Guide Living and Teaching Marshall Islands

Guide to

Living and Teaching in the

Marshall Islands Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program 2012-2013

PREFACE Congratulations! You have chosen to take the extraordinary step of living and working in a country that is really like no other. You have chosen to take on a serious responsibility – one for which there are high expectations and demands, but also one that will prove to be as rewarding as just about anything you can imagine. Your decision to join the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program indicates that you are adventurous and that you care about helping others, but most of all, it shows that you are ready for a challenge. Living and working in the Marshall Islands is not just another day hanging out at the beach in a tropical paradise (although we’d be lying if we said that never happens, it’s just a little different from you might have imagined) – you’ll find frustrations, stress and other difficulties that you might not expect. Trying to adjust to the new environment can be a road filled with pitfalls if you are unprepared. This document is intended to serve as a brief introduction to life in the Marshall Islands. You should read through it now, during the summer before leaving home and during orientation in Majuro to familiarize yourself with some of the things you are likely to encounter during your time here. Many questions can be answered by reading the pages of this guide so you should take the time to read it before your departure. Much of the fear and anxiety you may feel at the beginning is caused by the fact that you are bombarded with situations and experiences that are completely unfamiliar and unexpected. We hope that this guide will give you at least some idea of what to expect and thus reduce some of the initial shock that you will inevitably experience. This book also serves as a reference guide for everyday living in the Marshall Islands. Simple operations like making a long-distance call or getting a letter mailed from the outer islands become much more difficult when you are dealing with foreign operators, telephones, and mail systems. This book aims to make these and other tasks a little less daunting. However, this guide should not be regarded as an infallible (or even a complete) source. Things are changing here quickly enough that what is true today may not be true tomorrow. In addition to reading this book, you should constantly talk with the Marshallese you meet, your fellow DVTP volunteers, and the DVTP staff to get more information. Living and teaching in the Marshall Islands offers a variety of experiences that depend on your particular placement, your own personal history and your expectations before arrival. It is impossible to prepare all volunteers for their own personal experience in the RMI. The reality is that at times you will struggle while living and teaching in the RMI. DVTP is here to support and facilitate your success, but you must be prepared to take on new challenges and problem solve on your own. Before departure, you should try to speak with past volunteers about what to expect. Most of last year’s volunteers will be at the orientation session on the Friday of Graduation Weekend to answer your questions and help you prepare for your 10 months in the Marshall Islands. During your service, you will encounter some things that will absolutely delight you. Nevertheless, inevitably, you will also encounter things that will seem strange, bizarre, or even 1

downright irrational. Many of these things will make you confused, frustrated, or angry. When this happens, there is one thing you must remember: RELAX!!! Try to think about things from a Marshallese point of view and, especially factoring in their unusual geography and the unique history, hopefully things will begin to make more sense. Many practices and beliefs are rooted in Marshallese culture. Whatever the case, do not condemn the RMI and its people. Try to understand them. Try to discover what it was that you were assuming or valuing that they were not, and what they were assuming and valuing that you were not. Then ask yourself why? What makes you think and value what you do, and what makes them think and value what they do? This is where writing “critical incidents” is helpful. If you can incorporate this way of looking at the differences you face, you are guaranteed a fascinating experience in the Marshall Islands. If you keep an open mind, you will learn a lot about the Marshall Islands and its people and just as much about yourself and your culture.

*Much of this document is shamelessly stolen from the WorldTeach Guide to Living and Teaching in the Marshall Islands. Our thanks to the time and effort put into that document as well as the willingness to share it with DVTP.

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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION DVTP IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS DVTP STATEMENT OF EXPECTATIONS FOR VOLUNTEERS FIELD STAFF TEACHING IN THE MARSHALLS THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION BACKGROUND: AN OVERVIEW OF MARSHALLESE POLITICS MORE BACKGROUND: MOE AND THE GOVERNMENT THE BIKINI LOCAL GOVERNMENT THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OUTSIDE EDUCATORS IN THE RMI PRIMARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION PRIVATE SCHOOLS TEACHING ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS OF DVTP VOLUNTEERS EARLY TERMINATION HANGING LOOSE ISLAND STYLE METHODS DVTP VOLUNTEERS’ METHODS MARSHALLESE METHODS WORKING IT OUT WITH YOUR PRINCIPAL RESPECT FOR YOUR PRINCIPAL AND OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY CANCELLATIONS ADULT CLASSES MATERIALS IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENTARY TOPICS FOR ALL TEACHERS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION HIV/AIDS AWARENESS/PREVENTION THE TWIN CURSES OF ALCOHOL AND TEEN PREGNANCY SUICIDE DISCIPLINE CHEATING PARENTS AND EDUCATION PARENT SUPPORT AT HOME HOW TO FOSTER PARENT SUPPORT AT HOME DVTP JOB DESCRIPTION YOUR STIPEND SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR AND HOLIDAYS INITIAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS TRAVEL DURING THE YEAR FISHING

7 7 8 8 10 10 10 11 12 12 14 15 16 16 17 17 19 21 21 22 22 25 26 27 28 29 29 31 31 32 33 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 39 40 41 42

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BOATING SCUBA DIVING AND SNORKELING YOUR FIRST DAY IN THE MARSHALLS MAJURO ORIENTATION LIVING CONDITIONS MARSHALLESE LANGUAGE TEFL CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT SITE VISIT DURING ORIENTATION OTHER OPPORTUNITIES REQUIREMENTS LIVING IN THE MARSHALLS EXPECTATIONS THE SITES: MAJURO, EJIT, LAURA, KILI, WOTJE, JALUIT MAJURO EJIT LAURA KILI WOTJE JALUIT FINAL WORD ABOUT SITES JOB SUCCESS OVERSEAS – EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY DOING YOUR JOB OVERSEAS THE MYTH OF THE PERSONAL JOURNEY A WORD ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS HARDSHIPS YOU MIGHT FACE IN THE MARSHALLS COMMUNICATION WITH HOME TELEPHONES FAX THE INTERNET POSTAL SERVICE VISITORS FROM HOME NEWS IN ENGLISH DOCUMENTS AND MONEY BANKING GETTING MONEY IN AN EMERGENCY

42 42 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 46 47 47 47 48 52 53 53 53 54 56 55 55 56 57 58 58 60 61 62 62 63 64 65 65 66 66

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE RMI

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INTRODUCTION SAFETY THEFT PHYSICAL ASSAULT SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT

66 67 67 68 69

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“PEEPING TOMS” HEALTH ILLNESS IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS IMPORTANT DO’S AND DON’TS TREATMENT OTHER MEDICAL ISSUES IMMUNIZATIONS BEFORE DEPARTURE HEALTH/MEDICAL ITEMS YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE MARSHALLS UNITED STATES NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE TESTING IN THE MARSHALLS SUPPLEMENTAL OVERSEAS HEALTH AND EVACUATION INSURANCE ADDITIONAL OVERSEAS HEALTH INSURANCE POST-RETURN MEDICAL INSURANCE MEDICAL EVACUATION EMERGENCY PROCEDURES CULTURE AND CUSTOMS LAND TRADITIONAL LEADERS IROIJ AND LEROIJ: THE PARAMOUNT CHIEFS BIRTH ORDER BIRTH AND DEATH IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS NAVIGATION AND WEATHER PREDICTION CULTURAL CUSTOMS: A LIST MARSHALLESE ADOPTIONS HOUSING SPONSOR FAMILIES MARSHALLESE HOSPITALITY PERSONAL SPACE BEING THE CENTER OF ATTENTION FOOD WATER GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR INTERACTING WITH MARSHALLESE FAMILIES INFORMATION SHARING, COMMUNICATION AND PERSONAL INTERACTIONS COPRA, RELIGION, BELIEF, AND MAGIC TIME MARSHALLESE LESSONS GENDER ISSUES CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT THE CULTURE ADJUSTMENT CURVE THE LOW POINTS COPING MECHANISMS GETTING INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY BEFORE YOU GO

70 71 71 72 72 73 74 74 75 75 78 79 79 79 80 81 81 81 82 82 84 84 86 87 89 90 90 91 92 92 92 95 95 96 97 98 99 100 102 102 102 103 103 104

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BETWEEN NOW AND DEPARTURE HANOVER ORIENTATION STUDYING MARSHALLESE BEFORE YOU GO VISA SUGGESTED READING AND RESOURCE LIST WEBSITES BOOKS TRAVEL GUIDES PREPARATION PACKING LIST A GUIDE TO WHAT YOU MIGHT (AND MIGHT NOT) WANT TO TAKE WITH YOU GENERALLY LUGGAGE SHOES WOMEN’S CLOTHING MEN'S CLOTHING RAINWEAR NICER CLOTHES LINENS MEDICATIONS AND COSMETICS DOCUMENTS BOOKS ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES LAPTOP COMPUTERS CDS/MP3S/IPODS HOBBIES/SPORTS CAMERAS AND FILM OTHER EQUIPMENT GIFTS CHECKLIST OF SUGGESTED CLOTHING TEACHING SUPPLIES DVTP ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS PAYING TAXES UNITED STATES CONTACT INFORMATION

104 104 104 104 104 105 105 106 106 106 107 107 107 108 108 109 109 109 109 109 110 110 110 110 111 111 111 111 112 112 114 116 116 116 120

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INTRODUCTION DVTP in the Marshall Islands The DVTP operates in the Marshalls Islands under the direction of the Ministry of Education of the Marshall Islands (MOE). Currently, the MOE is striving to ensure that all teachers have at least a two-year Associate’s degree. In the RMI, Dartmouth volunteers serve as substitute teachers, which enables the MOE to send teachers back to school for training. Additionally, the MOE is focused on improving students’ English skills beginning early in elementary school and decided to bring in native-English speaking teachers to assist with this effort. While opinions on when a second language should be introduced vary, the MOE finds that it has little choice but to adopt English (or some other non-Micronesian language) because there are few instructional materials or books written in Marshallese. The major texts used in the schools are in English, particularly in high school, so students whose English skills are weak are at a great disadvantage. Simply put, developing strong English language skills is the key for students here – without them, the children can’t move on to higher levels of education and face severely limited options for the future. Although English has been taught in the schools for a half-century, current academic achievement levels fall far below expectations of parents, community leaders and government officials. Students leaving 8th grade generally have a very poor command of English, not to mention weak math skills (partially due to poor English), and poor literacy skills in Marshallese and English. The DVTP is excited to have the opportunity to help the MOE on its mission to improve the education of Marshallese children, in English and other subjects. The relationship between the MOE and the DVTP is described in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is renewed on a yearly basis. Under the terms of the MOU, the DVTP is obligated to select and train volunteers to teach in the public schools, while the government is obligated to fully fund the program. In the MOU, DVTP agrees to provide volunteers to fulfill whatever teaching responsibilities the MOE requests. In addition to teaching assigned classes in school, the MOE has requested that DVTP volunteers also assist the other faculty members of their school by running an English instructional class for the staff. In the past, the DVTP volunteers have taught at public primary and secondary schools, both on the capital island of Majuro (Ejit Elementary, Majuro Middle School, Marshall Islands High School, and Laura High School) and on a number of outer islands (Kili Elementary, Wotje Elementary, Northern Islands High School, Kwajalein Atoll High School, Jaluit High School, and Enewetak Elementary School). The DVTP currently has volunteers at Ejit Elementary, Kili Elementary, Majuro Middle School, Marshall Islands High School, Jaluit High School, and Northern Islands High School. The past twelve years of the undergraduate program and ten years of the graduate program have been a remarkable success for both volunteers and the MOE. This is mainly due to the tireless dedication and hard work of the volunteers, but is also a result of strong support for the program by the RMI government, the host schools and communities, Marshallese teachers and principals, and numerous others throughout the country. As a volunteer for the 2012–2013 school year, you 7

will benefit from the work of those before you, and you will be held to a high standard, with high expectations from your colleagues, field director, principals and the MOE.

DVTP Statement of Expectations for Volunteers As a volunteer, you are expected to be mature, show excellent decision-making capabilities and be able to take care of yourself while in the RMI. The DVTP expectations for volunteer conduct are set out in the Conditions of Participation. You are required to read and sign this document in order to confirm your participation in the DVTP. This document explains that DVTP volunteers are expected to consider themselves foremost as volunteer teachers – working with students and teachers at their host schools – and conduct themselves professionally at all times. Volunteers must abide by all relevant DVTP regulations as listed in this contract and as presented by your Field Director. Your Field Director is experienced and knowledgeable about the customs of the Marshall Islands and will educate you about staying healthy and safe while living in this new environment. She will also offer excellent support with any emergencies, problems or difficult situations. Geography and difficult transportation and communications systems in the RMI make it impossible for the Field Director to offer personal support to all volunteers all of the time. You must arrive with an independent mentality, practice common sense, and lean on your Field Director for only the most important problems. Being an independent and capable volunteer will only enhance your experience while living and teaching in the RMI. In addition to being a dedicated teacher and helping to support the program by acting responsibly and independently, we ask that you help inform future volunteers and improve the DVTP in the Marshall Islands. Each volunteer builds on the experiences of the ones before, and leaves a legacy of successes and lessons learned for the next volunteer. To keep our programs developing, the DVTP asks each volunteer to contribute to the “handing over” of documents for the following year’s volunteers, complete lesson plans and evaluations throughout the year, and reflect through stories and “critical incidents.” Your field director will give you more details about these contributions.

Field Staff A full-time Field Director in Majuro (Carleigh Beriont-Mount Holyoke ‘10) and the Program Director in Hanover (Professor Andrew Garrod) run the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program. The Field Director has full responsibility for all overseas aspects of the program. The DVTP Field Director has the same basic goals as DVTP volunteers – to foster the development of English education in the Marshall Islands. Toward this end, the Field Director must facilitate interaction between the host government, host communities, host schools, volunteers, and the DVTP organization. The Field Director is responsible for working closely with the MOE to arrange teaching positions for the volunteers, planning and running orientations, and assisting volunteers, particularly in emergencies. The job of the Field Director is multifaceted. The Field Director’s responsibilities include visiting volunteers at their sites, writing and revising program literature, assisting the 8

Ministry of Education in general, and, together with the Ministry of Education and the DVTP Program Director, defining the direction of the program. The Field Director will help coordinate responses to all emergencies, medical or otherwise, offer referrals for basic medical care, serve as a counselor or advisor to help you handle personal or professional problems, and organize basic systems (including mail and communication) to ease your adjustment to life in the Marshall Islands. The Field Director will not do personal errands for you, loan you money, or handle administrative matters for you back home. While having an in-country Field Director is part of the allure of the DVTP, it is very important to recognize that above all else this is an independent experience, even though you will have at least one other volunteer at your site. Misunderstandings occasionally result when volunteers do not understand the role of the field staff or the legal, budgetary, and programmatic constraints under which they work. DO contact the field director... • in any emergency, medical or otherwise. • if a serious misunderstanding arises between you and your school, and you cannot work the problem out on your own. • if you get sick • if you are having any problems at your site with which you think the field director could help • if you would like help with your teaching. • if you are concerned about your personal safety or the security of your area. DO NOT expect the field director to... • guess that you are having problems or need help when you have not asked for it. You must proactively bring your problems to the field director’s attention; otherwise, she will be unable to help you. • do personal errands of any kind for you. • put you up at her house, except in an emergency. • collect money that is owed to you after you leave. • transfer you to a new teaching site except as approved in advance by the DVTP. • organize social activities, outside of scheduled DVTP group conferences. The primary goal of the DVTP staff is to coordinate activities between the hosts, the volunteers, and the Ministry of Education that eventually will lead to the development of English education in schools and communities that wish to improve their English skills.

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TEACHING IN THE MARSHALLS The Ministry of Education During your year in the RMI, you will be working as a volunteer for the MOE and your school, not for the DVTP. As the sponsoring organization, the DVTP will provide field support, but the Ministry and your school principal determine your professional responsibilities. The MOE and/or your principal has the authority to move you to a different placement or to request that you leave the country if for some reason your work or your behavior is not satisfactory, although such a scenario is highly unlikely. Ministry staff and the DVTP Field Director work closely together to ensure that the needs of the schools, the volunteers and the program are all met to the greatest extent possible. Background: An Overview of Marshallese Politics & Education The Minister of Education, Dr. Hilda Heine, heads the MOE. Senator Heine was elected to represent Aur Atoll in the Nitijela (Marshallese parliament). Minister Heine, who has a PHD in Education from USC, has a lot of experience working in teacher training and curriculum development, and currently serves on a number of governmental committees. Reporting directly to the Minister is the Secretary of Education. The current Secretary is Gary Ueno, who was previously principal at Majuro Middle School and Marshall Islands High School. Secretary Ueno is determined to raise the educational standards of teachers to finally reach the goal of each teacher having at least an Associate’s degree. Under the Marshallese constitution, 33 senators are chosen by direct popular vote every four years, with each atoll getting a number of representatives proportional to its population. The Nitijela then elects the president by secret ballot. The current president, elected in November 2011, is Christopher Loeak. After being chosen by the Nitijela, the president then selects other senators to serve as cabinet ministers. Minister Heine was appointed in 2011. President Loeak is the sixth president of the Republic, a traditional high chief and the Senator from Ailinglaplap Atoll (more on titles and hierarchy later). The first five presidents were Amata Kabua, followed by his cousin, Imata Kabua. Both Kabuas were iroijlaplaps, or supreme chiefs in the Marshall Islands. Kessai H. Note was the third president and the first noniroij to be appointed. Litokwa Tomeing was the fourth president and is also an iroij. Jurelang Zedkaia, the fifth president, came to power in November 2009 after the country’s first successful vote of no confidence ousted Tomeing. 10

Currently there are two major political parties in the RMI – the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Aelon Kein Ad Party (AKA) (roughly translated “Our Islands”). The ideological differences between the two parties may not seem as clear as those in the United States, but the differences do run deep and are strongly held, with a major bones of contention being foreign relations with Taiwan and the renegotiated Compact of Free Association – an agreement between the RMI and the U.S. governing foreign aid, lease payments for the U.S. Army’s Kwajalein missile range, and other issues. It is very important that volunteers refrain from voicing opinions about politicians or the political systems of the Marshall Islands. More Background: MOE and the Government In general, the Secretary oversees the day-to-day operations of the school system. The Ministry is organized into various departments in charge of different areas of public education, with Assistant Secretaries for Elementary Education, Curriculum, Secondary and Vocational Education, Administration and Logistics, Policy and Planning and Facilities. Under each Assistant Secretary are various directors and heads of different offices, overseeing areas like budgeting, staff development, personnel and many others. Recently, the Nitijela passed a law mandating that the government provide public education for all students from ages 5-18, effectively requiring the MOE to provide high school education to all youth. Unfortunately, this bill was not accompanied by any increase in funding to build new high schools or expand existing campuses, hire new teachers, or buy more supplies. Therefore, it is unlikely that the MOE will be able to meet this mandate in the near future. The Ministry does not have enough classroom space to accommodate every student who completes eighth grade. Although two new high schools and a vocational school have been opened in the last six years, there is still not enough room for every school-aged child. This means that the Ministry is forced to select students for the limited public high school spaces available at the end of eighth grade by means of a nationwide standardized test. The test, obviously, takes on huge importance in the schools and communities, and is often the only tool used to judge a school. Although it is dangerous to generalize, education seems to have “bottomed out” in the RMI; while it is slowly making incremental improvements, it is still very much a work in progress. Volunteers who arrive expecting schools to run with precision and expert management will have a difficult time.

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The Bikini Local Government The volunteers on Kili and Ejit Islands are funded by the Bikini Local Government (Bikini, Kili, Ejit [BKE]). Bikinian schools are part of the public school system run by the MOE and they function the same as other schools in the public system, the DVTP volunteers are simply funded by BKE instead of MOE. Jack Niedenthal is the Trust Liaison for the people of Bikini as well as the Tourism Director of BKE. Additionally, Jack serves on many boards of directors: he is on the Executive Committee of the Marshall Islands Chamber of Commerce, a Vice President of the Majuro Cooperative School, on the Board of Directors for the Bank of the Marshall Islands, a Chairman of the Board for the Prior Service Trust Fund Administration for Micronesia, a Regent on the Board of Directors for the College of the Marshall Islands and is the secretary/treasurer of the board. Jack is also the founder/owner/president of Microwave Films, and produced, wrote and directed a number of Marshallese movies, most recently, Laninbwil’s Gift, which has won awards at numerous film festivals. July Note works with Jack for BKE. In addition to her other responsibilities, she gets mail for the Kili and Ejit volunteers.

The Education System Education in the Marshall Islands is modeled on the United States because the US oversaw much of the original development in the RMI after WWII, during what are known as the “Trust Territory” days. Students attend school following roughly the same schedule as their counterparts in the U.S. Students attend elementary schools from kindergarten through sixth or eighth grade, after which they move on to a high school. Majuro students attend Majuro Middle School and Ebeye students attend Ebeye Middle School for grades seven and eight. For high school, students either attend Marshall Islands High School, Northern Islands High School on Wotje, Jaluit High School, Laura High School or Kwajalein Atoll High School, or they attend one of the many private schools throughout the county. Of these, Northern Islands and Jaluit are boarding schools for outer island students. Students who fail to meet the minimum high school entrance requirements can enroll in the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) or the Pre-Nine program at one of the high schools. In the past, some high schools have also implemented a PreNine program for the students who did not pass the test for high school. After one year of PreNine, students may retake the entrance test for another opportunity to attend high school. The Marshall Islands government is eager to improve the quality of its public education. A UNICEF study in 1999 showed that the RMI had the lowest educational achievement levels of the 14 Pacific Island countries tested. The government and the Secretary of Education are determined to turn these statistics around. For the past half-century, the United States has had tremendous influence in the RMI. After Japan lost the islands during WWII, the Marshall Islands were administered by the U.S. under a 12

UN trusteeship called the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. During this period, the U.S. established many of the institutions, including the education system that the country maintains today. Although the RMI chose to become independent in the late 1970s, the country still maintains a close relationship and entered into a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1986, which provided significant annual funding and resources. The initial Compact agreement recently expired, but the two countries both approved a new agreement in late 2003 referred to as “Compact II,” which increased the amount of aid for health and education. It is hoped that the increase in funding will help the MOE improve the education of its students. With the new agreement, however, comes an increased demand by the United States government for tangible results, better reporting and overall accountability. The agreement provides funding for the renovation and reconstruction of most of the schools throughout the country, which will lead to greatly improved facilities within the next five years. The new agreement also gives the U.S., through the Department of Interior, greater oversight over programs, spending and policies in the RMI. While the buildings may improve, the overall education system still faces numerous difficulties and challenges. The RMI government and the MOE decided long ago that their students needed a bilingual education if they were to have opportunities that beyond basic subsistence. Marshallese is rarely spoken outside of these islands, and English is frequently used in business and government dealings throughout the country. This does not necessarily mean that the Marshallese language will “disappear,” as some worry. Although this is an oft-cited worry it simply does not bear out in practice. Many other countries in the same situation have successfully adopted education systems where their students learn and use English in the classroom while speaking their native tongue at home. Successfully adopting this system means, however, that teachers must have the skills and abilities to conduct classes in English, but teacher training is probably the most glaring problem area for the RMI. Roughly half of the teachers in the public school system have only a high school diploma. The Ministry is aiming to have all of its teachers certified with at least a twoyear Associate’s degree in the near future. Even with teachers who have college experience, there can be difficulties. A recent test of teachers’ basic English shows that the vast majority lack basic reading comprehension and writing skills. This makes reading and interpreting teaching materials (the overwhelming majority of which are printed in English) extremely difficult. Although many teachers speak English quite well, their reading and writing remains relatively weak. Content knowledge in other subject areas, like Science, Social Studies and Math also needs improvement, although there are not formal tests to assess this. To illustrate the problem, according to MOE policy, most instruction is to take place in English after fourth grade (for example, fifth grade science classes are supposed to be taught completely in English). While this would mean, in theory, that students in 8th grade have an excellent grasp of English, it is not the case. Most teachers rely on Marshallese throughout the elementary and 13

high school system, translating science and math concepts and teaching students almost exclusively in their native tongue, meaning that students are lucky if they receive 45 minutes of English instruction per day. At some schools, students receive little or no instruction in English. The problem with teacher quality is not the fault of the teachers. They are products of the education system in which they now find themselves working. Although it may be a cliché to say that today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, you can see the concept in action on a daily basis. Students today are taught by teachers who themselves were stuck in the same low-achieving schools for their academic careers. In order to achieve great change, the schools must start turning out higher quality graduates who are able to excel in college, develop the necessary skills and return to the classroom (or other professions) to make a long-term difference. This is where the DVTP and other organizations working in the RMI are helpful. Having the DVTP volunteers not only allows the MOE to pull teachers out of the classroom and send them to advanced training, but it also slowly builds up the skills of the students who will be teachers (and running everything else in the country) ten years from now. In this sense, the DVTP is committed to helping the long-term development of the country and building local capacity from the ground up. DVTP volunteers also will be asked to assist their schools, as well as the overall efforts to improve teacher quality, by providing additional English instruction and/or workshops to their fellow teachers. Another difficulty facing schools in the RMI is the isolation resulting from the unique geography of the country. The nation is composed of 29 coral atolls and 5 single islands, totaling more than 1,200 islands. These islands amount to only 70 square miles of land mass but are spread out over a sea area of over 750,000 square miles! With the majority of the schools located on the outer islands, providing basic supplies and management is extremely difficult. Although the majority of the country’s students attend schools in Majuro and Ebeye, addressing the educational needs of the nation’s 76 public schools (that is roughly one school per 10,000 square miles!) is clearly a formidable task. With many of the outer islands having no or minimal electricity communication is very difficult and conducted mainly via short-wave radio. Transportation is also very difficult. When they are not broken, small planes from the Air Marshall Islands fleet regularly visit the main island and most atolls weekly, but few supplies can be shipped by plane, where the cost of shipping is averages $.75 to $1.25 per pound of cargo, with limited space even at that. Materials are usually shipped on the “field-trip ships” which visit the outer islands periodically; but it is rarely as simple as dropping them in the back of a pick-up and delivering them. Outside Educators in the RMI There is a long history of educators from the United States coming to the RMI to help. The early Protestant missionaries who came and established schools were Americans, women like Mother Eleanor Wilson who sailed through the Marshalls on the Morning Star and ran the school on Rong Rong, an island in Majuro Atoll. Although the earliest Catholic priests were German and did much for education on some of the outer islands, it was the post-World War II priests, 14

