the Marshall Islands High School (MIHS) campus, where MMS is located. If you have any other questions please feel free to email me at l.andrew.rayner@gmail.com, and thanks for visiting my blog. I update on Sundays as regularly as electricity/internet availability permits.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Manit Day Weekend


This week was pretty low key. Friday was a national holiday -- Manit Day -- so we knew school was going to be cancelled and I adapted my lesson plans accordingly. This week I decided to have a test on everything we have learned so far in grammar class (subject, verb, and direct object recognition; subject/object pronouns and possessive pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; common and proper nouns) and I am happy to say that half of my students passed! While this may not seem impressive, its an awesome feat for the students here, especially since we have learned so much!

Manit Day is a day for the celebration of Marshallese culture ("manit," in fact, means "culture" in Marshallese). Unfortunately, while the other volunteers and I were told that there are usually people doing traditional dancing and handicrafts on one of the larger plains on the island, this year (for the first time in a while) there was nothing coordinated. So, the day just ended up being a day off of work. Hannah, Mandy, and I did make use of the day by telling our students to come out to the field between MMS and MIHS (shown above) and help clean up from 9-12. We did not have high hopes for the number of students that would come since it was a holiday, but at least 20 kids from Mandy and my classes at MMS came! With their help and the help of some of the other local kids, we were able to make the field fairly clean. We brought a soccer ball, a frisbee, and a volleyball and told the kids they could play only if they picked up trash. I incentivized our students by promising them extra points for their team and Mandy did the same by telling them they could add a rock to their prize jar (Mandy had jars for each of her classes and she puts a rock in them each day the class behaves well). Even though it rained for more than half of the time, we were able to get some work done and play with a bunch of kids. We hope to do this every weekend from now on. Later that evening, Justin and Alex came from Ejit bearing freshly caught octopus. Luckily, since we have our own resident chef, we were able to cook and eat it properly. It was delicious! It was the best "Culture Day" any of us could have asked for.

Another nice thing about the long weekend was that other World Teach volunteers from the nearby island of Arno were able to come in for the weekend. Brooke Payne, James De Brueys, and Erica Moore came to stay with us at the Bungalow and hang out in Majuro and we truly enjoyed their company.

The only other news that I regret to add is that our second kitten, Papaya, passed away last week. We discovered that she had worms and we gave her medicine but it was too late to save her. Everyone was very sad to see her go. The Bungalow has been lacking in warm affection as a result, but we are making due without her.

Besides that, this week was pretty standard. Hopefully next week will bring more adventures!

Bar lo kom,

Andrew

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Daily Life



As the weeks fly by, life is really falling into a rhythm. I figure I would use this entry to give you some kind of sense of what my daily life is like in Majuro.

I wake up around 7:40 each morning, shower and eat breakfast, and make the 3 minute walk to school with Mandy before before the 8:15 bell. At school, Mandy and I are always greeted by exuberant children who are quick to give us high fives or attempt to mess with us before the day begins. The kids are usually playing volleyball or running around aimlessly before class. I teach my homeroom - 107 - reading, have a free period, then teach them writing and grammar. Third period, I teach another class, 104, reading. There is an hour break for lunch where most of the kids go home to get food. Mandy and I also usually go home to eat at the Bungalow. We both hurry to get back so we can play volleyball or hacky-sac with the kids before the bell rings for 5th period. I then teach 104 a class of grammar and writing. I have the last period free and I usually sit in the office/teachers lounge creating the next day's worksheets or grading papers. This is also the time that I am able to learn Marshallese from the teachers who are in the office. I really enjoy the time I get to spend with the other teachers during this period and after school.