especially Fr. Leonard Hacker, SJ, of Majuro and Ebeye, who have contributed greatly to education in the RMI. In 2002, WorldTeach established a program in the Marshall Islands and currently provides around 40 volunteers on a yearly basis. Most of their volunteers work on outer islands at the elementary level, although there are a number on Majuro. You are likely to befriend some of the WorldTeach teachers during your time in the Marshalls. Since Dartmouth established a full-time graduate presence in the RMI in 2003 (with a field director), the two programs have increasingly worked together to improve education. Additionally, the Peace Corps maintained quite an active presence here until the early 1990s when they cancelled the program. Although there were recent reports that the Peace Corps may return, due to budget and other difficulties in the U.S., this is not likely to happen. Japan has an increasing presence in the RMI, and the Japanese Overseas Corp of Volunteers (JOCV) program provides numerous volunteers to schools throughout the islands. You are likely to befriend the volunteers at your site as well. Starting in 2008, several volunteers from the People’s Republic of China Taiwan have come to Majuro to teach at MIHS. Taiwanese volunteers also work at the farm in Laura. To outsiders, many aspects of the Marshallese education system may seem disorganized and poorly structured. Like many developing countries, the RMI has limited resources, both financial and human, to address educational issues. It does, however, have a strong commitment to improving the educational levels of the people of the Marshall Islands, and the current prospects are decidedly more positive than they have been in the past. Primary Education About 13,000 students were be enrolled in primary school (grades K-8) for the 2010-2011 school year. This includes around 1,700 students who attend kindergarten classes, which began for the first time last fall. Most Marshallese students complete school through at least grade six. There is some dropout in grades 7 and 8 (you may have much older students in these classes) but only in some communities and the numbers vary from atoll to atoll. There are many grade school children in Majuro and Ebye who are not enrolled in school for various reasons; by most estimates, about 20 percent of elementary school-age children do not attend school. Overpopulation and inadequate classroom space currently make it impossible for all children to enroll in school. However, with the additional funding provided by the new Compact, the MOE will be expanding, rebuilding and improving a significant number of school buildings throughout the country in hopes of guaranteeing adequate facilities for all children. The MOE is developing a new curriculum for all public schools but so far has not been able to effectively implement it everywhere. You will likely find when you arrive at your school that the MOE guidelines are loosely followed at best, and more likely completely ignored. The current curriculum is not detailed enough to provide guidance on day-to-day lessons, but rather focuses 15

on skills and benchmarks that students should be able to master after completing a specific quarter of a grade. As a result, new textbooks and teaching manipulatives are not being utilized to their fullest extent. The initial reaction to the proposed new curriculum is that the standards are far too difficult and ambitious for students in grades 1-8. While this is true today, both the Minister and the Secretary believe that the targets are ultimately reachable in the future. They believe that even though current 8th grade students will fall far short of the standards, the 1st grade students, with proper instruction, should be able to meet each benchmark for their level. Then next year, both the first and second graders will be at the proper level, and so on, until all grades are can meet these targets. Still, volunteers should be prepared to use a heavy dose of creativity in creating daily lesson plans for their classes. Although the MOE curriculum provides generalized standards, the incremental steps needed to meet those standards will be up to you. Secondary Education Attendance drops noticeably between eighth grade and high school. In the spring, all 8th grade students take the national entrance examination for high school, which is administered by the MOE. About 1/3 of the 8th grade students enter public high schools, 1/3 attend private schools and 1/3 stop pursuing formal education. The largest public high school by far is Marshall Islands High School, on Majuro, with 1,000 students. In 2002, the MOE opened a new high school in Laura (Laura High School), at the far end of Majuro. Both MIHS and LHS serve students from Majuro and other students from the Ratak (eastern) Chain. Jaluit High School serves most of the outer island students from the Ralik (western) Chain, and Northern Islands High School (on Wotje Atoll) serves those from the Ratak Chain. Additionally, a public high school on Gugeegue Island in Kwajalein Atoll serves the students of Ebeye and several nearby outer islands. For a variety of reasons, many students who enter high school drop out before graduation. Major factors are pregnancy for girls and alcohol for boys, as well as homesickness and difficulty adjusting to life away from their home islands. Students who leave their islands to go to high school also leave behind an extensive support network for an island where there are fewer controls pushing them in the right direction. Social problems, including suicide, alcohol abuse, and irresponsible sexual behavior, are rampant. Post-Secondary Education At this time, there are two post-secondary institutions in Majuro: the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) and the University of the South Pacific (USP). After being put on probation, in 2009 CMI successfully renewed its U.S.-based accreditation, which enables CMI and its students to take advantage of US-based funding. The majority of students seeking higher education attend CMI. The University of the South Pacific has a small branch on Majuro. It offers a variety of educational experiences, including distance learning. Almost half the USP students are not on the three major campuses of Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa. There are 12 member countries in the USP 16

system. USP offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. Some top high school seniors in Majuro enroll at USP while they are still in high school. Other students are able to go “off-island” for college, either through private means, or through scholarships provided through the Compact of Free Association with the United States, which provides $800,000 annually for post-secondary education for Marshallese. A Marshallese Scholarship Board, which is part of the MOE, oversees these grants. Most students who go overseas go to community colleges in Hawaii, California, Washington, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. While a few go to accredited universities and colleges, most students who study abroad have a difficult time transitioning to life and school in the US and don’t complete their degrees. Private Schools Several Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church operate both elementary and high schools throughout the country. There is one independent private school on Majuro, the Co-op School, and a much smaller Co-op School on Ebeye. The main Catholic schools are Assumption School on Majuro and Queen of Peace School on Ebeye. The Seventh-Day Adventists run schools on Majuro, Ebeye and Jeh. The oldest of the private religious high schools is Marshalls Christian High School, commonly called Rong Rong, because it is located on Rong Rong Island in Majuro Atoll. Many of these religious groups also operate elementary schools on various outer island atolls. Because much of the responsibility for education in the RMI lies with the private schools, the government provides in its education budget “Aid to Private Schools,” which the schools receive quarterly. The highest standardized testing scores in the country are generally achieved by the private schools, but some of the public schools outscore the private schools. There is significant cooperation between the public and private schools and a healthy interest in and support for the private schools by the MOE.

Teaching English The Marshallese have struggled throughout the past century and a half with colonialism and imperialism, as first one nation and then another laid claim to them. The Spanish initially laid claim to what is now the RMI, but did little more than mark the RMI as theirs on maps. When the Germans took over in the latter part of the nineteenth century they established schools, copra plantations, government agencies, etc., and taught the people German. In addition, the Germans first brought Christianity to the RMI, which is celebrated during Gospel Day each year. After the German lost World War I, the Japanese took control of the islands; they established their own schools and other systems and many of the people learned Japanese. During World War II, the first place taken by the US that had been controlled by the Japanese prior to the war was Kwajalein. The Battle of Kwajalein was one of the most important battles of the War in the Pacific. Older Marshallese will regale you with their fascinating stories of the war, the bombing raids, watching the American planes overhead, and their increasingly harsh treatment at the hands of the Japanese as resources dwindled. When the war was over, the newly created United Nations entrusted the US with the administrative responsibility of Micronesia 17

(excluding the Gilbert Islands). Slowly US-style schools and other infrastructure were built. As US influence over its trust territories grew, English became a second language for most Micronesians. Other than the Bible, few works have been translated into Marshallese. In addition, English has a much larger vocabulary than Marshallese, which has resulted in English and Marshallese translations and records of all official proceedings in the RMI. Several years ago, there was a proposal from the Nitijela that English be the language for official documents of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This proposal was defeated, but some argued strongly in support of it. In conversations formal and informal, it is not uncommon to hear a Marshallese speaker insert English words or phrases or even paragraphs in the middle of a speech or conversation. Virtually all of the educated adults in the RMI speak English quite well. The local weekly newspaper, the Marshall Islands Journal, carries articles in both English and Marshallese. With the addition of cable tv, internet, and dvds in Majuro, Kwajelain and many of the other atolls, people in the RMI have constantly increasing exposure to English and western popular culture. Learning English is critical for students who wish to pursue higher education or training outside the islands. Even at the local colleges and high schools, it is important for success as all of the materials are printed in English. Since the Marshallese have free entry into the United States through the Compact, many feel it is important to learn English so that they will have the language skills they will need to live in the US if they chose to immigrate. Today, the Marshallese are trying to stimulate their stagnant economy through increased copra trade, leasing fishing rights, and through a fledgling tourism industry. Nevertheless, whatever fields or opportunities Marshallese pursue, they simply must know English since the Marshall Islands must interact with other countries in order to survive. Few, if any, jobs do not require knowledge of English, a trend that will likely continue as the country continues down the path of development. Virtually all of the national government employees speak English. As a developing country, the Marshall Islands has many contacts with various United States departments, in particular the Department of Interior, and with various United Nations agencies, the Asian Development Bank, and a variety of NGOs. People need to speak a universal language in order to communicate with all of these groups. In addition, many Marshallese, especially government employees, attend a myriad of conferences and training sessions “off-island.” English is nearly always the language used during these workshops. Still, leaders throughout the RMI recognize the importance of children knowing and understanding their native language. In 2003, the Nitijela passed a law mandating that schools provide formal Marshallese language instruction in reading and writing through 12th grade, rather than just through 8th grade, which was the case under the previous law.

The Marshallese English Teachers 18

About half of the public school teachers have only a high school education. Particularly on the outer islands, many of them learned English from other Marshallese teachers who themselves had weak English skills. Therefore, the quality of English instruction is marginal in many schools, even on Ebeye and Majuro. Again, the introduction of American tv and movies helps kids with pronunciation and vocabulary in the urban centers, but written English skills lag behind everywhere. You may be lulled into thinking your students know English better than they do because they will be able to read it aloud with decent pronunciation, but they almost always have difficulty with comprehension. This may mask a profound lack of understanding of ideas that are being expressed. It is not uncommon for a Marshallese to be able to speak English adequately, read and comprehend minimally, and have limited writing skills. You will want to jump into writing with your students early on, because these skills are much weaker than you will assume when you hear them speak to you. The MOE has also started a testing program to evaluate teachers’ skills in English and, while the results are not surprising, they are somewhat discouraging. The MOE is now launching a major effort to boost English skills for all educators. As a volunteer, you will be asked to work closely with other teachers at your school and to help them with their own English skills, in addition to teaching your regular students. Furthermore, the RMI has received a large grant to improve the quality and education of teachers throughout the country. Using this funding, the MOE will be able to send numerous teachers to CMI and to four-year institutions in Hawaii. At the end of the grant, the MOE hopes that all teachers will at have an AA or a BA.

Professional Expectations of DVTP Volunteers As a DVTP volunteer, you are making a commitment to work as a professional teacher for a full school year. The MOE sees you as a full time employee and, as such, you are bound to all of the same rules as full-time paid teachers here. Just because you are a volunteer does not mean you have a right to offer less than 100%. Current and former volunteers constantly report that the workload and effort required for teaching was much higher than they expected. If you terminate your employment early, the Marshall Islands will have little chance of replacing you with another teacher and so your classes or classroom will likely be left without a teacher. (See next section on early termination.) Please take very seriously the commitment you have made to the students, your school, the MOE, and the DVTP and complete the academic year with your students. If you leave early, your students will be the biggest losers, as they will not get another native English-speaking teacher. The DVTP places volunteers in the RMI because they request assistance. We ONLY work in the Marshall Islands, providing specific educational assistance to teachers, students, and members of the community. When things are going wrong it may be difficult to remember that teachers like you are sorely needed. The students and teachers depend on you, and it is your responsibility to fulfill your commitment to them. 19

As a DVTP volunteer, you are directly responsible to your school and to your community. You will be expected to adhere to the policies, schedule, and workload assigned to you by your school and to abide by the cultural norms of the community in which you live. Please be particularly sensitive to the social norms of your community, including observing the dress standards (which are discussed in greater detail later in this manual). These responsibilities are explained further in the remainder of this booklet and in the Conditions of Participation. As a DVTP participant, you are a volunteer. The DVTP assumes that volunteers work with us in the Marshall Islands because they want to spend a year contributing to international development by teaching in host communities in exchange for gaining the experience, insights, and excitement of living in another culture. Please do not make the mistake of attaching any sense of entitlement to your volunteerism. In the past, a few problems have arisen because volunteers arrive in the RMI and expect to receive overblown royal treatment because they have “given up so much” to come. It can be frustrating when your co-workers and community do not understand exactly what volunteerism is. The idea that you have left home to offer a year of your time is hard to grasp within a community-centered culture. The opportunity to spend a year as a volunteer often comes out of a privilege very distant to the lives of the Marshallese. These are very important points to remember. While it is true that your work is immensely appreciated and your students, members of your community and the government are thrilled that you have chosen to come, please keep in mind that you are guaranteed to get as much out of the experience (or more!) than you give. Also, during these inevitable bouts of martyrdom, please remember that you applied for the volunteer position. They did not make you come. In the end, you will clearly see how much you have gained, but when you are hot and sweaty and your students are out of their chairs, throwing paper wads and generally misbehaving, it will be hard to take notice of this. As a volunteer, you are a representative of both your home country and of the DVTP as an organization. The people with whom you work may interpret your behavior as typical of everyone from your home country. As a teacher, an educated person, and a world traveler, your students will see you as a role model. Set a good example! The DVTP as a program enjoys a solid reputation, thanks to the hard work, dedication and cultural sensitivity of the volunteers who have come before you. Your conduct during your months overseas is important for another reason. The reputation you establish can play a pivotal role in determining how effective you can be as a teacher and can color your relationships with your entire community. Being sensitive to Marshallese culture is absolutely crucial to your success here. Marshallese people are willing to help and are extremely forgiving; if you have a question about something you are doing, feel free to ask if it is appropriate. The one thing that can drive Marshallese nuts about ri-belles (loosely translated as “outsiders” but generally applies to English-speakers) is when they take on a “know-it-all” attitude. 20

It may sound cliché to say that your behavior reflects on the entire program and all other ribelles, but in the RMI, it really is true. It will also affect the future of the entire DVTP program in the RMI and possibly even the WorldTeach Program (most Marshallese people do not understand that they are separate programs). People will assume that all DVTP volunteers are just like you. The reception offered to future volunteers will largely be determined by how much people like you, respect you, and value what you are doing. DVTP volunteers are also well-known for their dedication to projects outside of the classroom. Almost all keep working long after the last bell of the day on projects ranging from environmental or adult education workshops, tutoring programs, and art or music classes. All volunteers are strongly encouraged to get involved in their communities as much as possible. Most of these extra responsibilities end up being more like “fun” than “work.”

Early Termination Please note that it will be very difficult for everyone concerned if you leave the program before completion of your ten months of teaching. Certainly, there are sometimes serious emergencies that are beyond the control of the volunteer when an early termination is understandable, but you should know that you were selected because we had great faith that you would do an excellent job of teaching, of living in the Marshall Islands, and of completing that which you start. If you do leave the program early, you will be responsible for your airfare home, and any other costs associated with your early departure. Your health insurance will terminate on your last day with the DVTP. In addition, you will need to reimburse any other expenditure the DVTP, MOE or BKE has made for your remaining time. If you leave early, it is almost certain that your classes will remain untaught for the remainder of the school year. It is virtually impossible for the DVTP to recruit someone to take your place, and it is equally difficult for the Ministry of Education. The reason the RMI government has funded these DVTP positions is that they are counting on responsible and competent people to help with education in a country that so badly needs this sort of help. If you leave early for any but the most serious reasons, it will reflect very badly on the DVTP and on the Ministry of Education, which has supported this partnership so enthusiastically. Additionally, in all but emergency situations, the DVTP is not able to offer you a recommendation or reference should you choose to leave early. In general, this has not been a problem for the program. Volunteers here are treated well by their communities, colleagues and the government. Teachers feel strongly needed and are highly motivated to give their students the best possible effort.

Hanging Loose Island Style The idea of hanging loose did not originate in the Pacific Islands for nothing! Alas, you will need to be able to do it. While this may seem like something to whole-heartedly embrace, when it comes down to it you may become quite frustrated when things do not happen the way they “should.” There are many reasons for this, and many of them will be discussed below, but for whatever combination of factors: geography (the sun really does shine just as brightly tomorrow 21

as it does today and the coconuts really are in the trees year-round), their huge problems with transportation and communication, good old-fashioned lethargy, and more, you will find many times when things that “really ought!!!” to have happened, didn’t. This can be very difficult for “Type A” personalities. There will be times when you are frustrated about things that should work properly, like the plane, boats, mail or supplies, but keep in mind that the country is still developing. If everything worked “perfectly”, there would no need for volunteers! Your best bet is to take a few deep breaths and not let things bother you too much J In general, the Marshallese are fantastic at taking care of people. They will take you in and do everything they can to make certain your needs are met, that you are comfortable, that you have places to sleep, that you are fed. They will gladly give up their home and even bed for you, especially since you have come to help them. These gracious people really care that you are comfortable, so try to be flexible about whatever initial inconveniences you find. If your permanent housing is not finished, it is OK. If your permanent housing is not started, it is OK. If you arrive on the island and people don’t know where you are supposed to stay that night, it is OK, or if the island decides to change your housing assignment at the last minute, it is OK. The Marshallese will never ignore your needs, so even when things aren’t the way they’re “supposed to be,” roll with it, be gracious, and enjoy the adventure! Likely it will be like nothing you have ever done before!

Methods DVTP Volunteers’ Methods Although teaching methods will be addressed at orientation, this section will explain some basic ideas. Keep them in mind throughout the year and while fulfilling your Ed. 41 or Ed. 45 requirements. If you are a professional teacher, you will know most of this already. If you have access to EFL or ESL materials, you may want to bring them with you or ship them out ahead of time. You may want to bring other teaching materials: magazines, colored markers, glue sticks, as well as ESL materials. But don’t worry too much if you don’t have access to all of these materials. The DVTP is currently developing a teaching guide based on the MOE English curriculum that can serve as a guide for your teaching, but no matter how many (or how few) materials you bring, much of your success in the classroom will depend on your being highly creative and doing the best with the materials on hand. We will devote a significant portion of orientation to teaching techniques, culminating in a multi-day teaching practicum where you will be in a real classroom with Marshallese students. Current and former volunteers have found this to be the single most valuable part of training, as it gave them a chance to first experience the students here in a somewhat controlled environment and the opportunity to discuss challenges they ran into with the entire volunteer group. Although we will go into all of this in exhaustive detail, here are a few things to remember for now: 22

1. Be creative, be interesting, and try to have fun. Students pay attention and learn better when they participate (and it is something they often do not get to do in their classes). Try to come up with new and fun ideas using songs, games, projects, and skits. When you do use the textbook for a while, don't feel guilty that you're not being "creative" enough. It is important to use textbooks, where they exist, to ensure that the students gain the skills and information that are part of the national curriculum. The MOE has purchased two separate new series of English reading books for both high school and elementary level. Both books are an improvement over past available textbooks, as the new texts are intended for ESL learners as opposed to native speakers. However, these books are geared towards English language learners in the US, not those living in other countries learning English as a foreign language. Still, they are a resource that should be factored into lesson planning and class work. These books can provide structure and logical progression for your classes. The textbook will ensure that there is scope and sequence to learning, which you will discover is more difficult to address than you would have guessed if you strike out on your own. The best classes use a combination of textbook-based learning and originality. Watch the students’ reactions to your various teaching styles and methods and tools. See what works, what they respond to, how long their attention spans are, where their interests lie, what they already understand and what they don’t, and adapt your teaching to maximize the learning, interest, and enthusiasm of your students. Trust your observations, trust your analysis, and modify your methods and techniques until you find what works best for you and your students. Above all, remember that if you are excited and enthusiastic about your teaching, your students will pay more attention and end up learning much more. 2. Be prepared. This is crucial. It is important that you plan ahead and write out unit plans and lesson plans so that you can keep track of what you are working each day, and each part of each day. This is very important for you to do for each subject or class you teach. For example, writing down your lesson plans will allow you to build vocabulary in an organized manner. Get in the habit of doing this from the first day even if your principal does not require it. When the field director visits your site, she will want to see your lesson plans, and leaving your lesson plans for next year’s volunteers is very helpful because it allows them to see what kinds of things can be accomplished in a year. Each volunteer should also draw up longer-term plans for multi-week units. This will help you teach lessons that are continually building on one another, rather than just teaching random scattered lessons with little direction or focus. Planning ahead with lesson plans is one aspect of good teaching that most volunteers may not be familiar with prior to Ed 41/45. You have seen good teaching, lively activities, interesting classrooms, and successful classroom management, but you may not have been aware of the underlying planning that goes into such successes. Much of this comes from the thoughtful preparation of lesson plans done at appropriate times (usually NOT the night before!). Longer23

term planning is essential to successful teaching! Trust that this is true and discipline yourself to plan ahead and to write out your lesson plans with care. Pay special attention to any tips your mentor teachers or field director offer you. 3. Be flexible. Always have a back-up plan in case your class finishes early or your lesson isn't working. Anything can happen. The students might be unruly, tired or apathetic; your tape recorder might not work. The students may finish before you expected they would. It may rain and you may have to shut the windows and leaving no light to do what you had planned. Be flexible and be willing to change activities and have extra activities available, like a backup environmental lesson or a new song or a review game or a book to read to them, to use anytime disaster strikes. Do not get upset if a lesson bombs. Sometimes a lesson does not go as well as you thought it would. You might spend hours preparing, only to have your students fall asleep in the middle of your explanation. It happens to everyone. Don't worry about it. There is always tomorrow. However, do try to discover why your lesson didn’t work, and learn from it. Was it a fluke? Was there a big event the previous night that left the students tired or disinterested? Did you assume the students could do something they could not? Was your timing off? Did the students have need more context for your lesson? Were they bored with your presentation? Could they understand what you were saying? The English? The ideas? 4. Be positive. Try to make the classroom environment as non-threatening as possible so that your students will be encouraged to speak. It can be very scary to say things in a new language for the first time, so be as encouraging as possible, and make sure students understand that laughing at each other is not acceptable. Comfort comes with time; don’t expect students to be comfortable immediately. Remember that most of your students will not be used to the communicative method and at first they may feel uncomfortable. Positive reinforcement works much better than excessive criticism. Smile at them at lot! Figure out clever ways to reinforce the successes of your students. Cheer them on! 4. Self reflect. It is easy to blame a bad lesson on the students. “They were terrible today – out of control.” “Nobody paid attention to my lesson.” “Nobody in my class seems motivated to learn.” It is much more difficult, but perhaps more valuable, to ask yourself, “Why weren’t my students paying attention today?” “Why aren’t they motivated?” Even more difficult is to ask yourself: “Why am I boring my students and how can I more effectively grab their attention?” While you should not blame every failed lesson on yourself, you should also be cautious not to blame every failed lesson on your students, your school, or the educational system in the Marshalls. Reflect on failed lessons and learn from them. 5. Remember. Remember being in the 5th grade? It is often a wonderful reality check to remember back to those days. The cute little boy at the next desk was often more immediately important than what the teacher was saying. Passing the note behind the teacher’s back was much more interesting than the lesson at hand. Yes, Marshallese schoolchildren are different 24

from other schoolchildren in many ways, but in equally as many ways they are very much the same. 6. Soak up as much information in Ed. 41/45 as you can, but realize that it will all be turned on its head when you arrive in the RMI. Don’t worry too much about the specifics of teaching in the RMI for now. As long as you realize that this is a serious commitment, just like many of the jobs and opportunities you are leaving behind, you will be fine. During orientation, you will have a fair amount of teacher training with Marshallese students in a Marshallese classroom, but you will still feel woefully unprepared for the first day of class. Not to worry – most other volunteers here have gone through the same exact thing, and once you get into the day-to-day routine of teaching, you will get the hang of it. Above and beyond Ed. 41/45, we recommend talking to as many teachers as possible before your departure. Ask them questions about teaching, find out why they love their jobs, how they manage their students, what their favorite techniques are and how they find the energy to teach year after year. While teachers at home teach different students and have somewhat different resources than teachers in the RMI, you can learn a lot about teaching and motivating students from American teachers. Do not underestimate the importance of human resources before your departure. Finally, you can always talk about specific students and schools with past volunteers. DVTP has been at its sites in the RMI for many years and no one knows the students and schools better than the former teachers. You can also find out a lot about different classes and schools from the handover information that you will be given during the Hanover Orientation. Marshallese Methods Marshallese methods of teaching are usually quite different from those you will be taught during orientation or that you might have used in the United States. Teacher training in the RMI, particularly through the College of the Marshall Islands, is beginning to pay off, with some teachers working in a highly engaging and creative manner, but memorization and copying are still widely relied on by many teachers. Especially on the outer islands, many teachers do not have adequate training, and the nationwide curriculum standards are still being finalized, so you may find some classes at your school spend much of their time on activities or lessons that you might not consider appropriate or particularly useful. Many Marshallese teachers write lessons on the board, expecting students to copy and memorize verbatim. The students often do not understand what they are expected to memorize and repeat on their tests. Although in situations like this, it is always easiest to blame those nearest to you (i.e., the teacher), keep in mind that the overall goal of the DVTP is to help the MOE in every way possible, which includes helping other teachers. When you first arrive at your school, it is likely that you will be too worried about adjusting to your own schedule, your own classes, and your new life in the community to have much spare energy to help other teachers. As you become more comfortable in your new role, look for ways to help the staff at your school, whether it is simply by holding grammar classes after school for teachers, or sharing ideas for teaching reading. Help will be greatly appreciated, IF IT IS PROPERLY OFFERED. You will quickly find that one thing Marshallese people cannot stand is someone who comes across as a know-it-all. (They are also very good at sensing how you feel 25

about them, and like people everywhere, they are not fond of people who look down on them.) Offers to help your Marshallese community are great, as are expressions of pleasure in having learned something interesting from your Marshallese community. During orientation, we’ll discuss how best to approach this, drawing on lessons learned from previous volunteers, who have had some stunning successes as well as some miserable failures. Although your first priority will be your students, our volunteers have developed a reputation for doing quite a bit outside of the classroom, including working with the teachers at their school.

Working it out with your Principal Perhaps the most crucial relationship you will have this year is with your school principal. Remember at all times that you are an employee of his or her institution, s/he is your supervisor, and therefore it is important to develop and maintain a good, open and understanding relationship with him/her. We recommend beginning this relationship right from the start by showing your interest and dedication to teaching in the school. Try to understand from the very beginning exactly what it is you will be doing, and do not be afraid to ask for assistance in carrying it out. Ask questions and be sure you understand what is expected of you. It is not common for things to be explained unless you ask the necessary questions. Often volunteers find themselves frustrated at their lack of understanding of the school. By simply asking your Principal and getting the answers you seek from the beginning, you can alleviate much of the initial aggravation. It is better to lay it all out on the table the first week than to spend your first two months adjusting to changing schedules and administrative rules. However, that said, do be flexible and cheerful, or you may end up winning a battle but losing the war. Never look or act disgusted, however dismayed you may be. Volunteers will likely get the opportunity to meet with their principals during orientation. Although they may be nervous when you first meet, keep in mind that you are assigned to your school because the principal and the community really want you to be there. Things you may want to ask the principal before classes begin include: • Daily class schedules, the annual academic calendar and handbook for the school • Your specific responsibilities both in the classroom and outside of it • School policies on attendance, tardiness, classroom discipline, etc. • Resources available to you and your students • School policies on homework, taking books home, etc. • School policies on grading and classroom evaluation It is entirely possible that your principal will not have much of this information, or will leave it up to you. Don’t fret! If you get a chance to design your school’s schedule, work with the teachers and staff to come up with the best possible outcome. Many principals, even with years of experience in their schools, will be intimidated by you, but don’t let this bother you. As the DVTP continues to develop, the principals here are getting used 26

to working with our volunteers. It is also possible that they will view you as a “savior” for the school. Don’t let the pressure get to you, but it is true that many principals and communities feel that you, the volunteer, are the solution to all of the school’s woes in particular, and the medicine for all that ails education in the RMI. Although this can be overwhelming, if you focus on the smaller tasks (working hard for your students, helping with little things at your school) the bigger picture will eventually take care of itself.

Respect For Your Principal and Others in the Community It is very important that you maintain respect for the position of principal and for the principal himself or herself regardless of the situations that may arise. This same need for respect is reflected in Voices of the Poor, a fascinating three-volume publication printed in 2000 – 2001 by the World Bank. In the words of James Wolfensohn, then President of the World Bank, “My colleagues and I decided that in order to map our own course for the future, we needed to know about our clients as individuals. We launched a study entitled “Voices of the Poor” and spoke to them about their hopes, their aspirations, their realities.” More than 60,000 poor men and women from 60 countries were interviewed as the basis of this project. A central theme that flows throughout these interviews is that poor people do not want any charity and help at all if it means they lose their dignity in the process. This is true of the Marshallese as well. They will not want to learn English from you if you disrespect them or their customs. Your principal may fill the role as you expected, but it is likely that there will be many times that s/he is not doing what you think a principal should. While there are some wonderful and caring principals in the RMI, there are also some who will not meet your expectations. Sometimes a principal may not come to school on time, may not be stern about lateness and absenteeism in your school or may not offer you the guidance you think appropriate for a principal. While these may be issues you face, it is very important that you maintain respect for the principal. While it would be highly unusual for someone to come right out and voice their displeasure with you, you could quickly find that they simply tolerate you and isolate you if they think you look down on them. It is best to approach your teaching and your time here with a heavy dose of humility. Surprisingly many good-hearted Americans who have come to the Marshall Islands to help have fallen into a trap: they arrive and almost immediately have a solution for problem after problem and assume that their solutions are perfect. Particularly in education, the only way to approach the situation is to first understand what is really going on, and as apparent as a solution may be to you, it’s possible (or even likely) that there are broader issues at play you may not yet understand. The people who come in with the “perfect solutions” may quickly become angry and frustrated. Because Marshallese are not responding in the way they think people should, they become disgusted, or disapproving, or withdraw from association or affiliation with them. The Marshallese are very attuned to interpersonal interactions, much more so than most expats are, and they will pick up on these attitudes very easily, so guard against them. Step back from 27

situations and ask yourself when you are tempted to get upset with your Marshallese colleagues or friends, “What are they valuing that I am not, or what am I valuing that they are not, that causes them to act in a way that I would not?” You will be surprised at what you learn about yourself as well as about your Marshallese friends if you can do this. Anytime you find yourself thinking any thought beginning with, “These people…” take a moment and relax. Then try to look at the situation from another perspective. Above all, no matter what your principal does or does not do, you must always display respect for his/her decisions or actions, even if this means going along with things with which you disagree. If you have a disagreement with your principal, your best bet is to ask him/her about it in a private setting rather than openly confronting him/her in a public forum, such as a staff meeting. If you are given a responsibility that you feel is unfair, talk to your Field Director about whether or not you should turn it down.

Socializing with your Students Inevitably, the question will arise: “Should I see my students outside of class?’’ Socializing with your students may lead to classroom management problems if they regard you as an equal rather than as an authority figure. However, the benefits of socializing with them often outweigh the disadvantages. In an informal setting, students will probably talk to you a lot more than in the classroom. You will find that students who never say a word in class will talk to you about anything and everything in a more relaxed setting. They will get to practice their English while you practice your Marshallese and learn more about the Marshall Islands. But here are a few warnings: 1. Romantic involvement with your students is out of the question. This is unacceptable and will get you fired. 2. Avoid the appearance of impropriety. Do things in groups of three or more. Try to interact with mixed gender groups or groups of your own gender. Be careful if and where you interact with someone of the opposite gender, otherwise it can easily be interpreted as a date. 3. Do not drink alcohol with students. Control your behavior. Remember that you are a teacher, even outside the classroom. Also, you assume legal responsibility for your students during lesson hours and on field trips. Stay attentive and make sure nothing happens to them; otherwise, you will be held accountable.

Cancellations Class and school cancellations happen. Sometimes it rains and the children and teachers stay home, or sometimes the field trip ship arrives, and everyone is too busy for school. Be ready to walk into school, prepared to teach your lessons and find that classes are canceled or only a few children have come to school. If you know what to expect, you can plan your teaching better and can avoid some of the frustrations that go along with lost class hours.

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If classes are canceled for a holiday or special occasion, you may want to go to the planned event. It is a great way to see part of the culture, how Marshallese celebrate, and you can take the time to get to know your fellow teachers and some of your students outside of school hours. The more involved you are with your community, the happier you will be. So go with the flow, because there is nothing else you can do.

Adult Classes Although it is optional, many of our volunteers have set up adult classes at night for members of the community. You can spread the word around town that you are interested in teaching classes, announce it in the local church or put up flyers, but the “coconut wireless” usually does the trick and people in the community will know almost as soon as you decide! You should not charge a fee or accept a payment for any classes organized or sponsored by a public school, even after normal school hours (for example, a night class for students preparing for the English exam). If any public school teacher or MOE employee in your area requests individual classes from you, do not charge. Finally, don’t charge members of your sponsor family for teaching them English or anything else. Again, when you first arrive at your school, you will likely be too overwhelmed to start adult classes right away. Don’t worry. If you feel pressured to offer adult classes (or any extra lessons for that matter) tell your principal that until you have a handle on your students, you would like to focus all of your time and energy on the kids. Don’t add more to your plate until you are comfortable doing so. After you have become comfortable in the community, and feel in control of your regular teaching duties, if you are interested in starting adult classes, talk to your principal, and see if the two of you can come up with a plan. You may get “students” with a wide range of abilities, but people will greatly appreciate your efforts. In addition, it is a great way to get to meet some people in the community outside of your family.

Materials You will probably not have all of the resources you want when you teach in the Marshall Islands. While new reading materials were purchased for the elementary schools, the textbooks may not be applicable to the level of your students or your school may not have these books at the school due to transportation and logistical issues. You may want to bring things from home, have things shipped to you for use in your classroom, or find things through the internet to supplement what you find at your school. The DVTP will try to help you locate materials and will provide some materials to you at orientation, but you will still have limited resources. You will drive yourself crazy if you focus on what you don’t have; instead, it is preferable to see what a clever person like you (and that is one of the reasons you were selected) can do under the circumstances. Most school supplies, such as construction paper, crayons, markers, rulers, masking tape, etc. can be bought in Majuro or found at your schools. The prices are a little higher than in the States. Some things are harder to acquire, such as rubber stamps, inkpads, stickers, stencils, dice, jacks, 29

puppets, beanbags, postcards, calendars, magazine pictures, and maps. Some volunteers acquire donated supplies through an elementary school or organization at home. Other highly prized supplies include index cards (on which you can write vocabulary words), stickers (which can be used as rewards), and pencils, which are in short supply, especially in the outer islands. You may be creating many of your own supplies. Flashcards with both words and pictures printed on them can be useful and purchased in educational supply stores. Activity books are also a good resource for ideas on what materials to use and to how to create them, but beware: oftentimes these books assume you have access to mountains of materials. Look for projects that call for minimal materials. Acquiring materials can be a substantial expense for you, so don’t worry too much if you do not have everything on the list. Even having one book with ideas can help out. Some volunteers have also found foreign language English textbooks helpful for generating ideas (i.e., using a book that students in Spain might use when studying English). The biggest treasure trove for ideas and teaching tips will be your fellow volunteers…you will have other people trying out new ideas, some of which will work and some of which will not. Sharing has been invaluable for previous volunteers. Several volunteers have also started book drives at schools in their hometowns, getting schoolchildren to bring in old books. Volunteers have used these to start small libraries in their schools, much to the delight of students and members of the community. Books are always a great donation and many volunteers bring boxes of them. We do want to caution you, however, about the appropriateness of the books you bring. Again, some schools have libraries that have begun collecting books and have some kind of process for cataloguing them and having them in the school, but many schools have no library to speak of, or, if they do, they are underused and the books are mistreated. We take it for granted that books are central to a school and the learning experience of the students. Things you need to remember: the Marshall Islands (like many cultures in the world) have an oral culture and writing and reading are relatively new to the islands. This means that many kids still don’t know how to respect books (and neither do many adults). They like to write in them, they like to use them to write on and they like to make paper airplanes out of them. Therefore, when gathering books for a library in your school or classroom, it is important to gather appropriate books. Do not bring books that US libraries or used bookstores have rejected because they will likely be just as useless here. Books that are not of interest to you will not be of interest to Marshallese school kids. We recommend books that have many pictures that SHOW the kids the story so that they can read and understand at the same time. Books about the ocean, boats, and tropical environments are some of the themes that Marshallese kids identify with. Books that teach the students important things about the world like the solar system, simple science, environmental issues, picture encyclopedias, geography and other cultures in the world are useful, as are books about where you are from. Your students will love to learn about you. For high schools and more advanced elementary students, lower level paperbacks are great items to bring. Some volunteers have shipped over huge boxes of books and supplies, which may be going a bit overboard. Other volunteers arrived in Majuro with a Dr. Seuss book and a few pencils and have 30

been perfectly successful teachers. Ultimately, your success will depend more on YOU and your creativity, rather than the materials you have, or don’t have, in your classroom. Be sure to look over the list of resources your school site HAS from this year’s volunteers and what they suggest you bring to add to the resources available (this will be in the material you receive in June). Some volunteers have established pen-pal programs or continuing support classes at their home school or with their mentor teacher. This can prove to be a lot of fun for both groups, and a marvelous learning experience for everyone. It is easier to make the contacts for such a program before you leave.

Important Supplementary Topics for All Teachers In addition to teaching English, DVTP volunteers have all worked on branching out into supplementary topics, special seminars, and other information that young people must learn. All of these can easily become English lessons, with vocabulary, reading, tests, and so on. Environmental Education The Marshalls have long been famed for their natural beauty. Despite this renown, the Marshalls, like many other countries, are fraught with a host of environmental problems: contamination of fresh and lagoon water and waste disposal problems plague both Majuro and Ebeye, and to a lesser extent, the outer islands. You may want to seriously consider including some environmental education in whatever classes you are teaching. During orientation, we will review the situation and discuss some ways that volunteers in the past have successfully (and unsuccessfully) addressed environmental education. Especially in the urban centers of Majuro and Ebeye where the sense of community is more fragmented, many adults as well as children exhibit little respect for the environment. Not only is the great beauty of these coral atolls threatened, the health of the community is compromised when garbage is not handled well and the water is polluted. Pollution, combined with overfishing, also contributes to a decline in marine resources, such as fish and tea turtles. In addition, the potential for tourism is greatly reduced if the atolls are not clean and inviting. Most Marshallese do not know that this is a serious issue for their country. All volunteers are strongly encouraged to participate to whatever extent they feel they can with environmental awareness. Volunteers can bring ecology to the classroom in many ways: including environmental themes in English lessons or creating after school clubs and activities. At the most basic level, you can try to instill a sense of ownership into your students and teach them to keep their school and community litter-free. There are numerous more complex issues facing the Marshall Islands as well. While it may be difficult to teach your students all of the intricacies of global warming (which will affect the Marshalls more or less as directly as any country in the world), for example, you can always give them a passing acquaintance with these issues. Unfortunately, scant attention is given to environmental issues when economic issues loom large. There are issues with protecting aquifers, not over-fishing the waters, monitoring dumping in the lagoons, nuclear waste issues, and many more. 31

There are also Marshallese holidays that can be tied in with environmental issues (like Nuclear Victims Day, and President’s Day, which is a fishing holiday). They can serve as the springboard for larger environmental issues and projects. HIV/AIDS Awareness/Prevention A second “extra” that all DVTP volunteers should be prepared to discuss with students, other teachers, and their principals is HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. AIDS is only just beginning to extend its devastating reach through the Pacific, but it has the potential to absolutely destroy this country. There have been very few documented cases of HIV/AIDS in the Marshall Islands, but these have been people who were in Hawaii or the mainland, and then returned to the Marshalls. Therefore, the problem is not yet significant in terms of reported cases. However, it is anticipated that HIV/AIDS very easily could become devastating for the population. Sexual practices make the country ripe for a serious AIDS epidemic. Despite the rigid morality imposed by missionaries, there is still a good deal of promiscuity and few, if any, preventive measures, such as condom use, are taken to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Some studies of the prevalence of Hepatitis B, a harbinger of the degree of HIV/AIDS infection to come, are alarmingly high. Additionally, a recent survey found that one in ten women who come to Majuro Hospital to give birth suffers from syphilis, which again suggests that HIV/AIDS could have a huge impact on the population here. Both hospitals have run extensive awareness campaigns, so the people on Majuro and Ebeye in particular know about AIDS, but the fact that they have not really seen the disease in their community yet, and it does not seem to them to be an immediate threat, means that few have been motivated to change their sexual practices. The Marshall Islands Journal regularly carries public service announcements telling people to use condoms and even listing where they can be obtained, but condoms are only popular among the younger educated people. Free condoms are available in many locations for personal use or in large quantities to distribute to others. The country is using the World Health Organization’s approach for HIV/AIDS prevention: “the ABC’s.” o Abstinence before marriage. o Be faithful once you are married. o Condoms, if you can’t do the above! You must be careful in discussing sexual matters with others in the Marshall Islands. In general, men talk with men about sexual issues, and women with women. Do not have mixed gender discussions on HIV/AIDS. It is better not to discuss this even with other teachers not of your gender at your school without first having spoken with the principal. Although there are many sexual taboos in the Marshall Islands, as Bob Dylan says, “The times they are-a-changin’.” Traditionally, brothers and sisters have quite a formal relationship, and in particular they cannot discuss sex with each other, so frank discussions about sex with both genders could cause some difficulties. It is impossible to say definitively how students and communities at each school would handle discussions about HIV/AIDS, but they all do 32

recognize it is important. You will want to do significant planning before launching this, talking with your principal, community leaders, and others to make sure you handle it appropriately. The Field Director will try to arrange to have a session with health experts during orientation to give you a basic overview of the education program and to discuss ways that the DVTP volunteers can help educate the students and communities. The Twin Curses of Alcohol and Teen Pregnancy Many bright and eager Marshallese students have gone to the United States and elsewhere for college or the Job Corps, and been ensnared by the twin curses of alcoholism and teen pregnancy which have caused many Micronesians to drop out of school. Alcohol consumption by young Marshallese men, and more recently women, often gets out of control. While many of the outer islands are “dry,” both Majuro and Ebeye import beer and hard alcohol. On the outer islands, teenagers and young men often brew a local drink called “yeast” with a high alcohol content or drink smuggled vodka. A pattern for responsible drinking has not been established in the Marshall Islands, so many people drink until they are VERY drunk. When Marshallese men go to a party, many expect to drink until they are very drunk and/or pass out. Far too many young men follow this same pattern. This practice becomes particularly severe when these young men go “off island” and the societal constraints and supports that existed at home, no longer constrain them at all. While they are drunk many do things that get them expelled from school. There is tragic story after tragic story of promising young men being expelled from Marshallese and US schools because of problems with alcohol. It is important to help young Marshallese men think about the issues relating to alcohol that they will face. Fewer women in the Marshall Island drink, although it is becoming more common. The snare for young women is unplanned pregnancies, as many become sexually active at a young age. Few forms of birth control are practiced regularly. As mentioned above, condom use is not yet widespread. Norplant, which was used for a while, has become less accepted in recent years. Few women are on the Pill. Therefore, there are many unplanned pregnancies. Fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen year olds who are pregnant are not uncommon. Most women have their first baby in their teens. Usually their mothers take the child and raise it as their own. Those young women who make it through high school without getting pregnant often end up pregnant when they go off-island for further training. A common consequence of the pregnancy is that the young women end up leaving their programs and returning to their islands. Much can be done to empower women to take control over their own sexuality. Even today, many young Marshallese women think they cannot say no to a young man who asks for sex. By the US definition of the crime, date rape is a common and accepted practice. One high school principal, and father of four teenaged daughters, lamented that the word “date” is interchangeable with the word “sex.” It is a good idea to ask public health personnel as well as others to discuss various issues surrounding female sexuality with high school-aged girls, and even those in upper elementary 33

school. However, be sure to get permission from your principal before you embark on a program like this. Suicide The suicide rate among young men aged 15 – 30 throughout Micronesia is alarmingly high. For a people who did not even have a word for it in their vocabulary, the suicide rates throughout Micronesia are shocking. Until very recently it was also nearly unheard of for a woman to complete or even attempt suicide, but it is sadly becoming more common. Nearly all the suicide attempts involve hanging. It is as if suicide by hanging is considered an option for young men who face difficulties. Because there are so many suicides, it is difficult to break this perception. As in other places, once there is a suicide, another often follows. Often the precipitating incident is rather minor: a fight with a girlfriend or a wife, parents unwilling to give more cash to a son who is already drunk, despair over the disapproval of parents, etc. Fr. Francis X. Hezel, SJ, perhaps the finest scholar on Micronesia, has written extensively on suicide in the islands. His research institute, Micronesian Seminar, has a website (www.micsem.org) where you can download his articles. Fr. Hezel’s analysis of the rapid rise in suicide attempts suggests that the culture has changed so rapidly that men, especially young men, have lost their sense of who they are and how they fit into the community. While women’s roles have remained largely unchanged, what a man does has changed dramatically: from group fishing where skills are passed down through fathers and uncles to sons, to desk jobs that require education, often by strangers, and time-clocks and money, and many more chances for failure. This rapid change, together with the decreasing support of the extended family and the introduction of alcohol, has left young men wondering about their place in society, about what it means to be a contemporary Marshallese male. Because suicide is not uncommon among high school and college-aged young men, you should be particularly attuned to anyone threatening suicide or saying good-bye when it seems inappropriate. You must intervene immediately. If there is time, speak first with your principal, but do not ignore any sign that any student is contemplating taking his life. Sometimes these young men will talk about taking their lives, will draw violent pictures, including those with people hanging. Most of the suicides occur late at night, and most involve alcohol, which removes inhibitions and distorts reason. A secondary factor seen in some suicides is that the young man perceives himself to be out of favor with the family, not to be the favored child or to be the “bad” son, (which is acceptable in Marshallese society; you don’t realize what a strict taboo it is in the United States not to treat all children equally until you see it freely spoken of by some Marshallese). It is important to talk with high school students about suicide. Group discussions and presentations can be effective. The mental health worker at the hospital is glad to visit your school. It is also important to talk with parents about supporting all their children, and to give them techniques for dealing with children who are having difficulties academically, socially, or emotionally. 34

Discipline Discipline is probably the biggest teaching problem that volunteers face in the Marshalls. In fact, it is probably the greatest teaching dilemma encountered in most parts of the world. In most Marshallese classrooms, new teachers usually receive a “grace period” from students who are on their best behavior, but after these first few weeks many students revert to poorer discipline. It is important to establish early on that you are the teacher, the reasons the students have come to learn (and hopefully they will be excited by the learning, by the exploring, by the discovery), and so there are rules by which all class members are expected to abide, and that there are consequences for breaking these rules. If you establish these rules and set this tone with kindness and cheerfulness, then you have a good chance of maintaining an enlivening and cooperative classroom throughout the year. During orientation, we will devote an inordinate amount of time to classroom management strategies. Walking into a classroom where you know very little of the language can be intimidating both for you and the students, but the first days are the most important for establishing a classroom where your students can learn, and perhaps more importantly, where you won’t go insane. Most teachers find that it is easier to begin the year on the strict side, and then loosen up as the year progresses. Have clear consequences for misbehavior and enforce them! The schools on Majuro differ greatly from the outer islands, especially when it comes to class size. Most schools in the capital will have around 30-40 students per class, while outer island schools tend to be much smaller, often with only 70-80 students in the whole school. Even with these differences, many of the classroom management issues faced by volunteers are the same – students talking loudly, misbehaving, or coming to school late. Many adult Marshallese will expect you to impose quite severe punishments for school infractions, including discipline problems. It is not uncommon for the parents push for or enforce physical discipline for offenders, but you can continue working with your principal (as DVTP volunteers have done before) to establish a non-violent discipline system for your school. Be prepared, though, for the fact that other teachers might impose physical punishments and that there will be little you can do to change this reality. Be prepared to be the only teacher in the school who has rules and consequences. Classroom management is even more challenging when your class is the only one in which they must actively do as you say. Cheating “Cheating” and copying other students’ homework are other ways in which cultural differences can be seen at work. You will probably come across more of this behavior in the Marshalls than in North America. This does not mean the Marshallese are in any way more fundamentally dishonest than North Americans, nor does it mean you have to accept this behavior in your classroom. Try to understand that this behavior is influenced in part by the group-oriented focus as opposed to the individual-oriented focus of most North Americans.

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You have to respect the creative and crafty cheating schemes some Marshallese students are able to devise. It is truly its own art form, one that I have been told they begin to hone during the lower levels of elementary school. You should be aware that your colleagues will not have as strong a reaction to this behavior as you do, and your students will not understand if you become angry with them for doing something that is normally acceptable. We do not suggest that you condone cheating in your classes; we just want you to be aware that it may occur with some frequency. If you are clever, you can figure out ways to work around this “group effort” at homework and other projects to insure that your students will learn and experience what you intend.

Parents and Education Parenting in the RMI is VERY different from in the US. When you first arrive, you may feel that the parents are very hands-off and assume they do not care about or for their children. While their approach to parenting is extremely different from America, they do care about their children and want to see them succeed. Parent Support at Home Because things are changing so rapidly in Marshallese society, and in particular because education has been transferred from parents and close relatives to schools and foreign teachers, many parents feel overwhelmed and insecure in the role they play in the education of their children and may seem or be uninvolved. Many feel that they are inadequate to help their children with school work and so shy away from the schools, the teachers, and from intervening in their children’s educational experiences. One of the most important things that teachers can do is to help parents participate in the education of their children. Let parents know that there is much that they can do to help their children in school. Let them know that when you work together there is a much greater opportunity for success. Think carefully about how to involve parents in your school. Let your imagination run wild! You want them to feel as comfortable as possible around you, around the school, and in supporting their children. For example, anything that you can do to get them to read more, both to themselves and with their children, should be encouraged. Are there books available that they can check out? Maybe they need a little help with their own reading skills. Could the school sponsor adult English classes? Can you start a book club for parents in your school? It is possible to write grants for books that could be passed from DVTP volunteer to volunteer so that schools could hold monthly book clubs where parents bring food and the volunteer leads the discussion. This way schools and volunteers can constantly refresh their libraries with books from other schools and volunteers. If the parents of the children of the Marshall Islands do not take a more active role in supporting education, then their children’s successes will continue to be limited. The key to better schools is better support for the children from all fronts, and especially from parents. You cannot do it alone! 36

Often, Parent-Teacher Associations have meetings at the end of each quarter to distribute report cards. Report cards are often the part of school that parents are most interested in, so take advantage of this opportunity to engage with parents. You will want to decide what you want the parents to do to support their children and the school’s efforts. You will have to work closely with your principal and others in your community to involve parents in education, but don’t be daunted.