Depending on the day, I do different things after school. Immediately after school, I usually have a snack, read whatever book I am currently on (at the moment it is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri--she is a beautiful writer), talk with my housemates about the day's blunders, and/or practice the guitar. As I mentioned in the previous blog entry I have started to play soccer with a group of Fijian guys and a few other ribelles every Monday and Wednesday from 6-7 pm. I finally bought cleats this week ($20, not too bad) so I will not be sliding all over the wet, long grass like I have been the past two weeks. On Tuesdays I try to go swimming/snorkeling. I had been going to Ejit, but I have not been doing this recently. It is much easier to swim in the ocean or lagoon right by the Bungalow (not to mention their aren't as many ferocious dogs waiting for me right outside the water like on Ejit). This past Tuesday I went to the Marshall Islands High School's gospel choir rehearsal with a previous DVTP volunteer who has been here for three years--Jonathan Marable. The kids are very high energy and the director is a guy from Samoa who is literally able to sing every voice part. It is very impressive. Thursdays and Fridays I usually rest after school. Friday evenings, however, Justin and I go out on the town. Usually there is some ribelle event happening each weekend and so it is a nice time to unwind and socialize with the other volunteers and Americans on the island. On Saturday, the residents of the Bungalow usually handle whatever affairs they were not able to get to during the week, such as using the internet for a prolonged period of time, running errands in town, or just taking it easy. In the late afternoon, one of the Japanese Volunteer Corps teachers named Misa who works with Hannah at MIHS comes over and trades language lessons with us. She teaches us Japanese (we even did calligraphy one Saturday, which is shown in the picture above) and Joanna teaches us Chinese. Hannah sometimes inputs the German she knows and I help with French. Strangely enough we all should be working on our Marshallese, but it is fun to do be able to learn about so many different cultures. We also play music. Hannah is pretty good at the guitar and Misa is great at the ukelele, while Joanna and I are trying to learn both. It is nice to be able to share music with one another. Sunday, as per Marshallese tradition, I go to church on Ejit, or with with my housemates. They are on a mission to go to all of the churches on the island before they leave. Good luck to them. There are dozens and many different denominations!

In the evenings, the Bungalow residents try to eat family dinners together. Bill used to be a chef and has been spoiling us with meals but all of us are pretty good cooks. I have enjoyed sharing my favorite dishes that my mom makes with my housemates and they have enjoyed eating them (they say to tell you that you are a great cook mom!). This past week we had pork loin, whole chicken with squash and salad, lemon pepper garlic tuna with alfredo/tomato/spinach pasta, and meatloaf with rice/corn/mushroom/ramen. Bill told me not to tell people that we were eating well because then no one would think we were roughing it, but be assured, we still appreciate packages of food from home! Good meat and vegetables are EXPENSIVE here! Friday nights the group usually goes out to eat (Justin and Alex coming in from Ejit make it a special occasion each week). We eat at a nice restaurant called Tide Table where a Fijian band plays every Friday night. Ironically enough, half of the band lives next door to us and the other half are people I play soccer and rugby with! It truly is a small island.

After dinner, Mandy and I have taken to playing cards. Mandy is a card shark and played a lot of card games with her family growing up. She has taught me how to play Rummy, Gin Rummy, 31, and a game of her family's own creation called Polish Poker. We play all of them at last once each night and I have gotten pretty good. At least one of the nights last week I beat Mandy in all four games! She hasn't let that happen since.

Another thing that I do after school almost each day is laundry. I have never had the experience of washing clothes by hand but it is the inexpensive and easier way to wash clothes here. The key, I have learned, is to do a little each day. Otherwise, your hands will hurt very badly after ringing out your entire wardrobe multiple times. Since it is so windy here, the weather provides the perfect dryer. We have at least 8 clothes lines at all times hanging in our "veranda" (which is basically an area around the entire house, but still inside the walls, that is enclosed by metal fencing, pictured above). I have come to find hand-washing clothes to be really relaxing and rewarding.

So that is a rough sketch of a week on the island.

The most exciting thing that happened this particular week was that all of the volunteer teachers for Dartmouth and World Teach that are on the Majuro atoll were invited to the house of the Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy named Eric Watnick. There, we had pizza and we able to use his internet to call home for free. He has already invited us back anytime we are in need of an "America" fix, including watching the Super Bowl. Many thanks to Eric and his family for their hospitality.