DVTP Job Description DVTP volunteers can make the biggest impact on their students and their communities by working as professional teachers. In particular, the MOE has asked the DVTP to teach English in the public schools. Some schools have a special need for teachers of other subjects and volunteers are expected to be flexible in addressing those needs. In addition to working as a classroom teacher, the MOE has requested that DVTP volunteers run English classes for the other faculty at their schools according to the need determined by the principals. In order to help all involved (volunteer, student and school) we have designed a list of responsibilities to give you a general idea of your responsibilities at your school. It is important that you keep in mind that every school is different. No two volunteers will have the same situation. You will need to follow the lead of your principal. With him/her and with help from the Field Director as needed, you should be able to work out most logistical issues. Please remember that the DVTP is here to help and support as much as we can, yet your teaching schedule and work responsibilities are between you and your principal. DVTP volunteers have mostly the same responsibilities as their Marshallese counterparts. These include: • Plan and prepare lessons for the grades/classes to which you have been assigned. • Teach five days a week for four to six hours per day, or the amount specified by your principal. • Use the texts and materials supplied by the Ministry of Education. You may supplement with materials you have or that the DVTP has provided. For elementary schools, there will be guidelines for the curriculum in order to ensure that the different grades meet the goals of the program. Follow these guidelines. • Teach the entire school year, beginning mid-August and ending in late May. • Make a daily lesson plan, which outlines the goals and activities for each class, and turn these into the principal or Field Director as requested. • Follow the evaluation, testing, and grading system designed by the MOE and used by your school. If you are unsure about the requirements, ask your principal at the beginning of the school year. • Run extracurricular activities as expected or requested by your principal. This includes any ongoing clubs at your school and the Teacher-English course mandated by the MOE. • Clear any personal absences with your principal (and Field Director). Read the “Rules and Regulations of the Ministry of Education for the RMI” and follow all other regulations so outlined. 37

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Be respectful and responsive to the principal at your assigned school. Remember that the principal has the responsibility to direct your work at his school. The principal has the authority and right to ask volunteers to leave when they do not comply with their assigned responsibilities. Participate in activities organized by your school. This is also a great way to meet families and people in your community. You will also have a better appreciation of Marshallese culture, the community, and the school system. Meet with students, parents, colleagues and supervisors to discuss classroom progress and discipline. You are always encouraged to use your own discipline system while following the school’s established system. Vacations need to be taken during the scheduled vacation time and only if you have received permission from the Field Director first and then the principal.

This list is meant to give you a general idea of your responsibilities. During orientation, we will further explain the logistics of the school system and the responsibilities of the DVTP volunteers in the schools.

Your Stipend The stipend for outer island volunteers is $300 per month. Majuro Atoll volunteers will receive $350 per month to account for the higher cost of living in Majuro. Remember, this is a stipend, not a salary, and the amount is small. The stipend should cover incidental costs, such as food, some class materials, your personal items, shipping to and from your site, inter-island travel, cell-cards, etc. The stipend is not meant to cover luxuries such as movies or restaurants, or alcohol or tobacco purchases. As a DVTP volunteer teacher, you must set an example as a mature, responsible adult. Using alcohol and tobacco must be discrete and within the laws and cultural norms of the RMI. Furthermore, if you intend on purchasing alcohol or tobacco products while in the RMI you must bring money from home to do so. The stipend cannot be relied on for these purchases. It is important to recognize that the stipend is meant to help you with living expenses through the year in the Marshall Islands but it is not considered a salary for your commitment to teach. You have been accepted into a volunteer program, which (of course) means you are offering to work for the coming year without payment. The stipend is not meant as payment. On outer islands, you will be expected to contribute small amounts to certain community and church events. In addition, you should consider contributing small things like food, gasoline or coffee to your host family or principal. It is not easy to take care of an outsider. Anything you can do to show your appreciation and offer some help is welcomed. Your stipend is meant to cover things you will need in your daily life so you are encouraged to contribute in this way. Please note that you may have to rely on some of your own spending money, particularly if you live on Majuro (where life is expensive) or plan to travel a lot. While volunteers typically find that their budgets are tight, those who choose to do so can live within the monthly stipend. There will not be extra money for regular luxuries, but such is the life of a volunteer. 38

While accommodations, some food and program related transportation are covered during the period of Orientation, you will be responsible for the cost of e-mail, telephone calls, eating out, transportation on your own, scuba diving, and all necessities (shampoo, soap, shoes, etc.) during this time. Many volunteers in the past have expressed their surprise at the amount of money they spend during Orientation. Because your basic needs are supplied by the DVTP, it is completely up to you to budget and gauge your spending habits during Orientation in Majuro. Outer Island volunteers should expect to spend more money before their outer island departure on things such as toilet paper, mosquito coils, buckets, shampoo, soap and other necessities. As is laid out in the packing guide, there are a number of things available in Majuro and some of them (i.e., 10-month supply of toilet paper!) are worth purchasing upon arrival in the RMI. As mentioned in the Introduction section, the DVTP operates under the Ministry of Education in the RMI. The DVTP is entirely funded by the MOE and BKE. The MOE funds the program using part of the Supplemental Education Grant from the United States Department of the Interior. Because the funding is through two governments, there is a lot of red tape to get through. For this reason, there is a very small possibility that payments to the DVTP will not be made on time. In the history of the program, the DVTP has not had a serious problem receiving relatively timely payments from the government, but if such a situation arises, the DVTP will not be able to pay your stipend. Essentially, you are paid by the Marshall Islands government through the DVTP, not by the DVTP directly. The DVTP cannot guarantee that stipends will be paid regularly each month. You may not receive your living allowance until you return to the US. We reiterate that we do not anticipate any problems, but you need to know that the stipends for the DVTP volunteers come from the Marshall Islands government that in turn gets funding from the United States government, not from the DVTP directly. Some things are not in the control of the DVTP. Again, in the history of the program, we have never experienced any major problems and neither the DVTP nor the MOE anticipate any problems this year. Should a problem arise, we will all work together to solve it.

School Year Calendar and Holidays What follows are some of the holidays celebrated in the RMI. This calendar includes significant DVTP dates as well as national holidays. The Marshallese school year usually runs from midAugust to the end of May, with a Christmas holiday and (sometimes) a spring break around Easter. It can be difficult to teach in December because people in the community practice for upcoming Christmas celebrations during the evenings and nights, so students often come to school exhausted. On Christmas Day, group after group of brightly dressed celebrants gather at a local church to sing and dance and then conclude their performance by tossing out handmade crafts, soap and candy to those gathered to watch the festivities. This usually goes on for the entire day (and night), giving all groups the chance to present their new songs and dances. Christmas can be rather costly in terms of money and time. The next section is last year’s school calendar, along with some national holidays. While dates for the 2011-12 school year have not been finalized yet, this calendar will give you a general idea 39

of how the year is structured. In this list we have included DVTP conferences and meetings. As the year progresses there will be various additional DVTP activities and events. 2011-2012 School Year

Holidays/ WT events

July 28 (Approx) July 28 – August 12 (approx) August 20 (Approx) September 1 September 28 November 17 December 1 December 22 – January 3 (approx) TBA (Probably Dec. 29-Dec. 31) Early March Usually the week before Easter, but some schools do not take a Spring Break May 1 End of May

Arrive Majuro WT Orientation Beginning of School Year Dri-Jerbal Day (Labor Day) Manit Day (Traditional Custom Day) Presidents’ Day Gospel Day Christmas Break DVTP Mid-Service Conference Nuclear Victims’ Day Spring Break

Early June

DVTP End of Service Conference

Early June

DVTP Hanover Orientation

Constitution Day Final Day of Classes

Initial Travel Arrangements You need to purchase a round-trip ticket to Majuro. Do NOT book one-way. You will be reimbursed by either DVTP or Bikini, depending on which site you are placed at. When you book your flight, it is important to be sure that the ticket can be used within a year from the date of travel, NOT a year from the purchase date. Airlines are unable to book flights a full year in advance, so you will book your return flight for APRIL 24 and in March we will change the flight to your actual departure date. From Honolulu to Majuro there is only one airline: United Micronesia, therefore you must fly with them from HNL to MAJ. You need to get a ticket for flight UA154 on FRIDAY JULY 27, which departs at 5:25am from Honolulu and arrives at 8:34am (on SATURDAY, July 28th, because you cross the dateline). You will be spending the night in Honolulu because it is impossible to fly into HNL in the early morning to make the connecting Continental flight to Majuro. Be sure that you book your return flight out of Majuro for APRIL 24, as the flights on those days go through Honolulu. When we are changing your return date, we can only change the date, not the destination or the layover cities. You have to follow the route of your original ticket, so make sure it is the one you want.

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From the closest international airport to your home to Honolulu, there are many airlines. If you can fly UNITED/CONTINENTAL all the way, or if you can fly with one of United/Continental’s codeshare partners it makes it a MILLION times easier to change your return flight because the staff at the United office in Majuro can change those flights. If you book with any other airline, we will not be able to change the return date. If you choose to book with another airline, you will be responsible for changing your own return date and paying the additional change fee. Therefore, do a little research on what the cheapest flight using these airlines is to Honolulu. We are a bit of a shoestring operation, so the more money you save the better! DVTP does not pay for any excess baggage. I will go over packing and the luggage policies in Hanover. Remember that the plane tickets are purchased for you with money from the RMI government. If you do not complete your teaching service in the Marshall Islands, your ticket reimbursement will be withheld. When you complete your teaching service, the second half of your reimbursement will be distributed. There should be a bunch of you all needing a place to stay in Honolulu the night of July 26h. If you have friends in Honolulu and want to stay with them, that is fine. Just make sure you make it to the airport on time (check-in 3 hours before the flight). Otherwise, you will be sharing hotel rooms. A decent hotel with a free airport shuttle is the Honolulu Airport Hotel ($129 at hotels.com) or the Best Western-The Plaza Hotel ($139 at hotels.com). For a nicer hotel near the beach but no shuttle service (you can take a taxi or the 24-hour Waikiki Shuttle), you can stay at the Waikiki Gateway Hotel ($98.25 at hotels.com). Do not worry about booking the hotels yet. The Field Director will go over this with you in June and we will figure out who is staying with whom. One person in each room will pay for the hotel room and Bikini or the DVTP will reimburse you for the cost of the room when you arrive in Majuro. Any other costs besides the room, like movies, internet, phone calls, etc, will not be reimbursed by the DVTP. If you want to fly into HNL earlier, that is your choice and your financial responsibility. Remember that the plane tickets are purchased for you with money from the RMI government. If you do not complete your teaching service in the Marshall Islands, the second half of your ticket reimbursement will be withheld. When you complete your teaching service, the second half of your reimbursement will be distributed at the End of Service Conference.

Travel during the Year As you are about to live in the middle of the beautiful Pacific, traveling elsewhere may be on your list of “to do’s” while away. This is certainly to be expected but it is important to understand that you are a teacher first and any traveling must occur during school breaks only. You may not miss school to travel for pleasure. Emergencies are different and situations will be taken on a case-by-case basis. As a volunteer with the DVTP, you are an employee of the Ministry of Education and must be actively teaching while school is in session. This means you may not travel (home or elsewhere) between your arrival (July) and Christmas break. At Christmas, there is usually about a two-week break from school. In addition, there is a mandatory Mid-Year Retreat during this break that all volunteers must attend. From Christmas break until 41

the end of your commitment (end of May), there is no time to travel out of the country. If you are placed on Majuro where there is an international airport, you may have time to travel home or elsewhere during the weeks surrounding Christmas. If you are placed on an outer island, the unreliability of the national airline (Air Marshall Islands) can make planning to leave the country very risky as you count on them to get you to an international airport. In the event that the planes aren’t running, the boat schedules are so unreliable you may have to miss school to leave for Majuro to catch a flight, which is unacceptable. Especially if you are placed on an outer island, we strongly discourage you from planning to travel outside the RMI during Christmas break. The Field Director upholds the right to forbid you from traveling if your plans will cause you to miss school or our Mid Year conference. Extenuating circumstances, such as funerals, are one matter, but please do not plan to vacation outside of the Marshall Islands during the school year. Logistics are not the only difficulty in traveling in the Pacific from the Marshall Islands. It is also very expensive. Flights (round trip) from Honolulu to Majuro run about $1100 and there are never seat sales as United airlines holds a monopoly over the route. Flights to Pohnpei (the next stop on the United route) are about $900 round trip and flights to Guam are about $1000 round trip. There is talk of putting Majuro on the flight path of a Fijian airline, but at the moment United Micronesia flights to Guam or Honolulu are the only access points to Majuro. Even though a map shows the RMI to be in the middle of the Pacific, the reality is that it can be very difficult to get to many Pacific Island destinations. Fishing The water sports are so spectacular in the Marshall Islands that they deserve special mention. Marshallese men fish, but generally not Marshallese women, as they are considered bad luck. If you make friends with Marshallese who fish, you will learn quite a variety of methods of catching food fish. They work with nets, poles, handlines, spears, even with coconut ropes. You may want to consider bringing a supply of hooks and some line (20 lb and 60 lb) to use as these are in surprisingly short supply everywhere except Majuro. They also make good gifts. Interested boys may want to buy a spear and rubbers in Majuro to learn how to spearfish. Boating The traditional watercraft of the Marshall Islands is the outrigger canoe. This canoe is versatile and in days past carried up to fifty people on trips on the open ocean. The Marshallese were terrific navigators and traveled great distances in these carefully crafted canoes. On some of the outer islands the outrigger is still used, but on many atolls the motorboat has replaced it. The outrigger is making a comeback, however, and has the support of traditional leaders who are sponsoring canoe races. Many Marshallese own motorboats. They are primarily used for transportation to other islands in the atoll, and for fishing. Oftentimes however, especially on the outer islands, one family may own the boat while another family owns the engine. SCUBA Diving and Snorkeling The waters of Micronesia are spectacular, and those of the Marshall Islands are some of the best of Micronesia. The lagoons offer sheltered opportunities for swimming, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, boating, sailing, and fishing. With protection from the waves of the ocean, the lagoons 42

offer wonderful ways to interact with the water. Because they are relatively shallow, with coral heads and sandy beaches, the many shades of blues and greens in the lagoons are breathtaking. The ocean offers chances for SCUBA diving and fishing, but swimming is more safely done in the lagoon. If you like the water at all, you will want to bring (or buy in Majuro) a mask and snorkel and some fins for snorkeling. Spear fishing is done in the Marshall Islands, but it is dangerous to move around in the water with bloody fish. There are sharks in these waters. If there is no blood around, they don’t tend to bother people, but if you have a string of fish attached to your waist, you will look like bait. There are stories of Marshallese men with fish on their waists who have been attacked by sharks. To see the lagoon or the drop-off ocean-side with a snorkel is magnificent. You will feel like a child seeing a totally new world. Brightly colored tropical fish swimming around large pieces of fan coral, the larger fish deeper, turtles and rays are all there. If you go often you will learn their habitats, their feeding habits, the depths they are found, and you will see how they interact. It’s a beautiful silent world. SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving is fabulous in the Marshall Islands. All dive shops operate from Majuro, since it requires a compression machine to fill SCUBA tanks. To dive you need to take SCUBA lessons and because it can be dangerous if you are not careful and knowledgable. The Field Director can point you to the dive shops on Majuro after your arrival. Unfortunately, there is no infrastructure to support diving on most of the outer islands. You can be certified to SCUBA on Majuro for about $350-$400 (which is a group rate if there are several people interested…individually it would cost about $500-$600). This represents a substantial savings from what you would likely pay back home. It may be possible to arrange time during orientation to arrange a SCUBA class, but it will depend on interest and scheduling. If you intend to take your SCUBA classes during Orientation, you should be prepared to cram it in as Orientation is a very busy time. If you dive, be sure you know what you are doing. It can be dangerous if you do not. Remember all of the rules of SCUBA diving, and if you have not been diving in several years, or are unsure of safety procedures, stop at the dive shops to arrange for a refresher course.

Your First Day in the Marshalls The Field Director will meet you at the airport and take you to the orientation location. Citizens of the United States do not need a visa to enter the Marshall Islands. All people entering the Marshall Islands with the intention to stay longer than 3 months must provide a criminal record check and proof of a negative HIV/AIDS test. The HIV/AIDS test must have occurred no more than 3 months prior to your arrival in the RMI. Upon arrival, you will need to fill out an Immigration application for your work visa and provide one color photograph to Immigration for 43

their records. The Field Director will work with you before departure to ensure that everyone has the necessary paperwork to enter the country. It is possible that your Field Director will greet you at the airport accompanied by others. Often staff of the MOE, school principals, fellow teachers and even some host families will make the trip to the airport to welcome you. It is traditional for visiting guests and also honored persons at special occasions to be given a crown of flowers called a “wut.” If you are given a wut, you should thank the giver, perhaps saying “yokwe” (their all-purpose hello, goodbye, love, etc.) or “kommol tata” (which is thank you very much.) Marshallese traditionally don’t hug in public so a warm handshake will be very appropriate along with whatever Marshallese phrase you can muster.

MAJURO ORIENTATION You will spend your first month in the Marshalls in an intensive orientation program, orchestrated by the Field Director. Orientation is designed to help you adjust to living and working in the Marshalls, to give you an introduction to basic Marshallese, to allow you to practice teaching English, and give you an opportunity to meet the other volunteers and staff. Orientation takes place in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, the atoll with by far the largest population. The Marshallese are friendly and welcoming, so these two plus weeks will give you a warm welcome to this delightful country and provide an opportunity for you to get to know more about it, about teaching, and about the DVTP. The Field Director, teacher trainers, language trainers and Marshallese experts in various fields comprise the orientation staff, guiding you through your first two plus weeks in the Marshalls. Classes take place in and outdoors – in schools, community centers, and local restaurants, as well as on picnics to Laura and to the outer islands of Majuro atoll. During orientation, you should follow the same dress code you will throughout your stay in the Marshalls, especially on days when your group will be visited by outside speakers. Women will wear dresses or skirts with t-shirts or other modest tops. You must always wear a slip because your seemingly opaque skirt will become transparent under the equatorial sun. During orientation, the DVTP will pay most of your basic living expenses. You will be responsible for a number of meals and any personal items, evening drinks, entertainment and supplies. In Majuro there are banks, stores, groceries, internet and a post office. Most volunteers appreciate orientation as an opportunity to adjust gradually to life in the Marshalls and establish close friendships with others in the group. Because time is short, however, orientation tends to be an intensive and rigorous period. Days are long and filled with activities. Volunteers often find themselves overwhelmed not only by the new place they are adjusting to but by their fellow volunteers as well. Don’t worry; everyone is in the same boat.

Living Conditions 44

During orientation, all volunteers will stay together, most likely in the faculty housing at MIHS. It is important to recognize that there are not very many places in the RMI that can accommodate our group. Volunteers should be prepared to share bedrooms, use bucket showers if necessary, and work together in a small space. Cooperation and respect are key to the groups’ ability to live, learn, adapt, and prepare for the year together. Take care of each other and each other’s things and respect those around you. Remember that you are mature adults, not kids at summer camp. Most meals will be provided at the orientation site, but some outings to local restaurants and to parties at private homes will be organized. Some meals will be catered, others will be the responsibility of the volunteers to cook and serve or for individuals to pay for a meal out. Breakfast is usually on your own although we provide food for you to make your own breakfast initially. While accommodations will be basic (sleeping on mats, no hot water, etc.) most volunteers found that orientation was much more “luxurious” than expected.

Marshallese Language Since none of you will know Marshallese, you will all be beginners when you arrive. We will give you a language manual to help you get started at Hanover Orientation. Particularly for those of you on the outer islands, previous volunteers have always said that they wished they could have learned more language before they got to their site. In Majuro, you will always be able to find people who speak English at stores and businesses, but on the outer islands, it is a different story – other than the teachers at your school, there may only be a handful of people who speak any English. During orientation, you will have language instruction daily. Even with this intensive course, however, you will still be at a very basic level when you leave orientation (in fact, you may still feel like you do not know much language at all). The best way for you to learn is simply to practice as much as possible. The DVTP advises that all volunteers purchase an English-Marshallese dictionary before leaving the States. There is one available through both the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. There is also a “Spoken Marshallese” book, from the same publisher (University of Hawai’i Press), but very few volunteers find this volume helpful.

TEFL Orientation includes training and practice in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to Marshallese students. The goal is to orient you to the education system and teaching methodologies, offer some suggestions for getting started when you arrive at your site, and give you a chance to practice with Marshallese-speaking students. The TEFL training focuses on the basics of good language teaching, and gives you a blend of theoretical knowledge (which may not seem that useful, but will come in handy when you are trying to come up with new ideas for lessons) and practical tips for day-to-day teaching. Most volunteers find it invaluable.

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There will be a “practicum” for EFL teaching in which volunteers teach students at local schools. This experience provides an extremely useful opportunity to get a taste of what it is like to teach students in the Marshalls. It is also a chance to receive feedback from your peers and the orientation staff, as well as discuss problems and look for possible solutions. In many ways, the teaching practicum is a turning point of orientation. It is the moment when you will realize what the coming year has in store for you.

Cultural Adjustment A number of orientation sessions will address cross-cultural adjustment in general; others will discuss adjusting to life in the Marshalls specifically. Topics range from culture shock symptoms, health and safety on tropical islands, to Marshallese etiquette, taboos, gender roles, history and legends, government, and values. These sessions help volunteers to gain some perspective on how cultures differ and to realize that the way things are done back home may not be the best way of getting things done in the Marshall Islands. Researchers have studied cultural adjustment extensively and have identified a fairly reliable cycle that almost everyone goes through when adjusting to a new culture. Although we’ll cover it in detail during orientation, the basic premise is that there will be times when you love living here and times when you’re frustrated (although the “cycle” is a bit more complicated than that). Being aware of this information has helped volunteers work through some of the difficult times they have faced. We will also focus a good deal on the difference between culture and Culture, with the former having a much greater impact on your daily lives. Many volunteers when they arrive are eager for a list of dos and don’ts, but infamous researchers have found that this actually makes it more difficult for people to properly adjust to a culture. Instead of being told what you should and shouldn’t do culturally, we will cover broad terms, but work on ways to learn from observing, as what might be considered unacceptable on some islands is perfectly fine on others. Cultural adjustment is discussed in more detail later in this book.

Site Visit During Orientation For those volunteers who will be assigned to Majuro, one of the most useful experiences you will have is a “site visit” after the first week of orientation. You will leave the orientation site and travel to your host community, see your school, meet your principal, and get a sense of how you will spend the rest of your year. You will probably be anxious to see your site, so this visit early on will help relieve that anxiety and give your work during the rest of orientation a specific context. During Orientation, the Ministry of Education will have a “Welcome Picnic” where all Principals are invited to welcome you to the RMI. Outer island volunteers will also be able to meet their Principals as most outer island teachers spend the summer attending courses in Majuro.

Other Opportunities 46

The Field Director will schedule orientation sessions and events well in advance, but it is always possible to make changes and add sessions of interest to you volunteers. Do not be shy about telling the Field Director what you would like to see or learn about. As noted before, orientation is two and a half weeks packed full of classes, talks, discussions, and activities, so free time is limited. On most days you will be busy from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. No matter how tired everyone is at the end of the day, though, there is usually a group gathering to toss the Frisbee around, swim and snorkel, play soccer, or hang out in a local bar or restaurant. Throughout the weeks of orientation, a strong sense of community develops among the volunteer group – support that will help you throughout the year. Some of our orientation “sessions” won’t feel like work, at all. There will be trips to other islands in the Majuro Atoll for picnics, nights out at restaurants, and most likely a party or two welcoming you to the Marshalls.. Mountain climbing is, alas, out of the question.

Requirements Placement in the Marshalls is contingent on successful completion of orientation. We do not require that you attain a minimum level of language or technical skill. We are more interested in your enthusiasm for your job and your willingness and ability to adjust to a new culture. During orientation, each volunteer is expected to: Ø Prepare for and attend on time all language classes, TEFL classes, cross-cultural activities, and other scheduled activities. Attendance will be taken. Only serious illness is an acceptable reason for missing a class. Ø Accept extra help in any area if recommended by an instructor. The orientation staff will informally evaluate each volunteer at the end of the first week and at the end of the orientation. The Field Director will meet with any volunteer who does not receive a positive evaluation to discuss any problems and come up with a plan for improvement.

LIVING IN THE MARSHALLS Expectations Expectations are always with us, helping us to interpret our lives. Expectations also set us up for failure or success. A couple about to get married has expectations about what married life. A person beginning a new job has expectations for his/her boss and the work style of the office. An incoming college student has expectations for the four years ahead. Even as we leap out of bed in the morning, expectations about the day are already forming. The only thing certain about expectations is that they are never 100% accurate. Being a DVTP volunteer in the Marshall Islands is never going to be as you imagine. Be aware that no matter how prepared you believe you are, things will always surprise you and offer you an experience outside of your expectations. The majority of problems that volunteers face in the RMI have to do with their expectations. Many volunteers arrive thinking things are one way only to find out they are very different and face difficulties when trying to adapt. Your expectations 47

about the country, the culture, orientation, your field director, teaching, placements, the DVTP, host families, and all other experiences while in the RMI must be flexible and adaptable. If you are not able to adapt while in the Marshall Islands, you will find the year to be more difficult than it has to be. Expectations can narrow our view and reduce our flexibility. They can keep us from seeing possibilities that are challenging and different. They can even prevent us from enjoying the surprises of life. Living and working overseas requires being flexible because rarely does anything go according to plan. For Americans who are used to being “in control’’ of our lives, there is the sudden shock of being in a country where the ethics, pace, goals, and perspective are not what we are used to. It is essential that we try to bring our expectations to the surface ahead of time, to assess the “lens’’ through which we will evaluate daily life. The experience of every DVTP volunteer (and every field director) from the very beginning is, “It’s not what I expected.’’ That is as it should be, for this is a vastly different world from what most of us are used to. However, for the vast majority of DVTP volunteers, the experience is much more than they expect. Only those who are extremely rigid and inflexible will not benefit from the adventure they are about to undertake. It is impossible for you not to have expectations about the coming year, but much of your success will depend on your ability to adjust your expectations to the reality you face at your school and in your community. Most of us begin with very high expectations. For months we have planned, saved, talked about this marvelous journey. Parents, family, friends have cheered us or called us crazy, but throughout it all, we have been fueled by our sense of adventure and a feeling of excitement about stepping out from our everyday routine. The time has finally come and we are ready. Ask yourself the following questions: • What images have you been building in your mind over the past months? • What do you expect your living arrangement, work situation, school, community, endurance level, and reaction to poverty will be? • What do you expect of the DVTP? • What do you expect of your Field Director? Are you able to be independent or do you expect a lot of support? • How will you adjust if these things are not what you expected? • Are you easily disappointed? How have you managed disappointment in the past? • Do you get angry when things do not go according to plan? Or do you go with the flow? Can you use humor to get through a difficult situation? • Do you see dozens of possibilities in every situation or just two or three?

The Sites: Majuro, Ejit, Laura, Kili, Wotje, Jaluit As excited as you are, please don’t build your site up too much in your mind. Re-read the last section on expectations. The most important things are to keep an open mind and expect the 48

unexpected. Even after you meet with the volunteers who spent the last year at your site, look at pictures and hear stories, keep an open mind. This experience is different for everyone. While you should do all you can to prepare for your site, please remember that the possibility always exists that these placements could change. If this happens, we will work together to resolve the issue. Amenities and Other Offerings: Majuro Ejit Laura Electricity Electricity Electricity Rain-water Rain-water Rain-water catchments and catchments catchments wells and wells and wells Flushing toilets Flushing Flushing toilets toilets Many Restaurants Grocery stores, window stores

A few takeouts Window stores, small Payless Cook for Cook for Cook for yourself yourself yourself Night Swimming, Swimming, clubs/bars fishing fishing Taxis Walking Walking/bike riding Volunteer SelfSelf-initiated opportunities initiated community (health, community activities women’s issues, activities etc.) Shopping Island Beach, farm walking Bowling alley, Jumping Basketball & MIECO Yacht off the Volleyball Club dock Sizable ex-pat community (~200) Large 20something

No restaurants Window stores

Very few other nativeEnglish speakers Few nonmarried-

Kili Electricity Rain-water catchments and wells Flushing toilets Coffee shops

Wotje Electricity Rain-water catchments and wells Toilets in your house (bucket flush) Coffee shops

Window stores

Window stores

Coffee shops/pizza place Window stores

Cook for yourself Swimming, fishing Walking/bike riding Self-initiated community activities

Cook for yourself Swimming, fishing Walking/bike riding Self-initiated community activities

Cook for yourself Swimming, fishing Walking/bike riding Self-initiated community activities

Jungle hiking

Jungle hiking

Jungle hiking

Basketball & Volleyball

Basketball & Volleyball

Small ex-pat community

Very few other native-English speakers

Basketball & Volleyball & jumping off the dock Few other native-English speakers

Few nonmarried-

Few nonmarried-with-

Few nonmarried-with-

Jaluit Electricity Rain-water catchments Flushing toilets (sometimes)

Few other nativeEnglish speakers

Few nonmarried-with49

social scene

Phone and Internet

Sport fishing, sailing, kayaking, etc.

withwith-children children 2020somethings somethings Phone and Phone and Internet Internet

Sport fishing, sailing, kayaking, etc.

Nearby islands for picnicking and camping

children 20somethings

children 20somethings

children 20somethings

Phone, shortwave radio, letter writing, and sometimes internet Beautiful beaches for picnicking

Phone, sometimes internet, shortwave radio, letter writing Beautiful beaches, small islands for picnicking and camping

Short-wave radio, letter writing, phone, sometimes internet Beautiful beaches, small islands for picnicking and camping

Majuro: Pros Plenty of text books, supplies Social opportunities Restaurants, grocery stores Many “western” amenities Running water Taxis 30-mile road for driving, exercising Beautiful lagoon

Cons Larger class sizes (30-40) Gossip; high school-style back-stabbing Volunteer stipend cannot pay for eating out often or buying the foods you might want A more westernized society Very few hot water heaters Cost adds up quickly Territorial dogs (though, no rabies) Downtown part filled with trash

Pros Adequate text books, supplies Majuro resources are a short walk or boat ride away (see pros and cons of Majuro above) Tight community Running water Nice dock to swim off Bikinian Beautiful ocean

Cons Staff and students expect a lot from you You can get sucked into Majuro and forget to enjoy Ejit Kids knock on your door all day long Limited supply (from your catchment) Have to cross the ocean to go anywhere Bikinian Parts filled with trash

Ejit:

Laura: Pros Adequate text books, supplies Majuro resources are a bus ride away (see pros and cons of Majuro above) Tight community Running water

Cons Larger class sizes (25-30) What happens in Majuro does NOT stay in Majuro Little privacy Limited supply (from your catchment) 50

Have cell phones and internet Some local sports leagues and entertainment Beautiful lagoon, beaches and sunsets

S-L-O-W and don’t always work Sometimes you are the entertainment Spoils all future tropical vacations

Kili: Pros Smaller class sizes Solitude—time to think and read Tight community Have cell phones and internet Master art of letter-writing Close to nature Marshallese language immersion Beautiful, pristine ocean and beach

Cons Inadequate textbooks and supplies Lonely Little privacy S-L-O-W and don’t always work Slow communication Cockroaches, rats/mice, spiders, crabs Difficult to effectively communicate Island fever

Wotje: Pros Smaller class sizes Solitude—time to think and read Tight community Have cell phones and internet Master art of letter-writing Close to nature Marshallese language immersion Beautiful, pristine lagoon

Cons Inadequate textbooks and supplies Lonely Little privacy S-L-O-W and don’t always work Slow communication Cockroaches, rats/mice, spiders, crabs Difficult to effectively communicate Spoils all future tropical vacations

Pros Smaller class sizes Solitude—time to think and read Tight community Has cell phone and internet infrastructure Master art of letter-writing Close to nature Marshallese language immersion Beautiful, pristine lagoon

Cons Inadequate textbooks and supplies Lonely Little privacy It’s currently broken Slow communication Cockroaches, rats/mice, spiders, crabs Difficult to effectively communicate Spoils all future tropical vacations

Jaluit:

Volunteers coming to the Marshall Islands need to have a clear and realistic idea of what awaits them. Otherwise, disappointment is nearly inevitable. The Marshall Islands, despite its white beaches, turquoise waters, and simple living, is not a tropical paradise. There are major differences between living in Majuro, Laura, Ejit, Wotje, Kili and Jaluit. Expectations and realities will be different depending on your placement.

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The RMI certainly has boundless natural beauty, but it suffers the same sorts of problems of all poor, developing countries. It struggles to educate its people, to offer adequate healthcare, to foster sustainable economic growth, to maintain a sense of cultural pride in the face of western encroachment, and the list goes on. Volunteers, like Marshallese people, can face a monotonous diet of canned meat and rice. They will also face sexual harassment by “rude, unappreciative scum” (as one Marshallese principal put it) and cloudy, rainy, mud-filled days. If you are not prepared to accept these realities, then the Marshall Islands is not the right place for you. Regardless of your site placement, these realities will be a part of your students’, families’, and communities’ lives, and therefore part of yours. Majuro If you live on Majuro, you will find many of the problems that plague most poor urban areas: trash, overcrowding, poor living conditions, unemployment, crime, pollution, etc. Not exactly the postcard image that we think of when we imagine life in the tropics. Furthermore, traditional Marshallese culture is harder to come by on Majuro. Modern amenities have made lives easier, but they have not come without a cost. Technology and development have taken their toll on local culture as they drive the Marshallese further and further into the future, and further and further away from their past. Volunteers looking for a life filled with basket weaving and cooking over a fire of coconut husk may not be satisfied in Majuro. Those teaching in Majuro will be more exposed to the large gap between the rich and the poor and be offered an insider’s view to the real time changes that occur during development. It is also likely that Majuro volunteers will see the flaws in the education system on a grand scale while living and working in the population center. Of course, there are many benefits to living and teaching on Majuro. There are the obvious benefits, such as access to grocery stores and private islands, close proximity to other volunteers, the ability to communicate easily with friends and family back home, etc. While living in Majuro it is easy to get involved in organized activities such as sports like softball or rugby and fishing, sailing or scuba diving. In the classroom, children on Majuro will be more likely to have stronger English skills, will likely be at a higher academic level than outer islanders and have more exposure to non-Marshallese people and their culture. There are also less obvious, but equally important advantages to being on Majuro. If you are interested in getting involved beyond the classroom in any number of fields and capacities, Majuro will probably have what you are looking for. There are a number of other organizations that focus on everything from environmental issues to health awareness to youth recreation, and they are always looking for help. Majuro also provides a close-up view of a developing country at work. It provides a stark illustration of the many problems facing the Marshall Islands today, but also offers you a unique opportunity to get involved in addressing them. In spite of the appearance of modern grocery stores, the internet, the RMI’s first “coffee shop,” where you can get a caramel latte and the new fast-food option, KLG, Majuro is still quite different from home. Some volunteers get lulled into a feeling that because it seems to be a relatively modern place, things should work just as they do back home. This simply is not true. Even if you live in faculty housing with air-conditioning and running showers, you cannot expect them to always work and you should not assume they will be fixed immediately. Occasionally, 52

there are large-scale power outages where the entire island is without electricity. Other times, grocery stores are without vegetables or the internet is not working. Living in Majuro is different from on the outer islands and offers amenities you are used to at home but flexibility and adaptability are just as important. Ejit Ejit Island is the third small island off the eastern tip of the Majuro Atoll. Marshallese people who live here have better English than outer-islanders, but most communication still takes place in Marshallese. Most of the community consists of displaced Bikinians. Because they are apart from town and everyone is related, there is less crime than in Majuro. Most families live in cinderblock houses with a few electronic appliances, including some air conditioners. A few families still use fires to cook. Most people on Ejit do not have jobs but live off the checks received by all Bikinians. The Ejit community is very close knit. Everyone knows everyone (and their business). The island itself is small, so there are no jungles on Ejit and a tour of the entire island takes about 10-15 minutes at most. Laura Laura village is located at the opposite end of the atoll from the capital, about an hour’s drive from downtown Majuro. Marshallese people who live here have better English than outerislanders, but most communication still takes place in Marshallese. Because they are apart from town, the urban ills that plague Majuro are less of an issue: houses are spread out and separated by healthy coconut groves, and the communities are much more fixed than the constantly moving population in town. For this reason, there is less crime (though it still exists) and, though one small house may shelter 15 people, the over-crowding problem is not so visually apparent. All the amenities of town are available for residents here, and cars are more abundant than one would think, but the degree to which households invest in modern technology varies. Many families still use fires to cook; others have American-style kitchens with microwaves and toasters. Similarly, adherence to traditional ways of life varies. For instance, some families utilize the traditional extended family support networks, and some are staunchly nuclear. While Laura provides a nice balance of the modern and the traditional, there are some drawbacks. As in the outer islands, community is comprised of intricate and constant social ties; houses are spread over a long, thin stretch of land. This geographical layout makes the community feel less centralized, and so it is more difficult to become a part of the greater social tapestry. Volunteers may feel like they are uncomfortably lodged between two worlds: the modern base of town and the Marshallese community base that is their home. That said, a volunteer seeking to learn about Marshallese tradition, learn the language, while also having access to amenities and communication with the outside world (via Majuro), will enjoy living here. Kili Kili is also home to mostly displaced Bikinians. People live fairly westernized lives, which continues to change as more modern amenities (gas-powered boats, canned goods, generators, cell phones, iPods, etc.) become more readily available to them. Most people live in cinder block houses with air conditioning rather than traditional thatch housing. Many houses also have a television and VCR for watching movies. There are a number of movie rental stores on island. 53

Volunteers on Kili can achieve a stronger grasp on the language than their Majuro counterparts if they choose. English is rarely spoken in their community, though most people have a basic grasp of the language and will be able to communicate with you in English. Most prominent members of the community in particular can speak English but prefer Marshallese. Volunteers teaching on Kili will not have access to a great variety of foods, they will not always be able to communicate easily with friends and family from home, they will often be the only ribelles on the island and therefore may feel a bit lonely at times, they will not have immediate access to advanced medical care (though there is usually an actual doctor on Kili), while cell phones and internet are available and sometimes working, their consistent contact with the outside world will be limited to the mail brought on the bi-weekly flight from Majuro and the short-wave radio, they will have fewer resources at their disposal, and they will likely be the object of never-ending (but harmless) attention and curiosity by all of their fellow islanders. Life on the outer islands demands a considerable adjustment, but with the right attitude and a willingness to be flexible and open, it also offers a unique and deeply rewarding experience. Wotje Wotje offers a slightly different experience. Even more so than Laura, people live fairly traditional lives, although that is changing little by little as some of the modern amenities (gaspowered boats, canned goods, generators, etc.) become more readily available to them. Volunteers on Wotje also achieve a stronger grasp on the language than their Majuro counterparts, as English is rarely spoken in their community and they must rely on their Marshallese skills to communicate with people outside of the high school. The swimming and snorkeling are fantastic, as are the walks on the beach, the shell-hunts, and the abundance of delicious fish. There is one other inhabited island on Wotje Atoll, called Wodmej. Still, you will find many people living in cinder block houses rather than traditional thatch housing. Many families also have a television and VCR to watch movies. Of course, living on Wotje also entails some pretty significant sacrifice. Volunteers teaching on Wotje will not have access to a great variety of foods and they will not always be able to communicate easily with friends and family from home. They will often be the only ribelles on the island and therefore may feel a bit lonely at times. They will not have immediate access to advanced medical care. While cell phones and internet are available and often working, their consistent contact with the outside world will be limited to the mail brought on the weekly flight from Majuro and the short-wave radio. They will have fewer resources at their disposal, and they will likely be the object of never-ending (but harmless) attention and curiosity by all of their fellow islanders. Life on the outer islands demands a considerable adjustment, but with the right attitude and a willingness to be flexible and open, it also offers a unique and deeply rewarding experience. Jaluit Jaluit offers a slightly different experience. More so than on Wotje, people live fairly traditional lives, although that is changing little by little as some of the modern amenities (gas-powered boats, canned goods, generators, etc.) become more readily available to them. 54

Volunteers on Jaluit also achieve a stronger grasp on the language than their Majuro counterparts. Many people on Jabor (the island where the high school is located) speak fairly good English and will be able to communicate with you. Still, Marshallese skills will help you interact with a wider group of people outside of the high school community. The swimming and snorkeling are fantastic, as are the walks on the beach, the shell-hunts, and the abundance of delicious fish. Jaluit Atoll consists of seven populated islands. The island of Jabor is connected to the island of Jaluit by a seven-mile long road. Here you will find many people living in cinder block houses rather than traditional thatch housing. Many families also have a television and VCR to watch movies occasionally. Of course, living on Jaluit also entails some pretty significant sacrifice. Volunteers teaching on Jaluit will not have access to a great variety of foods and they will not always be able to communicate easily with friends and family from home. They will often be the only ribelles on the island and therefore may feel a bit lonely at times. They will not have immediate access to advanced medical care. Hopefully by the time school starts, the satellite connection will be fixed and internet will be available again. Even when phones and internet are working, consistent contact with the outside world might be limited to the mail brought on the weekly flight from Majuro and the short-wave radio. Volunteers have fewer resources at their disposal, and they will likely be the object of never-ending (but harmless) attention and curiosity by all of their fellow islanders. Life on the outer islands demands a considerable adjustment, but with the right attitude and a willingness to be flexible and open, it also offers a unique and deeply rewarding experience. Final word about sites Regardless of where you teach, you will likely have the experience of a lifetime. Understanding and preparing for the reality it, however, is crucial. The various settings each have special advantages, but they all require an open mind, enthusiasm, and some hard work. The experience you want out of your year of volunteer teaching will not be magically handed to you upon your arrival. You will need to make it happen for yourself. However, if you are committed to learning, growing, and making your own unique contribution to the children of the Marshall Islands, then the year ahead is sure to be one of your best.

Job Success Overseas – Expectations vs. Reality Working overseas places special responsibilities on you as an individual. Not only do you have a job to do, but also you must develop the intercultural skills necessary to do it effectively and integrate yourself into a new community. One of the surprises that often awaits volunteers is that not only do they have expectations of the RMI, but the RMI also has expectations of them. To many people you will seem like a person of excellent education, moral values, and immense wealth. People will look to you to be a leader. Your students, colleagues, principal, sponsor family, the community, and the local education officials will all have expectations of you.

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People have invested in you just as you have invested in them. Word travels quickly that you are coming and you will likely be an instant celebrity at your school. The DVTP staff makes every effort to place you in a situation that will be positive. Nevertheless, as this program and country are still growing, we are still learning, just as you are. Fortunately, over the past eight years, most DVTP volunteers have been an invaluable asset to their schools and their communities. Chances are, after a week or two, you will get a bit tired of hearing how great the volunteers before you were, how well they spoke the language, what an amazing teacher they were, and so on. Don’t let it bother you too much. That volunteer went through the same thing the year before. Still, the DVTP has a tradition of providing excellent volunteers, which places a heavy burden on you, but you will be fine, and in a year, they will be tormenting the next volunteer with stories about how great you were. Many people beyond your immediate site also have expectations of you. The national and local governments expect that your performance and behavior will serve to enhance their educational system. The United States Embassy expects that you will serve as an informal ambassador. The DVTP Field Director, while there to assist you, expects that you will be able to solve the day-today problems that will arise in your new life. Take a minute to ask yourself what expectations have been placed on you in the past and how you have dealt with them? How do you find out what expectations others have? What do you do if you disagree with another’s expectations? What is your role as a foreigner in a land that has had both negative and positive experiences with foreigners? What are your own expectations of your free time and how you will spend it?

Doing Your Job Overseas You may be a volunteer, but that does not mean that you are any less responsible to your school and to the Ministry as you would be if you were a paid teacher. This is a very important point to understand and remember. By signing up as a DVTP volunteer, you have committed to teach in the Marshall Islands for one year and we expect you to uphold that commitment. You are no longer a college student who can ditch class and sleep in if you feel like it. Try to remember your own teachers and the professional way in which they conducted themselves. While serving as a volunteer, your primary responsibility is to teach. This is the most important expectation your school, your community, and the DVTP have of you. Because you were educated at a prestigious university, people will expect a lot of you. You will be expected to make a concerted effort to adjust to and participate in school and community life. As a teacher, you will be expected to be a role model for your students. The DVTP works hard to avoid the criticism that North American volunteers are tourists rather than committed teachers. We also expect you to be both committed and competent. Teaching is hard, demanding work, which requires preparation and follow-through. A positive attitude is key to success. Many of our most successful DVTP volunteers were not trained to be educators. They were successful because they recognized their inexperience, were willing to take the DVTP training seriously and 56

committed themselves to the task even when they did not feel their own standards or expectations were being met. We stress that success or failure in your overseas assignment will not depend on some abstraction called “culture.’’ Most intercultural problems can be traced to interpersonal problems. If you are willing to work hard at teaching, you will achieve success no matter what your experience level. The same holds true for cultural adjustment – you must be willing to work at it. As you approach this new adventure, consider the following questions: • How do you look at others in a new setting? • How do you define your goals in a limited setting? • What does your own appearance and ethnic background mean to you in another culture? • Do you always have to control people and events? • How do you function when you do not have control and you feel powerless? • How do you think you will function as a teacher amidst the daily routine of a foreign school? • Can you use your free time creatively when there are no modern entertainment devices like television? • How will you accept the authority of your principal or field director whose decisions you will not always agree with? • What are some personal goals you expect to achieve while overseas? There will undoubtedly be times when you sit back and think that other teachers at your school are not trying as hard as they could, or that the education problems at hand are too large to make a noticeable difference. During those moments, the only thing you can do is carry on and focus on the things you CAN control, such as your lessons, after school programs, and your free time. Past volunteers sometimes felt like they were the only one in the school who made an effort towards change. Do not let this dismay you. Your presence and your hard work lead to change in ways you cannot even imagine. Remember: you will be educating tomorrow’s leaders and teachers, the commitment and teachings you offer really will make a difference to the people of the RMI. On days when you feel like you just do not have any more to give, it helps to remember that change takes many people putting in much time: it does not come quickly.

The Myth of the Personal Journey People have many reasons for going overseas. Some people are more in love with the idea of an adventure than with the reality of the experience. Problems arise when people go overseas primarily for reasons other than to teach and serve in their local community. Ask yourself what are the personal issues you are bringing to this experience. What are you going to do if you discover that your host country or your performance is not all you hoped it would be? What do you hope to gain from this experience and how will you measure it? Overseas workers often bring worries or problems with them from home. Perhaps a family member is seriously ill, there may be problems with a spouse or partner, or feelings of uncertainty about one's goals. We want to stress that the personal equipment a person has for 57

dealing with life before going overseas determines the personal resources she/he will have once there. The drama of a move to a place that is significantly different is clearly an important event in life, but it rarely transforms a person. It is even less likely to turn weaknesses into strengths. Working in a foreign country is not a time to “get it all together’’ or to find yourself. Before you go, you need to take stock of your life and assess your strengths and weaknesses.

A Word about Relationships Many DVTP volunteers who return before their contract is finished do so because of relationships they left behind at home. It is very difficult to leave a loved one behind and even more so if that relationship has problems that may or may not wait for the return. It is no easy matter to maintain a relationship through mail that takes weeks to go back and forth occasional telephone calls (and increasingly, emails and skype). On the other hand, many DVTP volunteers have found their year abroad to be an important time to define their relationships, a kind of moratorium that allows them to gain a sense of themselves before returning to a more serious or continued commitment. It is important to evaluate your own emotional stamina, your ability to function without daily affection and affirmation, your goals for your relationships and whether or not they can withstand the separation. You will also develop relationships with local people and other North American volunteers that will become essential to your well-being and sense of “belonging.’’ Even the most solitary of DVTP volunteers report that they benefited from having a small community of friends to relax with and be nurtured by. Most people cannot do it alone. A supportive group of some kind is essential. You will find the Marshallese extraordinarily supportive of each other, and of you, too. The social safety net in the Marshalls is both very wide and deep. If you are taken into Marshallese society, those who have chosen to care for you will feel a deep obligation to you and your family in all ways. It is quite astonishing that this care is so skillfully extended, without any sense of crowding or obligation or overstepping boundaries. As was said earlier, no DVTP volunteer has ever found the RMI to be all that they expected. Yet the vast majority of us found it was more than we expected. If you are willing to evaluate your expectations beforehand, realize that things will not always go as planned, and make a commitment to remain flexible you will be better able to make the most of your experience.

Hardships You Might Face in the Marshalls Some aspects of the Marshallese culture can make living and teaching in the Marshalls a challenging experience. The challenges of each site vary. Those presented by life on Majuro are more subtle and often more difficult to deal with than the obvious challenges of life in the outer islands. We don’t want to intimidate you with all of these warnings, but we do want you to know what to expect. Preparing yourself mentally in advance will help you cope if things go wrong. •

Living with other DVTP volunteers that you don’t really know can be a trying experience. Adjusting to the demands of “family life” will take a concerted effort at 58

tolerance and acceptance on your part. Please make the effort to make yourself easy to live with, and trust that your housemates are too. Remember that good communication is key. •

Food can be a very difficult part of your experience in the Marshalls. On outer islands, volunteers will need to adapt to eating barely any vegetables, a lot of sugar and starch and a high sodium diet. In Majuro, food that is more nutritious is available but it comes at a very high cost.

•

Isolation, loneliness and being in a place where no one knew you until you got there can be very difficult for volunteers to handle at times. All volunteers, no matter where they are placed, will deal with these issues at some time during their experience. They are impossible to avoid, but considering your expectations will help lessen their effects on you and your time in the RMI.

•

Bureaucratic problems make all sorts of things that should be easy, more difficult. Compounding these issues are problems with transportation and communication. You will come face to face with all of these and however much you think about them ahead of time, you will have difficultly when they actually arise.

•

Despite the country’s philosophical and financial commitment to education, your students and colleagues may not take school as seriously as you would like. You may find: o Both teachers and students, and sometimes even principals, miss school frequently, without serious consequences. o Cheating is common and is not seriously punished by school officials. o The influence of parents on school officials makes it difficult for teachers to discipline or hold back individual students. o Parents may not give the support for school at home that you had hoped for. o Children may come to school tired, especially on Majuro where there is electricity and they can stay up late at night. o Students may come to school without eating breakfast, and many may come after eating fried donuts and soda, and so be hungry by mid-morning. o Students are more accustomed to copying off the board than using their imaginations.

•

Lack of discipline in the schools is also a great challenge for the volunteers. Discipline is perhaps the most frustrating aspect of teaching. Many DVTP teachers feel that any threats of discipline are empty and instead turn toward discipline games that positively reinforce good behavior and can have excellent results.

As a visitor in the community, you may not be able to change these things—you just have to do your best to work within the system. As with most things, the key is an open mind and a willingness to understand the reasons for the differences in the Marshallese society. Be creative in addressing those problems over which you feel you have some control. Many problems actually have solutions, just not the ones you are accustomed to seeing.