I only have one surprise about the RMI this week but it's a pretty big one:

22) It costs 5 dollars every time you see a doctor for anything, a check up or surgery. The 5 dollars also covers all the medicine you could need. Dental is the same. You have to pay for your stay in the hospital, but when I asked how much it was, I was told, "a penny a night." This can't be true...but still its pretty obvious that its not expensive. One of the Marshallese women I work with said, "Primary healthcare is a must." I think this is one thing that the Marshallese have definitely gotten right.

Thanks for reading!

Bar lo kom,

Andrew

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Smooth Sailing



(Pictured above, some of my students from Rm. 104 -- Ponalynn, Connie, Amanda, Nebwij, and Julie)

First I want to say that it wasn't until today, the 12th, that I realized that 9/11 was yesterday! It is amazing to me how being out in the Pacific has removed me from American culture and media, which I am sure was full of messages of remembrance and hope yesterday. To those still grieving and those still fighting, my best wishes go out to you all.

This week was an anticlimactic follow-up to last week but that is probably a good thing. After changing my methods in class -- teaching simpler, more focused lessons and using more class discipline -- things have been running a lot more smoothly. Mandy suggested that I do some one-on-one testing of my students reading abilities so I spent this week testing students on Dolch sight words (words that you are supposed to be able to read just by seeing them, not phonetically). While I was testing individual students, I had the rest of the class read Shel Silverstein poems and write their own in response. While most of my students wrote poems about their names or the poems they read, one of my brightest students wrote a beautiful love poem. I was sad to find out that it is a derivative of a poem already written but he added his own to it so I asked if I could put it on my blog and he said yes:

The Love of Two Couples by Lanjo Ned (with original mistakes...)

I wrote your name on the sky but the wind blew it away.
I wrote your name on the book but the eraser erase it away.
I wrote your name on the sand but the wave washed it away.
I wrote your name on the cake but the people ate it away.
I wrote your name on my heart and it didn't got blewed, it didn't got erased, it didnt got washing, it didnt got aten, but it stayed here foever and togeather will be lovers forever.

I was pretty moved by his ability to understand and express metaphorical thoughts about love in English. On the flip side, another one of my bright students attempted to pass off "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley as if she had written it. This I squelched quickly by telling her I was an English major and that my mother used to recite this poem to me when I was younger since she learned it when she was in elementary school. It was pretty funny to me nonetheless.

On Friday, when my testing was through, I was able to hang out with my classes. One of my classes was able to show me some pretty awesome dance moves. Lanjo had a lot of breakdance and Michael Jackson moves down. I was very impressed again. It was fun to finally have time to hang out with my students as a whole.

The biggest highlight from this week has been playing rubgy and soccer with a group of Fijian guys. I met one of the guys in a taxi one day early on in my time in Majuro and he has always been friendly to me whenever he has seen me around the city. However, when Lauren, a Ministry of Education employee who is good friends with Anna, invited me to play soccer, I did not expect to see my Fijian there. When she did not show up I was even more surprised that he asked me to play rubgy with him and his friends instead. I have always wanted to play rugby but was always a little intimidated by the huge players. These guys were huge also, but they played a dumbed down touch version of rubgy that I felt I could get the hang of. While it was difficult for me to grasp the concept of passing the ball backwards while still trying to move forwards, I ended up scoring once and learning a lot about the game. When I came on Wednesday, the same group of guys and Lauren were there to play soccer. We played a rousing game that lasted into the night. I am going to try to do some kind of sports with these guys each week from now on.

On a sadder note, this week Coconut passed away. We always knew that she was the runt of her litter and that she was sickly but she took a turn for the worst this week. She not eating and was not really moving much. We had to feed her through an eyedropper and despite the fact that we thought she was getting better, she left us. Papaya is still doing fine however.

And now for the RMI surprises of the week:

19) The diversity of people on Majuro surprises me constantly. While "diversity" is usually confined to blacks, whites, asians, hispanics, and, sometimes, native americans, the RMI draws people from all over Asia, Australia, New Zeland, and the Pacific Islands. I never expected to meet people from the Soloman Islands or Fiji or that there would be so many Phillipino, Chinese, and Japanese people here. There are also SO MANY islands that i have never heard of before like Chuuk and Palau.