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I hope that over time you will come to accept and even appreciate much of what frustrates you in the beginning. You will come to see life from a Marshallese perspective and understand better what they value and why. At that point, you will be better able to define what the issues actually are and what you actually can do about them. Communication with Home It is a good idea to communicate with your own family on a regular schedule, especially if you are on an outer island. Try to stick to your schedule because your family will worry if they do not hear from you when they expect to. It is likely they will contact the Field Director and ask about you. It is an awkward position to have the Field Director say, “Yes, your daughter wrote me a letter last week. I don’t know why she didn’t write to you.” If your family needs to reach you in an emergency, or if they are worried about you, they should first try to call you directly if you are in a place with telephone access. Phoning Majuro is usually quite easy, although it may take a few tries to get a line, and it is expensive. From fall to spring, the Marshalls are 17 hours ahead of U.S. East Coast time. The other half of the year, the time difference is 16 hours. The easiest way to figure this out is to add 7 (or 8) hours to your time (for Eastern Time), then remember it is the day before at home. When you first arrive in the Marshalls, you will be used to being in regular communication with your close friends and family members. At home, it’s easy to stay in touch and people tend to take this for granted as a necessity. Based on the experience of past volunteers, it is a good idea to set up a system of communication with your family and stick to it as much as possible. Whether that is an email every week, or skype or a phone call once a month, setting up a system will help you feel connected to your family back home without feeling like communicating with them is getting in the way of your RMI experience. You are not in America, and talking on the phone to your family very often will detract from you living your life on your island. It might be hard for your family to understand this, especially if they are used to hearing from you every day. Setting up a system and explaining the reasoning behind it may help both of you feel more comfortable. Radio At times, those of you on the outer islands will not have phone or internet access. Communication is done by short-wave radio, which is similar to a CB. These radios are widespread and link the outer islands to Majuro (and each other). Your school will have a radio of its own and there will be a number of people in the community who will also have a radio: the Air Marshall Islands agent, the mayor, the health clinician, some individuals, etc. It is a good idea to get friendly with these people from the get-go, as you will be requiring their assistance often. Once a week, outer island volunteers will check-in with the Field Director on the short-wave radio. You must come to check-in each week (on time!). The check-in allows the Field Director to speak with each volunteer weekly about his or her physical, emotional, and professional wellbeing. After check-in, the volunteers may stay and chat with each other on the radio. Volunteers can also set up radio dates to talk to people on other islands, or to speak to the Field Director at greater length than possible at check-in. 60

Calls can also be made through these radios to both Majuro and the States. This is not as convenient as a telephone, but it can work. To sum up the process, you can call into the main Majuro switchboard over the radio on your island, and they can place a collect call to the US. The process works in reverse, too. Parents and friends can call in to the switchboard and be patched through to your island, but this requires a great deal of coordination, as you will have to be waiting at the radio at the time of the call. Volunteers have used this method to talk to people back home occasionally, but the cost, and the difficulty of having an in-depth conversation, makes it less attractive. Furthermore, the radio can be very unclear at times and your family may not understand you or worse, hear you say hello and then lose you. This can worry your family. Therefore, telephone calls via radio are possible but not recommended. If your family cannot reach you in an emergency, they can call the Field Director at work or at home or on her cell phone, and she will track you down. In the Marshall Islands the “Coconut Wireless” works very well. The DVTP has been around a while. Your Field Director is known by most and can usually be found quickly. Telephones There are few public phones in the Marshalls. Most offices and many homes on Majuro and Ebeye have a phone. There are none in the outer islands. Most people will let you use their phone for a local call. Cellular phones are now common on Majuro and the network has even expanded to both Jaluit/Kili and Wotje. Most people either have cell phones or have access to a cell phone. The most common use of the cellular phones is for sending text messages. It is also possible sometimes to send a text message to an email address or to a US number, which can be a useful way to communicate with people in the US. Even when the cellular phone network is up and running, dropped calls and busy signals are still rather common. If you want to call outside the Marshall Islands, you will need to purchase a phone card or go to the National Telecommunications Authority (NTA, located near the government buildings). Phone calls to the US from Majuro are very expensive, about $1.25 per minute. Between midnight and 6 am calls are cheaper. To call from any landline, you have to purchase a phone card from NTA. Any other calling card will not work here, thanks to a monopoly by NTA. If you use the phones at NTA, you will first be required to make a deposit for the call, usually $20.00. You give the operator the number you wish to call, and then you will be told to go inside a booth where you wait until your phone rings. When you pick it up the operator should have you connected to the number you requested. At the conclusion of the conversation, you will settle the cost of the call. Ejit, Majuro and Laura can set up a landline at NTA for a monthly fee of about $12, or will already have cell phones provided by Bikini/WorldTeach/MOE. The DVTP has a cell phone for Jaluit, Ejit, Majuro, Kili and Wotje at the time of writing, but volunteers are expected to purchase any phone cards needed to make calls. Receiving calls does not cost anything. 61

It is cheaper for your family and friends to call you. While the cost of a regular call to the Marshalls is about $3.00 per minute, if your family subscribes to special programs this amount can be substantially reduced. In addition, if they call you via google voice or skype calls can cost as little as $.01 a minute. Cell Phones Within Majuro, and even the outer islands these days, many people now communicate by cell phone, and you will probably appreciate having one. It is possible that your cell phone from home will work here. If you have an unlocked, quad-band phone, you will be able to purchase a SIM card in Majuro and cell cards. If you intend to use a cell phone and don’t already own an unlocked, quad-band phone, consider dealing with this before you leave by researching how to unlock your phone or purchasing a new one. Phones are far more expensive to buy in Majuro than in the USA. There are different SIM cards for Majuro phones and outer island (Kili, Jaluit, Wotje) phones. Majuro numbers begin 455-, while outer island numbers are 545-. If you use a SIM card out of the area, you will be charged roaming fees. SIM cards cost $15 and you buy them at NTA. To text message to email, simply start the text message with the email address, enter one space, then type the body of your message (ex. “[email protected] hi this is wotje”) and text it to “333.” The person should be able to respond to the email, and it should come back to you as a text message. To send an email to an RMI cell phone, send the email to the number including area/country code @cell.ntamar.net (ex. [email protected]). While this sounds mighty convenient, in practice the emails don’t appear in your text message inbox immediately – sometimes they come months later – and at times the emails and texts will not go through at all. You should not depend on text-email as a primary method of communication, but when it works it can be very satisfying. Fax The Field Director only has fax capabilities through the Ministry of Education; so typically, any personal long-distance faxes will have to be sent from NTA or another local business that provides this service. Prices can be around $5 to $10 per fax. The Internet Internet access is changing quickly in the Marshalls. On Majuro and Ebeye government offices, businesses and individuals are gradually being “wired.” It would be advisable for every volunteer to have a back-up Gmail, Yahoo, or other similar web-based account. The urban schools are just getting Internet access and computers. It is possible to set up an internet account through NTA, for $12/month, plus 6 cents/minute for those living in faculty housing. Otherwise, on Majuro there are a few internet “cafes” where internet access will cost about 8 cents per minute, or $5 for one hour. Both the NTA and the RRE hotel offer computers and reliable internet, including the ability to purchase minutes for the wireless “hotspots”. Additionally, restaurants like Tidetable, the Marshall Islands Resort, Shoreline, DAR, and others offer wireless. Wotje, Jaluit, and Kili are now technically internet capable, although at times the 62

internet or phone services go down on the outer islands. The Field Director will have Internet access in the DVTP office, but volunteers may only use this in emergency situations. Postal Service The main post office on Majuro is in Uliga, across from Robert Reimers Hotel. Since there are no post office boxes, you need to mail letters from the post office, or at the substation, located next to the Payless grocery store. Postal service in the Marshalls can be inconsistent. Sometimes the system seems to work perfectly, other times mail gets lost or arrives weeks and weeks late. The mail to Majuro is routed through Honolulu. It arrives there in a timely manner, but then it can sit in warehouses for days or weeks before it is put on a plane to Majuro, especially when there is a heavy passenger load. Record speeds of mail arriving in Majuro from the US are three days, the fastest, and five months, the slowest. For many years, the Marshall Islands has been extraordinarily fortunate to have the US Postal Service servicing their country. It has been one of the benefits of the Compact of Free Association that the RMI lies within the bounds of the USPS and thus postage both to and from the RMI costs the domestic rate. Unfortunately, part of Compact II is a “Phased International Rate Increase” that will mean postal rates may jump in the coming year. Currently, it costs 45 cents to mail a letter from the US to the Marshall Islands. From the Marshall Islands to the US it costs the same, and though the 96960 zip code is part of the USPS, the RMI post office still requires you to purchase and use only Marshallese stamps. Sending packages is the same: domestic rates apply. This is a very wonderful thing, as it means flat-rate boxes are fair game. Bear in mind that all this may change. Not only has the cost of postage been rising (you might want to buy extra 1¢ stamps in Majuro), but the phasing out of the Compact does mean that it is possible that entirely new rules will apply to RMI postage while you are here. The speed with which mail reaches you depends on how it is sent. Express and overnight mail usually comes in about a week. Priority mail is the best choice for most everything. It usually comes in a week to ten days, but it MUST have a customs form, or it will end up coming by boat, rather than plane, and end up taking weeks or months. Many local post offices in the US are not aware of this requirement, so make sure that all of your family and friends DEMAND to attach a customs form. Regular letters also usually come in a week or two. The last option is media, or book rate, which is inexpensive and best for sending heavy books, or other large supplies. Unfortunately, this means that it comes on a cargo ship, and will literally take 2-6 months or so, no matter what they say at your post office. Mail usually becomes one of the most important things in your life here as it represents a tangible connection with family and friends back home, and volunteers can become unnecessarily frustrated when an expected package or letter does not arrive. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do but wait. Even with the lengthy periods noted above, letters and packages can sometimes take months longer (but most things arrive much more quickly). The current record for a media rate box is 7 months, priority mail 3 months, and express 2 ½ months. While 63

most mail arrives in a timely manner, you must not expect the postal system to work as it does at home. You should also advise family and friends not to send you cash in a letter. Mail to the outer islands will be forwarded to volunteers living there by the Field Director. Every week or so, the Field Director brings mail for outer islanders to the Air Marshall Islands cargo hold. In addition to ferrying passengers between Majuro and the outer islands, Air Marshall Islands carries a significant amount of cargo, including mail and supplies from stores on the main island. Outer islanders must expect that just like the unreliability of the airplanes to their islands, their mail may or may not make it on time. Even if the Field Director has brought their mail to cargo in time for their flight, there is always a possibility that there will not be room on the plane for the boxes. Don’t fret; the mail will arrive on the next plane with available room. Outer islands volunteers should use the same address as Majuro volunteers. Mailing addresses are as follows: For Majuro, Laura, Wotje, and Jaluit:

For Kili and Ejit:

[Volunteer’s Name] c/o DVTP P.O. Box 673 Majuro, MH 96960 Republic of the Marshall Islands

[Volunteer’s Name] c/o July Note P.O. Box 470 Majuro, MH 96960 Republic of the Marshall Islands

Visitors from Home The spectacular beaches and tropical weather of the Marshall Islands are well worth a visit from family and friends. They may visit you any time during the year, but you will have more free time during the Christmas break or during your spring vacation if you have one. There are hotels in Majuro (Robert Reimers and the Marshall Islands Resort are recommended), and a few guest accommodations on some outer islands. On the outer islands, you can also have your guests stay with you in your house (but ask the principal first if you live in faculty housing). Considering the difficulty of arranging travel plans outside the RMI and the program’s firm stance against vacationing out of the Marshalls during the school year, it may be an excellent compromise to have your family come visit you over the holidays. If your family can afford the cost of the flight, it is a wonderful opportunity for them to experience a glimpse of your new life and for you to share the Marshall Islands with people close to you. Outer islands volunteers should request visitors to inform the Field Director of their travel plans, but not expect the Field Director to make flight arrangements, hotel reservations, or arrange ground transportation. During Orientation and at mid-service break, volunteers will have plenty of time to work out travel arrangements with family or friends who wish to visit. You should also be sure to write home to confirm travel plans. The uniqueness of the Marshall Islands and its culture and transportation system mean that family and friends will likely need more guidance than they would on an average holiday. You are encouraged to help your visitors plan their trip and make them aware of aspects of the culture they should understand and respect. While the Field Director is here to support you, her busy schedule and responsibilities means she cannot plan your visitors’ trips, and she cannot do anything to guarantee reliable flights on AMI. A 64

general rule of thumb for visitors intending to join volunteers on outer islands is that you should factor in one missed flight (at least) into your plans. Unfortunately, the unreliability of AMI means that visitors must be flexible in their travel schedules and realize that there is always a chance they will be stuck on an outer island longer than they had anticipated. Visitors will need to make local plane reservations with Air Marshall Islands (011) 692-625-3733 or [email protected]. It is advisable to make reservations before arriving, but they will still have to visit the AMI office in Majuro to pay for and pick up their tickets, as AMI does not accept credit cards. Parents and family members who have visited volunteers in previous years have reported that it is a “once in a lifetime” experience. Most of them will be shocked by your new life and overwhelmingly proud of the contribution you are making in your school and community.

News in English News in English is easy to access on Majuro. With cable television and CNN’s national and international reports, you will know as much as anyone back home, if you have access to TV or Internet. Cable TV is very popular in Majuro, and many bars and restaurants will have it. Recently, the BBC has begun broadcasting 24 hours a day on FM radio in Majuro as well. They don’t sell news magazines or foreign newspapers, so you may want to subscribe to Newsweek or Time (these two arrive relatively quickly, while U.S. News and World Report takes months to make it here for some reason.) The local newspaper, The Marshall Islands Journal, carries only Marshall Islands and some Pacific regional news. At radio check in every week the Field Director will pass on a few bits of news in bullet point style, and on the monthly flash drive exchange will include news. Volunteers on the outer islands who want more than that should bring a good shortwave radio that can pick up international stations. Check the mail order catalogues or get on the web!

Documents and Money We suggest that you make a photocopy of your passport (the pages with the personal information) and a list of your traveler's check numbers. Leave a copy with a friend or relative at home. This will make replacing lost documents much easier. I will also ask you for copies of your passport for visa registration, so bear that in mind. If you have any special health or medical needs (e.g. drug allergies), you should write this information on a card and keep it with your passport. You will need passport photos both to apply for visas to travel to other countries and for immigration to the RMI. Take along at least three. The Marshall Islands uses the U.S. dollar. All volunteers will set-up checking accounts in Majuro in order to receive their stipend payments and prevent themselves from carrying around large amounts of cash. Your banking options will be discussed at orientation.. Remember to make arrangements to have any outstanding bills at home paid while you are gone. Additionally, you will have to file a tax return, and report your DVTP stipend as Foreign Earned 65

Income. You will likely find that you do not end up owing anything, but you still need to file the proper forms, or have someone at home take care of this for you. It is important to notify your bank, as well as any credit card companies you use, that you will be in the Marshall Islands. Your bank must ensure that you will be able to use your ATM card in the Marshall Islands if you so choose. Banking You should bring some spending money, or have access to it through your credit card. You may want to buy things for your house, travel during vacations, and cover any unforeseen expenses. It is up to you how you will manage your finances in the RMI. There are two banks available in the islands (located on Majuro), Bank of Marshall Islands and Bank of Guam. Volunteers have opened checking accounts with these local banks. Checks from the Bank of Marshall Islands are useful in the islands but cannot used elsewhere, while Bank of Guam checks can be used in the US. Others have also opened joint accounts in the US with their families and used ATM cards. Getting Money in an Emergency The best option, other than wiring into a bank account, is to have someone from home deposit money in your bank at home from which you can make a cash withdrawal using your credit or ATM card. Credit cards are especially helpful to have in emergencies. There is also a Western Union branch at Robert Reimers Hotel. The DVTP cannot give you a loan, even in an emergency.

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE RMI Introduction You should expect to remain quite healthy during your stay in the Marshall Islands in comparison to the risks faced in other tropical locations. There are no serious tropical diseases like malaria and there are no latent effects on the unexposed population from the US nuclear testing that ended in the late 1950s. However, you should expect to experience bouts of diarrhea or sunburns; you might possibly lose or gain weight, acquire parasites, or risk contracting pink eye or lice, especially if you live on an outer island. Furthermore, STD’s like syphilis are widespread, and HIV/AIDS is becoming a significant factor in the country and although diagnosed cases are still at a minimum, it is estimated that the disease is spreading. (See the sections on the US nuclear testing program of 1946-1958 and also the current national missile defense testing, often confused with the nuclear testing). You are likely to encounter issues with your health and safety that are different from those you would face at home. Your success as a volunteer teacher will depend, in part, on your ability to adjust to a new environment and remain healthy.

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Always remember that the best advice about any serious medical malady is to SEEK EXPERT OPINIONS FROM A TRAINED DOCTOR. There is one health clinic in Majuro: staffed by a well-respected English-speaking doctor from the Philippines with 25 years of experience practicing medicine in the RMI. Visits to his clinic are covered under the insurance plan. In addition to these clinics, volunteers may seek the advice and treatment of the team of hospital doctors in Majuro. All doctors and most nurses speak English. It is advisable for all volunteers to visit a doctor before departure to talk about the kinds of medications you may need and how to use them properly. It is a good idea to bring a few doses of antibiotics as well as basic medicines (i.e. Tylenol, etc) and basic first aid supplies. If you are planning to live on an outer island, share this information with your doctor and let him/her know that you will not have access to a fully qualified doctor. Ask him/her questions about medications and any other concerns you may have.

Safety Ensuring the health and safety of our volunteers is the top priority of everyone at the DVTP, and the Field Director works closely with community leaders, local and national police, senators and cabinet members, school staff and sponsor families to make sure that you will be safe during your time in the Marshalls. Unfortunately, as the Marshall Islands continues its development, problems and crimes that would have been unheard of in the past are becoming more of an issue here. In urban centers of Majuro and Ebeye, there have been dramatic increases in Marshallese-on-Marshallese crime, and unfortunately incidents with outsiders are increasing as well. The presence of outsiders, particularly those who are viewed to be “rich” and vulnerable can create targets. It is easy, especially on the outer islands, to be lulled into a sense of peace and security, but you will want to continually be aware of your safety. **You must be proactive about your health and safety, and take this responsibility very seriously. Even though you will be living with or near other DVTP volunteers, volunteers must also practice independent thinking and common sense in decision making when it comes to their safety. It is imperative that volunteers take their safety seriously, trust their instincts and keep the Field Director up to date on any safety or health concerns.**

Theft In general, the Marshall Islands is a safe country, but as in most developing countries, those who are perceived to have money and/or exciting “gadgets” can become targets for petty crimes. In general, life here is much safer than in big cities back home, but there have been some problems, and awareness is often the best defense. Volunteers living together in faculty housing may find that the concentration of outsiders creates a target for some of the petty thieves around, so vigilance is crucial. Doors should be locked at all times, even if you are home, or just stepping out for a few seconds. Unfortunately, there is the impression that because you come from a developed country, you are unspeakably wealthy. 67

Do not carry large amounts of money on you or leave valuables in your room in plain sight of anyone who may happen to peek through a window. Theft of money and other goods (CD players, candy, under garments, etc.) is very common. In particular, if you leave your money around so that it can be easily taken, it likely will be. This is not very different from other places in the world. The best way to protect against this is to carry only small amounts of cash with you, and open a bank account soon after you arrive in Majuro. Several volunteers have had money, goods, school supplies and other valuable items stolen during their time in the Marshall Islands. Do not bring anything that, if stolen, would devastate you. This includes jewelry, music, photos, or any other material goods. In your home, in your own room, you will need to be careful with your money and your valuables. If you are living on Majuro, you should keep most of your money in the bank. Don’t leave money or valuables around, and if you have a laptop, secure it with locks to deter casual thieves. On the outer islands, theft is possible, but it has a slightly different meaning. The lines between stealing and borrowing or even sharing are blurred. You will need to be careful in establishing your own personal space without alienating yourself, because sharing (in whatever form) is a way of life and if you don’t follow suit, you might be viewed as selfish. The good news is that if something is outright stolen from you on the outer islands, you will have less trouble tracking it down than on Majuro, since everyone knows everyone and neighbors will help you find what was taken. While goods are relatively easy to track down on the outer islands, money can be easier to conceal, and can be a huge temptation to young men who have no real income.

Physical Assault The DVTP advises volunteers to stay away from bars due to frequent fights between drunken Marshallese men. While these fights do not generally target outsiders, in the past, two Dartmouth volunteers have been assaulted in a popular nightclub. Just because a bar is filled with senators or other high-status people, it does not mean the bar is safe or a good place to have a drink. Although it would be almost unheard of for someone to be belligerent toward an outsider for no reason, men can sometimes act aggressively toward females, especially after several beers. There is also the possibility of being caught in the middle of a drunken brawl so if you do go out try to leave the bars well ahead of closing time as this is when fights tend to break out. On outer islands, where alcohol is prohibited, it is advisable to avoid any situation where people are drinking, whether it is home-brewed “yeast” or smuggled vodka. These drinking sessions almost never lead to anything good. You should keep yourself safe in the same “common sense” ways you would no matter where you were in the world. Do not go out alone or leave friends alone at bars. Do not drink past the point of being aware of your surroundings and what you are doing, and do not provoke extra attention by acting drunk or culturally inappropriate. 68

Sexual Harassment and Assault DVTP female volunteers have been harassed in Majuro in a bar, in a taxi, and on the street. In the first 5 years of the WorldTeach Program, ten female volunteers reported incidents involving break-ins to their housing. These incidents ranged from men exposing themselves to kissing the volunteers to fondling them. Other female volunteers have reported incidents where men have come to their window to talk or come to their window with a flashlight. As a result of the frequency of these incidents, it is now standard practice for the government to send a National Police Detective to the scene if it is reported, even if it is an outer island. In reaction to an incident in 2005 where a female WorldTeach volunteer was touched while sleeping, three cabinet ministers joined the National Police Detective and the Field Director to fly to the outer island where the incident occurred for a 4-day visit. They led a community meeting to discuss the issue and announced the problem to the Nitijela and on the national radio station (which reaches all islands in the country). Due to local taboos involving the discussion of sex, those actions shook Marshallese all over the country. While this publicity would not be common back home, it is the local way of communicating the seriousness of the situation and trying to prevent it in other communities. There are safety procedures that you can follow to minimize the opportunity of an assault of any kind. Many of these are common-sense steps like those you would take back home. Women should not walk alone at night or in sparsely populated areas. Women walking alone, particularly at night and particularly on the outer islands, are seen as inviting males to join them, so to speak. Even riding in a taxi alone at night is unadvisable. All volunteers’ housing has security screening on the windows and locks on the doors. It is important that volunteers follow the Field Director’s advice on safety. All doors must be able to secure and lock from both the inside and the outside. Also, make certain that your door is locked when you are inside your house. Do not leave valuables exposed or change your clothes in front of a window. All of these small measures will help to keep you safe while in the RMI. While the local police want to help, they often lack investigative training. The National Police force, on the other hand, has taken advantage of training courses from the US and Australian militaries in the last several years. They are not as effective as investigation teams in more developed countries, but they are improving. The DVTP tries to ensure that the housing they provide is safe, with locks on the doors and security screening over the windows. Unfortunately, it is not possible for the DVTP to inspect each house before you arrive, so if you have any concerns about your housing, immediately notify the Field Director and your principal, and everyone will work to make sure you feel comfortable. Doors should be locked at all times, regardless of whether you are male or female, when you are away from your room or house, and at night when you go to sleep. Dating norms that you may be used to back home are non-existent here, and one way that a young man may show a woman on the outer islands that he likes her is to show up at her window in the middle of the night and ask her if she wants to “jambo” (go for a “walk”), or be even more 69

direct. Just because it is often done does NOT mean that this is acceptable and in NO WAY should you feel that you have to put up with it. The same goes for any fear of appearing distrustful by having security screening on the windows. Volunteers must take responsibility for their own safety by communicating their boundaries clearly and by utilizing the available security resources. This will be covered more thoroughly during Orientation with the Field Director. In general, sexual harassment for women can be a big issue here, and can have a negative impact on the overall experience in the Marshall Islands. From catcalls on the street to unwanted attention in bars, men can be very direct with women. Cross-gender friendship takes on an entirely different meaning in the Marshall Islands than what we are used to at home. Platonic friendships between men and women rarely exist. Men and women do interact, joke around and spend time together in groups but they do not spend one on one time together alone. Recognition of this important aspect of Marshallese culture as well as other cultural mores will help keep you safe while in the RMI. Sometimes, you will find that men may ask very directly if you are interested in them (much more directly than you would find back home). The best response is to make it abundantly clear that you are not interested. Do not worry about appearing rude, as this message needs to be direct and clear. You cannot soften your response so that the man has the idea that you want to be his “friend” as he will accept this message to mean that you are indeed interested in a sexual relationship with him. Keep in mind that the terms “date” and “sex” can be interchanged. You will have to pay particular attention to your personal boundaries and make sure that the messages you are communicating are the ones you intend. This will all be addressed during orientation, but again, it is important to be aware of it ahead of time. For women on the outer islands, your best support network will be your housemates. Beyond that, your host mother, and her close female relatives will also be supportive. These women will take good care of you, and can always help you deal with any uncomfortable situations. Should you encounter harassment, it is normal (and expected) that you feel stressed about it, but it is important to look for ways to handle this stress so that it does not overwhelm you. The best way to relieve this stress is to address the problem as quickly as possible. Although we will constantly stress being culturally appropriate, and learning to accept Marshallese culture, you should never feel like you have to sacrifice your personal safety or emotional well-being in order to “fit in.”

“Peeping Toms” A situation that may make you uncomfortable (and something that you will likely encounter) is the possibility that some Marshallese, especially children, may try to peek into your home. You might find little faces, or even bigger ones, looking in your windows. Don’t be alarmed, but do cover your windows if you are living on a first floor, especially at night. This has happened to volunteers both on Majuro and in the outer islands. With the children, it is usually just a sense of harmless curiosity, but there may be older “peeping toms” (derisively called “corn peeps” or “corn beefs” on many islands). Unfortunately, this is a 70

problem throughout Micronesia. Should this happen, discuss the situation with your principal and the Field Director. Safety is one of the most serious subjects we have to discuss. The vast majority of Marshallese are amazing people and will care about you a great deal from the moment you arrive, but like any populations of people, there are those few people who give a bad name to the rest.

Health The level of health care in the Marshall Islands is actually above average for a developing country, but still a far cry from what you might be used to at home. Although the hospitals here (one on Majuro and one in Ebeye) offer decent basic care, prevention is the best course of action. Majuro volunteers will be able to use the hospital or the smaller private clinics for medical treatment. Each of the outer islands has a small medical dispensary, and a health assistant with a very basic level of training. The assistant will be able to help you with minor medical complaints, and give you basic medications (like antibiotics), but for major health problems, outer islands volunteers will be flown to Majuro. For medical emergencies requiring immediate hospitalization, Air Marshall Islands will divert a plane and evacuate volunteers to Majuro. (Please see section on evacuations below for more details.) In the history of the program, no DVTP volunteer has needed an emergency medical evacuation. Several volunteers have required non-emergency evacuations, meaning that they were sick but well enough to wait for the next regularly scheduled flight to their island. There is one other hospital in the Marshalls, on the US military base on Kwajalein. Only persons living and working on the missile range, and very rarely people who have been referred by the Marshallese medical system, can access it. More commonly, people with serious health problems that cannot be successfully addressed in the Marshallese hospitals will be referred to hospitals in Honolulu or the Philippines. Illness in the Marshall Islands The Marshallese face health issues common in both the developed and the developing world. Common infectious diseases, as reported in the METO 2000 report of the Asian Development Bank, include amoebas, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, gonorrhea, influenza, leprosy, scabies, syphilis, and tuberculosis. Of these, the parasites are common, the STDs are problem within certain populations, but leprosy is quite rare and public health workers carefully monitor identified patients. The more common non-communicable diseases are diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer and fish poisoning. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most serious health problem, both in terms of morbidity and mortality. Not identified prior to the end of World War II, it is now the prime killer. Changed lifestyle habits that have increased the incidence of diabetes include consumption of large of amounts of fatty foods, the introduction of western “junk food” and sodas and decreased consumption of traditional foods, the increase in smoking and drinking, and the decrease in exercise, especially on Majuro and Ebeye. Volunteers are not likely to face most of these problems. Digestive disorders, scabies, TB, head lice and fish poisoning are more common in DVTP volunteers and other outsiders. 71

Many digestive disorders are water-borne, and the best prevention is to make sure that you filter (using a high-grade filter) or boil all of your drinking water. Still, the occasional bout of diarrhea is just about unavoidable, and the best thing you can do is to stay hydrated by drinking lots of purified water. The following are good guidelines to prevent typhoid, dysentery, cholera, hepatitis, and worms as well as generic diarrhea: Important Do’s and Don’ts • Don’t drink water whose source is unknown. Dishes should be dried before using. Boil all water on the outer islands. If you cannot be sure that it’s boiled, drink a coconut! If you are on the outer islands and cannot boil the water, you may want to make the water safer by both filtering it through an “absolute 1-micron or less” filter and adding iodine tablets to the filtered water. “Absolute 1-micron filters” are found in camping/outdoor supply stores and their on-line counterparts (like REI or EMS). • Don’t eat rare meat, raw fish, or raw seafood. Marshallese tend to like undercooked chicken and raw fish (sashimi), but consume at your own risk! • Do drink boiled or purified water, coconuts, hot tea, coffee, boiled milk, and bottled carbonated drinks. • Do eat food that is thoroughly cooked, recently cooked, and only cooked once. • Be careful with meat and chicken and fish, and especially potato salad at large gatherings; refrigerators are not universally used in the Marshalls, and when large amounts need to be prepared, often they remain in the warm outdoors for long periods of time. • Do wash your hands often with soap and water. • Do not put your hands near your mouth or eyes unless you have just washed them. • Do not go barefoot. To avoid fungal infections and parasites, always wear shoes; most Marshallese wear zorries/thongs for casual wear (remember to leave all footwear outside homes when you enter). • Do bring supply of meds from home. Treatment • For any diarrhea, dehydration is the main danger, so fluid replacement is essential. • Avoid alcohol, milk products, and unpurified water or ice. • Drink large amounts of purified water (about 3 liters per day) with a little salt to replace lost fluids. Fruit juices and non-caffeinated soft drinks will help offset mild dehydration. • Keep anti-diarrhea agents (e.g., Imodium) for special outings and long trips. They provide temporary relief but can also prolong the infection. For more severe cases, and if you are losing a lot of fluids, a sugar-salt re-hydration solution may be prepared as follows: 1 liter of boiled water 1 level teaspoon of salt 8 level teaspoons of sugar Drink two glasses for each loose bowel movement. 72

Other Medical Issues Infected cuts (particularly from coral) are another major concern for volunteers. Most of the coral here is quite sharp (heavy-duty reef shoes are recommended) and as you are walking across the reef or swimming in shallow water, it is surprisingly easy to seriously cut yourself. The warm ocean water can actually support quite an array of nasty bacteria that can lead to a serious infection. In addition, when you get a cut from coral, tiny pieces can break off in the wound and fester. This can cause a recurring infection that never quite heals, even with treatment with antibiotics, so it is always important to make sure that coral cuts are thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed. You may want to bring/acquire a spare toothbrush for this purpose. For the first month or two at your site, you will probably feel tired a lot of the time. You will probably go to bed early every day; you will have a hard time getting up in the morning. Such tiredness is natural and happens to most volunteers. Take it easy and remember: you are trying to adjust to an entirely new life, never mind a new time zone. Not only do you have a new home, a new job, and new friends, but you are also trying to learn a new language and fit into a new society that is five to eight hours behind the one where your body’s natural rhythm is in synch. This creates a lot of physical and psychological stress. So, expect to be a little tired. In addition, you may get sick more often than usual. Constant stress and change in diet often weakens your body's immune system. However, all of this will pass. After a few weeks or a few months, you should have fewer unhealthy experiences. It is important to recognize that while traveling and living in foreign countries, you may suffer more sickness than you do at home. Don’t worry; your housemates will see to it that you are well taken care of should you become ill (be prepared to take care of them in return). Marshallese are also excellent at taking care of each other and they will certainly extend this kindness to you if you should need it. The dramatic change in lifestyle, diet and surroundings can also disrupt the menstrual cycle. Female volunteers have found that their cycles can often become irregular, especially during the first few months in country. In addition, their cycle are sometimes much lighter than usual. The changes and new stresses in your life can trigger abnormal hair loss, usually a few months after you arrive. It may be rather unsettling, but this is common, and it almost always grows back. Many volunteers (especially on the outer islands) have found it helpful to bring a range of antibiotics and other medication with them. Before departure, take the time to meet with your doctor, and discuss the different medications you might want to bring with you. If s/he is reluctant to prescribe them it is possible to get prescriptions here in Majuro. In the past, volunteers have found it useful to have medications like Cipro and Bactrum for various bacterial infections; Keflex (an oral antibiotic used to treat infected wounds) and Bactroban (a prescription strength antibiotic ointment that has received rave reviews from the Peace Corps in Micronesia); as well as an assortment of other basic medical supplies including band-aids, hydrogen peroxide, Tylenol, anti-fungal creams, etc. Due to the simplicity of the diet here, you should plan to take a multi-vitamin as well. It is crucial that you discuss how to use these medications with your doctor, as taking the wrong medicine at the wrong time can aggravate your condition.

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During orientation, you will receive a comprehensive health briefing from a local medical professional, but once you are at your site, particularly if you are teaching on an outer island, you may have to be responsible for much of your own medical care. The Field Director has minimal medical training and cannot offer you professional advice; though she will do everything she can to make sure that you are safe and healthy. Should you need to come to Majuro for treatment, YOU must make the decision, as the doctors in Majuro, the Field Director, and others, will only be able to guess the causes of your affliction over the radio, and will not be able to offer much guidance on whether or not you should come in. Although many illnesses may feel much worse while you are isolated at your school, most minor afflictions will pass with time. Still it is better to be on the safe side and seek appropriate medical treatment early on rather than waiting until a condition gets out of control. Immunizations No immunizations are required for entry into the Marshall Islands from North America, but they are recommended to protect your health by building up your immune defenses against specific endemic diseases. Proof of immunization is sometimes required to cross international borders. Be sure to plan for your immunizations well in advance of your departure – at least 6 weeks – since some require more than one dose for effectiveness. Planning ahead will let you avoid getting more than three shots at one time. You can get boosters of series shots and immunizations in the Marshalls cheaply and safely. Your doctor should provide you with a yellow World Health Organization (WHO) card, and all immunizations should be recorded on this card by the administering physician. You should keep the WHO card with you at all times while overseas. While no immunizations are required, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (see www.cdc.gov) recommends that you have vaccines for • • • • •

Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Typhoid Boosters for tetanus-diphtheria Boosters for measles

We recommend all of these, but the DVTP staff are not qualified to give medical advice, so see the CDC for the latest recommendation. You should also consult your personal physician for more specific information. Additionally, all visitors to the Marshall Islands are required to have an HIV/AIDS test less than 3 months before entering the country. Before Departure • Have a dental check-up and complete any necessary dental work before you leave (if you wear a retainer, you might want to take an extra one). Our Field Director can recommend 74

a dentist in the Marshalls if there is an emergency, but you should NOT count on using the dentist for routine check-ups. •

Have a medical check-up. Your doctor must fill out and sign the “DVTP Health Form” and return it with your pre-departure materials.

•

Take an HIV test. The test must be administered within 3 months of entry into the Marshall Islands. Talk to your doctor and/or research where to have the test done.

•

Take a TB (Tuberculosis) test. This can be administered within one year of entry into the Marshall Islands. Carry the test results cards with you (they may be required upon arrival and/or for temporary residence registration).

•

Order adequate supplies of any medication you are currently taking. If you will need to take a certain medication for the entire year, you should bring an entire year’s supply and have some back-up supplies at home in case something happens. Please take this recommendation very seriously. You are putting your well-being at great risk if you do not prepare properly. The pharmacy at the hospital on Majuro is fairly well stocked, but you cannot count on it having the medication you need.

•

Pack a spare pair of eyeglasses/contacts.

NOTE: You should not go to the Marshalls if you are pregnant. If you do become pregnant, contact the Field Director. The DVTP reserves the right to send any volunteer home if we deem he or she cannot fulfill his or her teaching responsibilities. If you become pregnant and will give birth before the school year is up, you may have to leave the program.

Health/Medical Items you might want to take • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Multi-vitamins and calcium supplements General medications that you commonly use, including aspirin, etc. Basic antibiotics Pepto-Bismol / Tums Waterless hand sanitizer Eye drops and sunglasses; contact lens solutions Medication for hay fever and other allergies Cold/cough medications Water purification tablets if you plan on being in situations where you can’t boil water Thermometer A simple first-aid kit, including band-aids, gauze, tape, etc. Motion-sickness tablets Cortisone and antifungal creams

United States Nuclear Testing in the Marshalls Of great interest and concern to many people interested in living in the Marshall Islands is the nuclear-testing that took place here between 1946 and 1958.. During that time, the United States 75

dropped 66 atomic and nuclear bombs on two atolls in the northern Marshall Islands: Bikini and Enewetak. These atolls were selected because the winds in the Pacific generally blow from east to west, and so the nuclear fall-out from testing on these northwestern most atolls will blow out over the open north central Pacific waters. Controversy over the testing and cleanup efforts is still prevalent today, but the radioactive fallout and health impacts from the testing will not affect you as a volunteer during your stay in the Marshall Islands. Radiological experts (even those on the side of the RMI who might be tempted to exaggerate the effects of exposure) conclude that a person living on one of the contaminated atolls (Utrik or Ailuk) would receive less radiation during his/her year than s/he would living at home in a place like Colorado where radon gas seeps from the ground: essentially, it would be the equivalent of receiving a few extra dental x-rays over the course of a year. The United States was interested in knowing the effect of nuclear attacks on their naval vessels, so the relatively shallow lagoons of the Marshall Islands, which at the end of World War II were part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), were the ideal spot to test the vulnerability of the United States fleets to nuclear and atomic bombs. The Marshallese on the atolls where the tests were conducted were told that the testing was “for the good of mankind and to end all world wars,” and they left their islands and allowed the Americans to test. One hundred and sixty-six Bikinians moved first to the uninhabited atoll of Rongerik where they found few natural resources and great hardships, and were later relocated to Kili Island in the far south of the Ralik Chain. The people of Enewetak resettled to Ujelang Atoll, the western-most atoll of the Marshall Islands. The explosive power of the tests (called yields) ranged from about 20 kilotons, about the same strength as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to 15 megatons for the most powerful. For comparison, the largest bomb dropped on the Nevada test site was 74 kilotons. Fifty percent of those dropped in the Marshall Islands were larger than any dropped on Nevada and 17 of the tests involved bombs that were 1 megaton or more. (See the Marshallese report: “Findings of the Nationwide Radiological Study” prepared for the Cabinet of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, December 1994.) In general, the testing went as predicted. Bombs were dropped and the fallout blew out to sea. However, there was a terrible and tragic test that went awry. A 15-megaton hydrogen bomb test was scheduled for Bikini Atoll in March of 1954; it was called the Bravo shot. This was 1000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Unfortunately, the winds changed direction right before the test causing the fallout from the Bravo test to blow eastward. It fell on 23 Japanese fishermen on the “Lucky Dragon” fishing boat, on 28 American men who were at a weather-monitoring station on Rongerik Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and on 82 people on Rongelap Atoll. Less exposed were the 157 people of the more distant Utirik Atoll. Newly released documents indicate that perhaps the fall-out was more widespread than previously thought, and that the people of Ailuk and Mejit Island and perhaps other atolls were also affected. 76

Additionally, newly released documents suggest that US government officials had sufficient warning about the wind shift, but went ahead with the tests anyway. Many Marshallese have long felt that the United States chose to go ahead with the tests, purposefully using them as human “guinea pigs” to test the effects of radiation on humans. The controversy continues to this day. The United States has made restitution for the nuclear testing damage. In the Compact of Free Association, which was ratified in 1986, the compensation provisions (known as 177 because it is Section 177 of the Compact) provided the Marshall Islands with a $150 million trust fund, which should yield nearly $300 million over the 15-year period of the Compact. This award was one component of the compact funding, which totaled $750 million. To receive this amount the Marshallese had to abandon any other claims originating from the testing program, which they did. The settlement included a clause which allowed for the Marshallese to file a “Changed Circumstances Petition” arguing that the circumstances under which they had agreed to forgo all future claims has materially changed. The RMI government filed this petition six years ago, arguing that cleanup standards imposed by the US on facilities in the United States are much stricter than those being used in the RMI, and that the contamination was much more widespread than originally admitted. The petition has been reviewed by the Bush administration, which recommended that the US Congress turn down the petition. Hearings were held in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate during the summer of 2005. There is a long history of US clean-up of the islands and attempts to resettle the Marshallese on their home atolls. For example, the United States has spent over $200 million to clean up Enewetak Atoll. The biggest problem today is that there is a radioactive isotope of cesium called Cesium 137 (Cs 137) in the soil. Cs 137 is taken up by the plants of the atolls and by the animals as well. The problem with radioactive materials is that they emit radiation: alpha particles, which are like helium nuclei (two protons and two neutrons), and beta particles, which are the much smaller, but much more energetic, electrons. The danger comes from people eating the food that is grown on those irradiated atolls because, when people eat crops grown in irradiated soil, they also ingest the radioactive Cs137. Then this Cs137 inside a person continues to emit radiation in the body, where it can do damage. Soil samples throughout the entire Marshall Islands have been extensively tested and deemed safe for all uses except for those on the far northern atolls. Attempts at resettlement on Rongelap have been made in the past, and people are supposed to begin to resettle on Rongelap again in the summer of 2012. Cesium 137, the problematic radioactive isotope, has a half-life of about 30 years, which means that in 30 years half the Cesium 137 that is in the soil will naturally have decayed. Radioactive isotopes with half-lives in this range are the most dangerous. Radioactive elements with short half-lives like Potassium 42 (K42)—with a half-life of 12.4 hours—decay and the radioactivity quickly decreases in the area. After a week, for example, the amount of radioactive K42 will be a mere .0061% of the original amount. 77

Those with long half-lives—like the great marker Carbon 14 with a half life of 5730 years— decay so slowly that they don’t cause too much trouble. After 50 years, only a very small fraction of a percent of the C14 has decayed so it is not shooting out very many particles that can damage tissue. Cesium has a half-life of 30 years, which means that in 1990 about half the original Cs137 was still in the soil, and now a little more than 40 % is still there. One solution to the cesium problem, which has been undertaken on some irradiated atolls, is to scatter potassium in the soil, which plants will in turn consume rather than cesium. In recent years, SCUBA diving on Bikini Atoll has become quite popular. Many divers enjoy wreck diving, which is the exploration of sunken ships. They are quite magnificent underwater with all their various compartments, portholes, and furnishings, but it is the encrusted corals and tropical fish that swim in and around them that make the diving spectacular. Divers from around the world spend about $1200 for a week in minimal accommodations to dive the sunken ships of Bikini Atoll. There have been rave reports thus far for the experience! Unfortunately, Bikini Atoll Divers has been suspended indefinitely due to the unreliability of the Air Marshall Islands flights that the company relies upon to bring the divers.

United States National Missile Defense Testing in the Marshalls Sometimes confused with the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands is the ballistic missile testing and national missile defense testing that has been done for many decades by the United States military on Kwajalein. There is no nuclear component of this testing, nor has there ever been. Large radar and other detecting equipment have been installed on several islands of Kwajalein Atoll. These islands have been leased from the Marshall Islands for the missile testing. Missiles are shot from various sites, but typically from Vandenburg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara, California, and land in the Kwajalein lagoon. Other less common launching sites are Hawaii and Wake Island, other atolls in the Marshalls and even submarines. It takes approximately 28 minutes for missiles to travel the approximately 5,000 miles from California to the Marshall Islands. The detecting devices on Kwajalein try to sort out such things as decoys from the re-entry vehicles. The re-entry looks like fireworks as it streams through the northeastern sky. Unfortunately, re-entry is not visible from Majuro. It is, however, visible from Wotje Atoll. Another program is the missile defense program, wherein a missile from Meck Island in the Kwajalein Lagoon is launched after one is launched from California, with the goal of intercepting the incoming missile and destroying it mid-course through the force of the physical impact. At impact, these missiles are traveling at about eight miles per second! The first time the United States was able to shoot down a missile with another missile using only the force of the impact was in 1984. Later dubbed part of the “Star Wars,” this program was in place long before President Reagan announced his program. National missile defense testing continues on Kwajalein today as the US continues to debate whether or not a system could be 78

deployed that would protect the United States in the case of incoming missile attacks from enemy nations. It must be noted that extensive safety measures are taken so that there is no danger from missiles that are off-track. Entire safety offices exist to oversee this very important issue. The missiles can be blown up, and are, if there is any sign of a problem. There has never been a major safety incident in the history of this missile testing.

Supplemental Overseas Health and Evacuation Insurance Please read your health insurance policy carefully before you leave for the Marshalls. Each volunteer’s US medical insurance policy is different, so be sure to know what medical expenses are covered. Many of your basic overseas medical expenses (doctor’s visits, lab tests, etc.) will be covered by your policy; however, we advise that you read your policy carefully and be aware of what is covered under the plan and what is not. Please note the following: • DVTP volunteers are responsible for any health expenditures that are not covered by their insurance policy. • If a volunteer does not have insurance, he or she is responsible for all health expenditures not covered by the in-country plan and the SOS Evacuation insurance. • For health expenditures that are covered by the insurance policy, volunteers may be required to pay the hospital or physician’s bill themselves and wait for the insurance company to reimburse the claim. Additional Overseas Health Insurance If you are planning to stay overseas and travel beyond the end of the DVTP program, you may want to purchase traveler’s health insurance through another provider. Your regular long-term insurance provider may not cover you overseas. We cannot provide you with any specific recommendations of other insurance providers, but suggest that you contact a reputable student travel agency, your current long-term provider, or the internet for advice. For your information: • Claim forms without appropriate signatures and original receipts will not be honored. • The insurance company reviews each claim and may ask you for additional documentation of your illness. When the insurance company approves a claim, they will send a check. • Keep an extra copy of everything you file for your records. It usually takes insurance companies about two months to process a claim. Post-Return Medical Insurance According to a federal law known as COBRA, employers are required to continue health insurance benefits for 18 months after termination of employment. It is intended to protect former employees while they search for another job. However, this law does not apply to DVTP volunteers. The DVTP is technically not your employer. The DVTP does not provide insurance 79

as a benefit of employment; it purchases policies for volunteers using the fees paid by the host government. Medical Evacuation Your SOS International policy will cover evacuation for medical purposes, both from your site to Majuro and, if necessary, from the Marshall Islands to the nearest location where appropriate treatment is available (most likely Honolulu), not to your home city or state. Once you are evacuated, the DVTP insurance will no longer cover you. For this reason, it is HIGHLY recommended that you maintain insurance at home while abroad. If medical evacuation is required: 1. Contact the Field Director immediately! (or have someone else do it for you). Keep them updated so that they can help you and relay information to others. 2. In the unlikely event that you cannot get in touch with the Field Director, call the emergency evacuation SOS International collect at: 1-215-942-8226 (US) or 65-6338-7800 (Singapore) and state the Dartmouth ID#: 11BSGC000018. (Remember - this information is on your insurance card.) They will help guide you through the necessary steps for the evacuation. They have medical personnel on staff that will contact you (or a fellow volunteer) and/or attending physician. Please note that this is the DVTP policy at the time of publication of this manual, and information is subject to change. Always refer to updated insurance and emergency evacuation information given to you by your Field Director during orientation. 3. Upon determining that evacuation is medically necessary, SOS International will step in and arrange for the medical evacuation in coordination with the DVTP staff. They will contact a medical evacuation service and the hospital and deal with all the logistics. Therefore, you should not make your own travel arrangements. 4. Get a signed letter from the attending physician (or any medical authority) ordering the evacuation. This is absolutely mandatory and is needed to back up the insurance claim. The letter can be brief but should confirm that the proper medical treatment cannot be obtained in the host country and that it can be obtained in the country to which the person is being evacuated. In an emergency, you will not be able to do some of the items on this list. Don’t worry – just get yourself the treatment you need and contact the DVTP as soon as you can. However, for the insurance to cover transport costs for your medical evacuation, you must remember to involve SOS International. You or your Field Director should keep SOS International informed of every new development or doctor you see. Emergency medical evacuations are extremely rare, but Air Marshall Islands and the Outer Island Dispensary System are extremely helpful and take emergencies seriously. In the unlikely event of an emergency on the outer islands, a plane or boat will be diverted (whichever is faster) and the volunteer brought to Majuro where doctors will give a diagnosis and help determine whether further evacuation to Honolulu is necessary. It is important to recognize that due to the geography and logistics of the Marshall Islands, there is always a chance that evacuation from isolated islands could be delayed. There are times when the Air Marshall Islands airplanes are broken and cannot fly to outer islands. In that case, a boat will be sent to the outer island as fast 80

as possible but immediate evacuation may not be available. This situation has never occurred but it is important to recognize that it is possible in the Marshall Islands. Be sure to keep some form of identification with you at all times – either a photocopy of your passport with the DVTP phone numbers written on it to ensure that the DVTP will be contacted even if you cannot do it yourself, or a DVTP picture I.D. with the Field Director’s contact information.

Emergency Procedures Evacuation for political reasons (or for any other non-medical emergency) is unlikely in the Marshalls. The DVTP will normally follow the advice of the US State Department and the US Embassy regarding the need for evacuation in the event of a dangerous political situation or natural disaster. The Field Director has developed an emergency action plan (EAP), which will be explained in further detail when you arrive in the Marshalls. You must pass a test about the information in this EAP at the end of orientation. The key to any emergency procedure is communication. If a situation arises in your site and for some reason you are unable to communicate with the DVTP office or the Embassy, use your best judgment in deciding to leave. Do keep the Field Director in Majuro and/or the US office informed as best you can. The best safety measure is to be prepared and have a plan of action in mind. Once at your site we suggest that you: • Learn how to receive and send a fax, phone call or radio call from your site (if possible) • If on an outer island, be sure to familiarize yourself with the location and owner of all nearby radios. If there is a particular radio that you use most often (i.e., the health clinic radio) or if a trusted friend or family member often uses the radio on a particular frequency, tell the Field Director this information as it will help him/her contact you in the event of an emergency. • Make sure one or more people you trust at your site have the appropriate contact numbers for the Field Director so that they can help you in an emergency. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! • Always know where your passport is.

CULTURE AND CUSTOMS The following sections present information that will be useful to you during the month of orientation and throughout your year in the Marshall Islands.

Land The first thing to know about the Marshall Islands culture is that they look at land differently than most outsiders do. Land is everything to the Micronesians who live on these tiny islands. It is at the heart of their culture. As one Marshallese put it, “On the land we are born, on the land we live, from the land we get our food and our medicine, there we build our homes, and into the 81

land we are buried when we die. The land is our insurance. It is our Social Security.” Land is inherited through one’s mother, and with it comes titles and power. Land inheritance rules are complex. The Traditional Rights Court adjudicates land disputes in the country, rather than the High Court of the Marshall Islands. It is expressly prohibited for Marshallese to sell their land to non-Marshallese. In general, land is “owned” by three individuals: • • •

The iroij or paramount chief The alap or head of the extended family who lives on the land The ri-jerbal or worker who lives and works on the land

All three must sign if land is leased. Tribute in the form of presents of food must be made to the iroij of the land annually. Land is divided into wetos, which are sections of land that run from the lagoon to the ocean; wetos have names, which are known to the local people.

Traditional Leaders The traditional leaders of the Marshall Islands are both powerful and respected. Outsiders who assume that the power in the country lies primarily with government leaders are not entirely correct. Traditional leaders carry tremendous power and can often get things done when everything else fails. Likewise, they can block the efforts of even the most valiant. The paramount chiefs are called iroij; if they are women, they are called leroij. (You cannot be given these titles by marriage as in some European monarchies; the wife of an iroij is not a leroij, unless he happened to have married a woman who had that title in her own right.) Under the iroij are the alaps, or heads of clans. There are two important things to know about the Marshall Islands. First is the great value that Marshallese place on their land. Second is that the titles to the land, and the hierarchical titles in the country, pass through the women; the Marshall Islands is a matrilineal society. All lands and titles pass from a mother to her children. (Only in the rarest of circumstances do land or titles pass through fathers.) The rules for land and title inheritance are strict and carefully observed. When the last living sibling in a generation of iroij or alaps passes away, then the lands and titles pass to the oldest child of the oldest woman in this generation that has just passed away. This person, male or female, then carries all the titles and lands. When he or she passes away, then the land and titles pass to his or her next older sibling: they pass from the oldest, to the next oldest, to the third oldest, and so on, until the last living person of this generation passes away. The same rules apply to the transferal of power to the next generation. After the entire generation has passed away, it will again be the oldest child of the oldest sister of this recently deceased generation who will be the new iroij or the new alap. Iroij and Leroij: the Paramount Chiefs The highest of the iroij are the iroijlaplap. “Laplap” in Marshallese means “big” so these are the big chiefs. In the Ralik Chain, for example, there are four iroijlaplap. Lands and titles are inherited through women, and both men and women can hold the title of iroijlaplap. A woman who holds these paramount titles is called a “leroij.” In no way is her power less than that of an 82

iroij who would hold the same position. A leroij might defer to her brother to hold the position, but he, in turn, would listen to what she tells him and usually follows her advice. The various iroij and leroij of the Marshall Islands are paramount chiefs over specific islands and atolls. Everyone in the Marshall Islands will know who their iroij is. You should know who the iroij is over the land where you live and the land where your school is located. (Only on Likiep Atoll is there no iroij. However, some dispute the history that led to this situation. The deBrum and Capelle families are the “owners.”) Occasionally, food and gifts are brought to your iroij to show respect. These are placed in special baskets woven only for this occasion. You will never be charged with planning for this. If it happens while you are in the country, your sponsor family will make the arrangements. People are very respectful of the iroij, very deferential to them. You do not kid around with them except under certain carefully prescribed circumstances. The best advice is never to do it. Your head should never be higher than theirs, so in general you sit when you are around them. However, this is not realistic in many situations and the iroij do not take offense. In general they approach you and not you them. You should never speak loudly or whistle around an iroij. Traditionally, the iroij was the ultimate authority for settling disputes among their people. It was their responsibility to insure their safety and well-being. Food that was brought to the iroij would often be redistributed to the people, usually through the alap. If the people needed help, they could turn to the iroij. In the Ratak Chain there are also iroijdrikdrik, or small iroij. Just as the title implies, these iroij are under the iroijlaplap and have less power and authority. There are no iroijdrikdrik in the Ralik Chain. Twelve iroij (actually, one is an “owner” from Likiep) sit in the legislative body called the Council of Iroij. The Council of Iroij is patterned after the House of Lords in Great Britain. The primary advisors to the iroij are the alaps, or heads of the extended families that live on the lands of the iroij. These alaps serve much like council members for the iroij. They advise him, they represent their people to him, they support him. There is currently a legal dispute in the high court as to whether or not women can be alaps. The leaders on Kwajalein believe only men can hold the title. Much of the rest of the country believes women are equally entitled to the position. Alaps have responsibilities both to the iroij and to their people. They are the second “owners” of the land. Every alap will know what lands he is alap over, and every person living on his lands will know who his or her alap is. When an alap passes away, the succession follows the same matrilineal rules that hold for the iroij. The iroij needs the support of his alabs, and only in the rarest of circumstances is it not given. The iroij is much like the president and the alabs much like the legislature. Just like a president can be impeached if the congress decides he has seriously overstepped the bounds of his position, the iroij may be removed if the alabs collectively decide not to support him. The order of succession of both iroij and alabs is respected by most of the people. 83

Ri-jerbal The ri-jerbal are the workers on the land. In general, they are members of the alap’s bwij. They will be the third owner of a piece of land. If any land is to be leased, then all three “owners” of the land must sign the agreement. A ri-jerbal may become an alab only if he lives long enough, so that everyone who outranks him on his mother’s side of this extended family has passed away.