20) Even though it rains multiple times almost every day, I have only seen lighting once. That was this past Saturday.

21) Power outages are not THAT bad. We have had three unplanned power outages this week and for some reason whenever they happen everyone in the Bungalow gets quiet and reads or works silently. Usually the silence is not so pervasive. I guess the lack of electricity stills us. Kinda cool.

Thats all for now!

Bar Lo Kom,

Andrew

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Stormy Weather



I am sorry for the delay of this post. The (free) internet on campus has been down since this past Thursday when the Majuro Atoll had a planned power outage (for more details, continue reading below). This past week was pretty tumultuous, but after writing this and having started a new week, I feel much better about those things that went wrong. This past week started off like most others. Like I have said in past blog entries, I think that I am getting into the swing of things here and finding a rhythm to the way of life. School went as it has been going. I started this week telling my students that they had a second chance on everything. I had previously caught some of them cheating (my response was to dramatically rip their papers up in front of the class and give a lesson on the definition of the word "unacceptable"), some of them had skipped class, many of them had come in late, and even more of them had chosen not to turn in homework or to study for my quizzes. I was disappointed but I acquiesced to the idea that maybe these slip-ups had been the result of my failure to clearly outline my expectations. I did just that at the beginning of the week and hoped that many of my students would take advantage of my generosity. I also gave them the chance to come into my classroom during lunch or after school and get extra points on their quizzes from the previous week which most of them did very poorly on. I did not expect to see many or any of the students for the retake but after school at least 20 showed up. I thought that maybe my talking-to had worked and that things would go more smoothly in the classroom. Little did I know what was coming the week ahead of me.

One highlight of this week was talking to the deaf student at MMS in sign language. Mandy, the World Teach volunteer that I spoke about last week who specialized in teaching special education classes in college, told me a week or so ago that if I wanted to make the deaf student happy, I should sign to him "What is your first name?" She thought that even some recognition from one of the new ribelle teachers would make him happy. I learned the ASL alphabet in elementary school (to give you some kind of indication of how nerdy we were back then, we used to sign notes to each other across the class instead of passing them; it was a short lived fad) and so I felt relatively prepared to read his response since it would be spelled out. I was in the office during one of my prep periods and the student walked in. I was excited to use the sign I had learned so I tried it and he beamed at me and commenced to spell his name. Unfortunately, my alphabet was a little rusty and so I mixed up "m" and "n" and was thoroughly confused about what his name was, especially since I have no expertise in Marshallese names. There is a white board in the office, so I went up it and spelled out what I thought was "Amdy." He shook his head no and spelled out "Andy." I felt so dumb. However, I signed my name and spelled it on the board too and then drew and arrow from his name to him and my name to me. He smiled again. I then erased the "rew" from my name, replaced it with a "y" to indicate that his name, Andy, was a form of my name. Then I pointed from him to me to try to indicate that we were the same. He clapped and was very happy. It made me feel really good to communicate with someone who I do not think gets to communicate with anyone besides his interpreter at school.

Thursday there was a planned power outage for the whole island. There has only been one of these since I have been here but it was for half of the island. The outages take place so that mechanics can fix the generators that power the entire atoll. Many schools took this as an opportunity to have a half day, since the outage is scheduled from 9-5 and the buildings get hot and the bathrooms don't work. My school did not do this. Unfortunately, Marshall Islands High School (MIHS), who shares a field with us, did decide to have a half day in addition to a celebration/party for their new freshman, new teachers, and transfer students. The music started before lunch and I knew that all was lost as far as trying to keep the focus of my students. Many of the students wandered into the MIHS celebration and did not return at all for classes after lunch, and those who did were over 20 mins late. The MMS teachers were not much help at bringing the kids back to school, especially when they were saying we should have a half day too despite the fact that principal said no.

To make matters worse, a large number of my students did not have their homework again, AND I caught one of them cheating--one of the people who I had given the second chance to for cheating the first time. All of this together made me extremely upset and frustrated. I struggled to understand how I would ever get any progress with my students when they were so easily distracted and unwilling to even try. I ended up being fairly bitter and doing a poor job of hiding my disappointment. In my second section, when I found out one of my "bad" students did not have his homework again and that his response to why he did not have it was a simple shrug I flipped out. I kept removing his feet from the chair in front of him as I tried to get a reason from him as to why he did not have his homework and he kept putting them back up AND not giving me a reason for not having his homework. He was the first student I sent to the office.

I went to the office after school very frustrated (school ended up concluding a period early because of all of the distractions). I attempted to express my frustrations the other teachers and I learned that I was not alone in my treatment from the students. Many of the Marshallese teachers expressed the need for more discipline and punishment. They suggested that I crack down harder on my students. They said that in the end, they will still like you and will respect you more so for doing it. This is my plan for this week.

The Bungalow received its final member on Thursday. Bill, a World Teach volunteer from last year, came to complete our family for the year. An older gentleman, Bill had been traveling around the country before coming to Majuro. He did not have to be at orientation because he did the program last year. He entered with a bang, buying us lunch at Tide Table. The following day, he helped us turn our house into a home, moving around furniture and motivating us to clean to the point were I said, "Wow, this is scary. i am starting to see this as a place I might live for the next year." Everyone agreed. Bill brought a number of supplies to help cover surfaces and complete our kitchen and he says that he has spices (including Lawry's seasoned salt, thank God!) and other nifty things on the way here. He has experience as a chef so I am excited to learn cooking techniques and eat the meals he prepares (not that we haven't been doing a good job, but still)! Bill is also teaching on the MIHS campus kiddy-corner to MMS at a school called the National Vocation and Technical Institute (NVTI). This school is basically for students who do not score high enough to get into MIHS. It helps get an equivalency diploma.

Later Friday night, I was invited to dinner at the home of Yvonne and her husband Craig. Yvonne is an older woman who is here teaching at the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI). More importantly, she is from one of the suburbs of Chicago! I was ecstatic to meet her a few weeks ago because of our connection and she has treated me like her own child since our first meeting. She is the only carnivore in a family of herbivores so she was happy to have me over to have a reason to cook some meat. We sat around her family's apartment and talked about like in the Marshall Islands and teaching with her family and two other CMI teachers who also stated the importance of discipline in the classroom in order to reach the Marshallese students. I found this very encouraging. I was also able to talk Yvonne and Craig's daughter, Amethyst, who is a high school senior and is looking at colleges. I am very much so pushing her to apply to Dartmouth and was giving her application and college advice from my years of experience as an intern in the Admissions Office at Dartmouth.

Later that night, Yvonne and I headed to the Marshall Islands Resort (MIR) for a drink after dinner (Craig and the other guests were not interested in coming). On the porch, we met some friends of Yvonne's and talked for a few hours. One of these friends was a Marshallese man who goes by the name Junior. I told him of my frustrations in the classroom this past week and he told me of the importance of parents and how many parents here are not involved or not aware of their children's academic life. He is very involved in his children's schooling. He says that he takes out a white board every night and has them write out what they need to do and that he does he best to help them learn what they need to learn. He encouraged me to get the parents involved and that he said he would come to my class to offer some Marshallese motivation. I was very encouraged by this. However, when I went inside, I had a conversation of a different and less encouraging sort.

The conversation started like most of my conversations with Marshallese people. I explained to him that I was a volunteer teacher at MMS and that I was here for the year through the DVTP. I expressed to him some of my frustrations from the week and his only response was to tell me that the Marshallese people were stupid. I was taken aback by this response and insisted that I did not agree. I told him that while my students may not be doing all that well in my class, there were a few who were doing outstanding work. Even though there were those that weren't doing as well, I could still tell that they were smart. Their only problem was a lack of effort and motivation. They were too distracted by other things and did not see their education as a priority. The gentleman's response was to ask me if I was being asked questions in Marshallese would I be able to respond. I said, "Of course not," and that that was exactly my point. My students lack of success in my class was not indicative of their intelligence. It only spoke to their inability to read, write, and comprehend English. Still, I argued, I knew that my students could do the work if they tried, they just chose not to try. I asked him what he thought I should do. He said again that the Marshallese were stupid and that I should ask President Obama for more money for the country. This bothered me deeply because I knew that handouts from America, warranted or not, were not the solution to this problem. I said this to him and he responded that I was like all of the other volunteers and ribelles that came to the island. That I thought I was better than the Marshallese and that I knew what was best for them. He said that I was here for a vacation. I tried to disavow these accusations but the man stayed firm. After my experiences in my classroom this week and knowing all of the work I had put into teaching, this comment made me furious. I stormed away from the man and out of the bar. It was my first encounter with someone who did not seem to want volunteers to be here. I left mad because I knew I was not on vacation, that I had worked hard, and that I had even more hard work ahead of me. I think I was even more mad because I kept thinking to myself, "How do I help a people that do not want to be helped?"

I was so distraught from the conversation that I got in touch with Anna, the DVTP field director, who lived close by to MIR. I told her about the interaction that I had just had and asked her my question -- "How do I help a people that do not want to be helped?" She replied that this was a typical response from many Marshallese people and that they had a point. The Marshallese did fine on their own for hundreds of years before intervention from foreign countries. What were were doing here? Why did they need our help? She encouraged me to find answers to these questions myself. As far as motivating youth who did not put the effort forth to reap the benefits of volunteer teachers she said, "You have to inspire. You have to be consistent and show the students that you care. In time, they will come to care too." These words, though simple, resonated strongly with me. I left Anna's house that evening with renewed energy and hope that I could make a difference once again.

In lighter news, this weekend was the All Micronesian Fishing Tournament sponsored by the RMI's own Billfish Fishing Club. Justin, one of the volunteers, was lucky enough to be asked to be on a team for Kwajalein, the atoll where the American military base is located. On Saturday, his team (a man short) was able to bring in a marlin weighing just under 300 pounds. They had also hooked two other marlin's but were not able to reel them in. The one fish was enough to put them in fourth place for the day. The next day he was not so lucky. Due to boat malfunctions and poor fishing location choices, his team was only able to real in a skipjack and a wahoo (two DELICIOUS tuna). His team ended up getting fourth place in the end. The other volunteers and I were very proud of him. He faired extremely well against "all" of Micronesia!

Finally, this Sunday around Majuro (in the Christian churches at least) was known as White Sunday. This basically meant that the church youths wore their finest white regalia and led service. I went to the UCC church on Ejit with Alex (Justin was fishing at the time) and watched at the adorable kids sang (or shouted to be more precise) "We Shall Overcome" and "Praise Ye the Lord" while waving dollar bill flags. Alex was very proud of her students. I was personally moved to hear kids from across the world singing "We Shall Overcome," a song that speaks directly to the Civil Rights Movement in America. After this week, I can only hope that the Marshallese youth do feel as if they can overcome their adversities some day.

As always, I will end with some more observations about the RMI that have surprised me.

16) The word for black person in Marshallese is "rikilmej" ((roll the r) ri - kull - e - mezz). It means "black (as in the color) people." I think it is so much more fun to say and more colorful than the English equivalent, or any other term that black people have been called around the world for that matter (read: les noirs in French, which literally means "the blacks".

17) The ocean and lagoon are beautiful. I always knew there was a world under all the water but it is full of life! I have been snorkeling only a few times but I think it might be my new favorite thing on earth. Imagine being in an aquarium with as many different types of fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors that you can imagine AND huge building sized towers of coral and you will be close to seeing what I have seen.

18) Some of the kids here have hilarious names, which, while having strange meanings, do sound very nice as names. Mandy has a student named Nimrod and I have a student named Agency and one named Cloreen. Think about it.

Until next time,

Bar Lo Kom,

Andrew