Birth Order The importance of birth order in a family is very obvious since the lands and titles pass through a family following such strict rules. This importance is reflected in the Marshallese language. When you refer to your aunts or uncles, for example, you must say things like, “He is older than my father,” or “she is younger than my mother.” You cannot say something as simple as “my brother.” You need to know whether the fellow is older or younger, so you can say the word for “older brother,” or the one for “younger brother.” There are indications in the language of positions in the family through the fourth: for the oldest, the second oldest, the third oldest, the fourth oldest, and then the other younger siblings. There is a great deal of deference by birth order in a family, particularly to the oldest woman in a family. Not only will she receive the lands and titles, but also she is like a second mother to her siblings. Her brothers will respect her and consult her. In return, she assumes significant responsibility for the welfare of all her brothers and sisters. The power in a family exerted by an older sibling over his or her younger brother or sister is reflected in an interesting Marshallese phrase, which translates something like, “I have him or her under my arm.” This basically means that an older sibling can tell a younger sibling what to do and that the younger sibling in general is expected (and expects!) to do it.

Birth and Death in the Marshall Islands There is much ritual around birth and death in the Marshall Islands. Interestingly, there is little around marriage. Infant mortality rates have dropped dramatically in the Marshall Islands in recent decades, but still many of the rituals and attitudes towards birth that reflect on the previously high mortality rates continue in Marshallese society. It is considered taboo to make much ado prior to the birth of a child. There are elaborate rituals after birth both for the mother and for the baby. Mothers must take hot baths with herbs and other traditional medicines, they are cleansed inside and out, and their spine is sometimes walked on. Post-birth rituals take place over the course of several months to restore the body after the rigors of childbirth. The infant also is washed and has the appropriate leaves and other traditional flora rubbed on him to insure a healthy and robust body. Usually these rituals are done by the new mother’s own mother, grandmother, or her mother’s sisters. When a child reaches its first birthday there is much celebration! This first birthday is called a kemem. The family plans a big party to celebrate this important anniversary. It is the most 84

important celebration in a person’s life. In many ways, a family might put as much time and resources into a kemem as a family in the US will put into planning a wedding. During the night preceding the party, groups of people come to the parents’ home. Each group will wait outside the home until the previous group has finished, and then they will enter, full of merriment. Speeches will be made, silliness will ensue, laughter will abound. The visitors who have come to participate in the festivities may help themselves to random things in the home, all in great fun. Each person coming to celebrate will leave dollar bills in a basket. The guest of honor, often very tired, will be hugged and loved, and sometimes doused in oils or stripped of his/her clothing, all in the joy of the moment. When one group leaves, a second one comes in and the celebrations begin anew. The next day the family will continue with the preparations for the great feast that will be given in the child’s honor that evening. Some kemems are big affairs and many people come. Death for most Marshallese is also part of the continuum of life. Because life has not become as sanitized for them as it has for most Americans, they are more comfortable with death than most of us are. Death in the Marshall Islands is in the care and keeping of families, not of funeral homes. Traditionally Marshallese were buried at sea, a smart practice for a people who have so little land, but the early missionaries intervened and it became the practice to bury the dead within 24 hours of their passing. This still often happens, although with more families having family members in the US and other distant locations, embalming on Majuro and Ebeye is becoming more popular as a means to give family members time to gather. Before burial, the body is placed in a homemade casket on pandanus mats in their home. Family members and close friends will sit by the open casket, taking turns fanning the body to keep the flies off. Groups will gather to visit the family and pay their last respects. These visits are called an ilomij. The groups will have something in common: they will be a bwij that is related to the deceased or his spouse, a church group, or from the same office. Outside the home of the deceased, there will likely be tables with food: ships’ biscuits, donuts, punch, and coffee. Groups will wait outside for their turn to enter. When a group has left, the next group will enter. The people will usually sit around the edges of the room and someone from the group will speak on behalf of the group. They will explain to everyone what the relationship of the group is to the deceased and express their sorrow at the death. A representative of the family will then stand and reply to the group, expressing appreciation for their coming and then telling the group the circumstances of the death. After the speeches have been made, the group will line up, with the highest-ranking person leading the line, and put money in the coffin and then shake the hands of the immediate family who are next to the coffin. After they have shaken hands, they will exit and be offered food and sit and chat before dispersing. This can go on well into the late hours of the night, depending on how many groups have come to participate. Moreover, it can go on for several nights. The body is never left alone until it is buried. All day and all night the closest family and friends of the deceased’s family gather in the home, take their turns fanning the body, help prepare food 85

for the groups who come as well as for those who are in the house, and remain during the night to sleep with the woman who has lost her husband or the mother who has lost her son. It is customary for someone to remain awake during the entire night. There is real comfort derived by the constant support of so many for the surviving family members. The next day, there are prayers and speeches; homage is paid to the deceased, and the group walks to the burial location. The closed casket, often a simple plywood box, is lowered into the ground and then family and close friends have the privilege of shoveling dirt into the grave. The sound of this falling dirt is quite eerie, but demonstrates the finality of the event. Marshallese, like many people believe that the spirit lingers nearby for a number of days after a death. To say the final farewell to a departing person, a very special service, called an “oerak” is held. This is a time of forgiveness and renewal and healing for the family and friends of the deceased. Those who attend are expected to have made amends for any disagreements, grudges, or ill will that they may feel against anyone else who has come. It is a time to come together, to transcend the pettiness of life, even as we are reminded through the life and death of the deceased of the larger context in which we all actually live. The service itself is much like other memorial services. It contains also a time for individuals to come up and dump coral rocks on the week-old grave, and it concludes in a large feast for which family and friends have been preparing for days.

Navigation and Weather Prediction The Marshallese were tremendous navigators. They built large outrigger canoes that could carry dozens of men on long voyages over the open ocean. They preserved pandanus in rolls bound by coconut rope that could last for years. Careful food preservation techniques allowed them to sail for long periods across the seas to far-flung atolls. The women urged on the sailors with chants. There is one very famous, and also very secretive, chant that describes for the Marshallese navigator the characteristics of each of the atolls of the Marshall Islands, which describes the characteristic fish, wave patterns, or land shapes that let the navigator know which atoll he is approaching. It is said that few Marshallese know the entire chant because it is held so closely and, in particular, there are few people who know the chant for both the atolls of the Ralik and those of the Ratak chains. Finding these tiny islands in the great ocean is no small feat. To the novice, the ocean looks the same from place to place, but to the finer eye of the Marshallese navigator, there are all sorts of swells and currents and eddies from which it is possible infer much about land masses near and far. One of the most interesting objects you will see in the Marshalls is the stick chart or rebbelith. It is a display of various sticks, both bent and straight, which represent the swells of the ocean in the Marshall Islands. On them are glued shells, usually money cowries or brownie cowries, which represent the atolls and islands of the country. There is also a learning stick chart called a “mattang” which illustrates the various concepts of wave refraction from which beginning navigators learn to recognize patterns they will find in the ocean. Reflection and refraction of 86

ocean swells are well understood by Marshallese navigators who can look at the interference patterns (remember the section on optics in your physics classes!) produced by ocean swells as they approach and pass by land, as well as the characteristics of patterns produced when two or more swells interact with each other in the presence of land. From the angles of the interfering waves and their spacing, they can predict the distance to and size of landfall well before it appears over the horizon. In the past, making of stick charts was kept secret and only taught to a few people. Because the islands are so low, none can be seen from more than a few miles away at sea. Besides analyses of swells by observation, Marshallese could lie in the belly of the canoe and predict landfall by feeling the patterns of the water lapping against the canoe. In addition, Marshallese, like other Pacific Islanders, became skilled at observing the flight patterns of birds and the location of cloud masses, which tend to gather over land. (If you are interested in traditional navigation, you will want to read We, the Navigators: the Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific by David Lewis and Sir Oulton Derek.) Historically, under the direction of the iroij, war parties from one atoll would travel to another to pillage and conquer. Because skill in navigation was so important in warfare, it was carefully guarded by the iroij. The navigators could not, and cannot to this day, share this knowledge except under the direction of the iroij. They likewise were very skilled at weather prediction. It is said that Marshallese used to be able to predict weather several weeks in advance. There are many stories of Marshallese who were able to make impressive predictions that were important to them and their survival on these tiny islands.

Cultural Customs: A List Many of the taboos and traditions of the Marshall Islands date back hundreds of years, others, particularly relating to clothing and dress came about more recently. When you arrive, you will likely find that things are changing rapidly and what may have been considered taboo a decade ago is now more acceptable. Your best bet is to watch and listen closely to what others around you are doing. In addition, some islands may be more traditional than others; Majuro is a completely different environment than the outer islands. •

One of the first things Marshallese will ask about a person is, “Is he or she kind?” (E jouj ke?) In these small islands, it is very important to be kind to others, non-confrontational, uncritical, and not too loud or pushy.

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Marshallese do not embrace when they meet. Some Marshallese who have been around other cultures are more comfortable with closer physical contact, but, in general, it is not comfortable for them. Instead, everyone shakes everyone’s hand.

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The “Pacific yes” is something you will soon learn. Because Marshallese people generally prefer to avoid confrontation, they will sometimes tell you what you want to hear in response to a question instead of the actual answer. Therefore, for example, if you 87

make a suggestion to your colleague or principal, unless you hear, “Yes, that is a good idea. Let’s do that right now,” it probably ain’t happenin’, at least not any time soon. “Maybe next week” means “maybe next month,” “tomorrow” means “next week” and “today” means “hopefully within the next few days.” •

Marshallese people are typically very shy. At first, they may seem standoffish, but it’s just a way of masking their shyness. Don’t be afraid to approach people! They will generally want to meet and talk with you but will be hesitant to initiate the contact.

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A woman’s sisters are considered very close, and her children will often be referred to as brothers and sisters instead of cousins. Your mother’s sisters are referred to as your mother and your father’s brothers as your father. Uncles are very close, and often exert more influence over a person than his or her own father. The “cross-cousins” are not as close: your mother’s brothers’ families and your father’s sisters’.

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Brothers and sisters cannot “horse around” with each other. There is quite profound respect between them. In particular, no one should talk about anything sexual, however mild, when brothers and sisters are together in a group. This includes the cousins who are considered brothers and sisters.

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Group discussions of anything sexual should always be done with the genders separated. HIV/AIDS or sex education should always be done with the boys in one group (led by a male), and the girls in another (led by a female). You will notice in school that in general the boys will sit on one side and the girls on the other. There is much more gender separation in the Marshalls than in the US.

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There are complex rules for bathroom usage, including taboos, such as a mother-in-law cannot use the same bathroom as her son-in-law.

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Never walk on anyone’s sleeping mat. Fold yours after use. It can be aired outside. Also, before sitting on anyone’s mat, take your shoes off, just as you would before entering someone’s home.

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The head is a special part of the body and in general should not be touched (unless you are placing a wut on it.) The head of an iroij should never be touched.

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Remember that sharing is a way of life for Marshallese people. If you have food and are eating it in front of others, share it. Otherwise, you will be considered very rude.

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Many taboos deal with washing and general hygiene. One is that you cannot use a bowl that was used for washing clothes for anything to do with food.

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When you come into a room, it is considered more polite to sit than to stand. Do not expect to be invited to sit down.

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Your head should never be higher than that of the iroij or the leroij while in their presence. Given the average height of most Marshallese, however, this can sometimes be difficult, so just do your best and act respectful. In addition, you should never go behind an iroij or leroij.

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Be quiet around a high traditional leader. You must show respect in every way. Do not joke with him or her, unless it seems wanted. People should not go onto their yards unless they have a reason.

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If you go to a new island to live, it is important to visit the highest traditional leader on the island as soon as you arrive. It would be appropriate to bring some small present, but it is most important that he or she knows you are on his island. If a group goes to visit, then this rule also holds. If there is someone from the island who can accompany you, that person should go too to introduce you to the iroij/leroij.

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When you cross a room full of people, it is considered polite to bend a little and duck your head as you traverse the room, standing straight only when you have reached the other side.

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Be careful when you compliment Marshallese on materials things. They may give you the thing you have just admired. This is difficult for Americans who are used to thinking they are being thoughtful to tell another how much they like their clothes, jewelry, etc., only to discover, much to their embarrassment, that a thing that they admired was then offered to them. The words for “like” and “want” are the same in Marshallese.

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Best friends (of the same gender), or jera, are an important relationship in the Marshall Islands. Jera are considered part of each other’s clans, and all the relationships, all the taboos, and all the privileges and responsibilities that fall on one person, also fall on that person’s jera. You will not want to enter lightly into the relationship of jera with a Marshallese, but if you find a soul mate, it is a lovely experience.

Marshallese Adoptions Marshallese “adoptions” are quite common and also quite different from US-style adoptions. There are few Marshallese families who haven’t either adopted a child, had a child adopted from their family, or one where one or more of the parents weren’t adopted. Sometimes the adopted child knows of the adoption, and sometimes he or she does not. Usually, the adopted children retain close ties with their birth families, especially when they become adults. This is very different from US adoptions and often causes problems when Marshallese agree to foreign adoptions. Their assumption is that they will continue to have a relationship with the child, whereas the adopting parents might assume that any future contact will be minimal or nonexistent. Do not become involved with adoptions; do not “find” children for friends or family in the US or elsewhere. For many years, there have been for-profit agencies operating out of the US that arrange adoptions for American couples. These were highly attractive because the Marshallese mothers can easily give birth in Hawaii and there are no extraneous visa requirements for the 89

newborns. The government has made new policies to cut down on the number of adoption agencies and the recruiting of pregnant women that often takes place. These adoptions are completely different from traditional Marshallese adoptions. Don’t be surprised when you discover someone you know here was adopted. In general, the adopting parents ask the birth parents of a newborn for the child to be given to them. It is often very difficult for the birth parents of the new child to tell the requesting couple no, although Marshallese mothers grieve terribly for these children they have given away. Marshallese adoptions occur for a large variety of reasons, including: • A couple is childless and requests one of their brothers or sisters for a child, so that they will have someone to care for them in their old age, which actually is quite important. • A sister requests a child from her brother, to keep the brother close to the birth family. • A mother asks for her own daughter’s child, especially from her first child, to remind her of the daughter who is no longer with her. • A woman requests the child of her best friend or another very close family friend, to cement their extremely close relationship. • A teenager becomes pregnant and is unable to care for the child, so her own mother takes the child. • A couple is too poor to take care of their new child, so another family member will take the infant. It is unusual for Marshallese to have no one to take care of them. The social safety net sweeps widely in the Marshalls. The extended family, in particular your mother’s, has profound responsibilities to you and your siblings. If your mother cannot care for you, surely her mother or sisters will. DVTP volunteers are discouraged from becoming involved in Marshallese adoptions. In particular, they should NOT become involved with any adoption agencies. If you are looking into Marshallese adoptions, or if children have been offered to you (no joke), please learn the laws, and speak with the Field Director before proceeding.

Housing DVTP volunteers will live in faculty housing or a rented house or apartment. In general, all DVTP houses will have air conditioning, running water, a western-style kitchen, and beds. More details about housing at your site will be forthcoming at the Hanover and Majuro Orientations.

Host Families Marshallese homes, like homes everywhere, vary widely. In general, they are not large. On the outer islands, homes tend to be smaller, and more of the living occurs outdoors. Usually there is a cookhouse separate from the sleeping house. Sometimes the latrine is a distance from the bathing unit, but sometimes they are combined in the same “small house.” Most Marshallese families on the outer islands eat outdoors. Cooking is done over open fires, in earthen ovens or oven boxes fueled by smoldering coconut husks, and over kerosene stoves. Homes on Majuro 90

vary from what you’d find on one of the remote outer islands to what you’d find in an American neighborhood. On many islands, it is common for married children and their spouses to live with parents, because housing is expensive and/or hard to come by. Very few children will have their own bedrooms. As a member of a new family, be sure to act like one. Offer to help around the house when you are there (although they will probably not allow it), accompany the family to church and other outings, etc. You may wish to offer the children (or adults) English lessons if their parents would like you to. By helping out it gives you a way to integrate yourself into the family a bit more. Your relationship with your sponsor family can be a critical element in the overall success of your experience in the Marshalls. At the beginning of the year, it may be frustrating trying to communicate with limited Marshallese if your sponsor family speaks little English. Try to be patient with yourself as well as your family. Children are extremely willing to help you with your Marshallese, and as it improves, you will find it easier to integrate yourself into the household. When you are out in the community, you will be expected to abide by the family's rules and customs. Even though you are in an independent accommodation, your family will feel responsible for you. Some Marshallese families, especially in the outer islands, may be more conservative and religious than you are used to at home. It will help if you think about this possibility ahead of time and prepare yourself to adjust to whatever situation you encounter. However, with more and more exposure to DVTP volunteers, families are getting to know more and more about ri-belles. They will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable, especially when you first arrive. If difficulties or misunderstandings arise with your sponsor family and you cannot work them out, changing families is an option. However, this should only be done in the direst of cases and after all other possibilities have been tried. You need to talk with the Field Director, discuss your situation with her, and then jointly decide that a change should be made. The Field Director can give you advice but may not be able to travel to your site if you are on the outer islands. Please be diplomatic in handling this situation if it arises. The DVTP has had almost no problems with outer islands sponsor families and spending time with them has been one of the high points in most volunteers’ experiences.

Marshallese Hospitality The Marshallese people are extremely warm and hospitable, although they may seem shy and a bit aloof at first. Be careful not to take advantage of them. Gifts of basic food supplies, towels, washing soap, and perfume or lotions are always appreciated and appropriate. When you visit someone’s house, you will usually be expected to eat, regardless of whether or not you’re hungry. It’s usually considered a little rude to refuse food, so just take a small amount if you really aren’t hungry, but if you are, enjoy! 91

Marshallese will also feel a great deal of responsibility for you if you are living on their land. If you are an outer island volunteer, you will often find relatives of your sponsor family in Majuro who insist on taking care of you when you visit the capital.

Personal Space North Americans are used to having a lot of personal space. It is common for us to go into a room, shut the door and have private time. This is not as common in the Marshall Islands. Personal space, or lack thereof, has been a real struggle for volunteers in the past. Learning to accept children (and adults) peeking through your bedroom windows as you read or nap can be difficult in the beginning. Privacy is not valued in the same way you may have learned to value it at home and adapting to the new way of seeing alone time can be a challenge.

Being the Center of Attention You will attract a lot of attention whether you are on Majuro or on the outer islands. There are few enough “ri-belles” on Majuro and generally none on the outer islands, so people will notice you and “size you up” quickly. A friendly, non-judgmental, engaging person will be quickly accepted in any Marshallese community. Especially on the outer islands, the people will try hard to make you feel comfortable and part of the community. Because you are new and different, you will also be a major topic of gossip at your school. Everyone will want to know all about you, what you’ve been doing, and where you’ve been. You will answer the questions “Where are you going?” and “Where are you coming from?” more times than you can count. All of this attention can be overwhelming, but try to keep a sense of humor about it. Eventually, you’ll start to get used to it, and the children may (note “may”) start to lose interest in your more mundane activities like reading books or washing clothes. Keep in mind that you really are like a movie star to many of them, especially on the outer islands where visitors from North America are a rarity. It is, however, important to be able to take time and space if you need it as long as it is within the realm of cultural sensitivity and you are polite about it.

Food The staple of the Marshallese diet is rice. You’ll often eat rice and fish, rice and chicken, rice and Spam, rice and tuna, rice and ketchup or soy sauce. Rice is a part of nearly every meal. The Japanese have left their mark on their former colonies! The native starch is breadfruit, which is seasonal. Breadfruit can be baked or fried, or made into soup with fish or chicken. It is very popular with Marshallese and in great demand when it is in season. A few atolls have taro. Marshallese have marvelous reef fish, which they cook deliciously. These reef fish are more common than the larger ocean fish like tuna. You do need to be careful eating reef fish, but the Marshallese generally know which are safe and which are not. Eating some fish can cause fish poisoning, which can be extremely serious. Any fish that your family serves you should be fine, but be sure to ask before eating fish that you have caught on your own.

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There are chickens and some pigs on most islands, which are almost always reserved for special occasions. Spam and corned beef are canned and can be kept without refrigeration, which is important since few Marshallese have refrigerators. Surprisingly, ramen noodles are very popular and are usually eaten for breakfast. Almost every part of the coconut is important to island life. The fronds are woven into baskets, the husks are used for fuel, the shells for bowls, the juice for drink, the milk for cooking, and the meat for food. There are many words for coconut in Marshallese, depending on the age of the nut. The young drinking coconuts are green and have thin layers of coconut meat (called “mere” and pronounced “meh-drei”) and are filled with a sweet liquid; they are called ni (pronounced “nee”). First, the husk must be removed. This is usually done by thrusting the coconut into a sharpened stick or sharp piece of metal that is securely implanted in the ground. Marshallese men sometimes engage in coconut husking contests. Another plant that is important to the Marshallese is the pandanus. Its large root system that sits above ground, and the long spiny fronds that extend from its knobby branches make it easy to identify this funny tree. It looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. The fruit is somewhat like a pineapple in appearance but larger. It is sectioned and the individual pieces of pandanus are eaten either fresh or cooked and eaten, or cooked and preserved. The very fine “hairs” of the pandanus fruit are somewhat like corn silk and are easily caught in teeth. Be sure to bring along dental floss on the days you eat fresh pandanus! Pandanus is ripe when the interior of the sections are orange. The pandanus fronds are spectacular weaving material. Once the spines are removed, the pandanus itself is soaked, pounded and then woven into mats of all varieties. The sleeping mats are made of pandanus. The beautiful handicraft baskets that Marshallese are so renowned for making are made of pandanus (the brown material) and the young inner coconut palm fronds (the lighter material). For fruits, the Marshallese have banana, papaya and lime. Their small bananas are sweet and quite different from the Latin American variety. They have cooking bananas in addition to eating bananas, which are starchier and less flavorful. Some atolls grow pumpkins, which are more like squash. In addition to fish, the Marshallese eat clams, longuista (a lobster relative with no meaty claw), smaller crabs, large coconut crabs, some seabirds, and for special occasions, turtle. At a typical feast you will have a plate piled high with barbequed chicken, a piece of another kind of barbequed meat (usually pork), lots of rice, rice balls (rice combined with coconut milk and rolled in shredded coconut), banana cooked in coconut milk, beru and biro (preserved breadfruit), potato salad and perhaps another salad or two, fish, and kool-aid to wash it all down. It is common for Marshallese to take home what they don’t eat at a party. Rolls of aluminum foil are on hand to cover the many take-home plates. Foreign foods have become increasingly popular in the Marshall Islands. Most Marshallese prefer traditional foods, but imported foods are increasingly present in Marshallese diets. Unfortunately, sodas are very popular. Fried donuts for breakfast are common. Cheese curls and other packaged “junk food” are also very well liked. 93

Increasingly as field trip boats make fewer trips and the cost of freight on AMI increases, some islands experience food shortages. The shortages usually mean that the foreign foods the Marshallese tend to rely on are not available on island. There will likely be times when rice, flour and sugar are not available on island and the locals will eat more local fish and breadfruit if it is available. Most outer island volunteers will experience a period where food options are completely obsolete and they may find themselves eating ramen for breakfast and dinner for a few weeks. Only in very rare cases are volunteers faced with this reality for long periods of time but it is important to recognize the possibility. In those cases, the Field Director and the volunteer will work out how to best solve the problem. It is strongly recommended that all volunteers bring multivitamins and have people from home send them nutritious supplements like granola/sports bars, oatmeal, dried fruits and the like. On Majuro, there are a few grocery stores that carry US brands and appear much like a small grocery store back home. Prices are noticeably higher for most products, which is reasonable since the cost of shipping is high. Nevertheless, on Majuro you can find most of the things (if you are not fussy about the brand) that you are accustomed to eating. Remember that food must travel a long distance to get here, and some of it is not so fresh before it starts its journey, so you will want to be mindful of expiration dates while doing your grocery shopping. There is a range of restaurants on Majuro. The Marshall Islands Resort restaurant and Robert Reimers Tide Table are two that cater well to expats as well as Marshallese. These are where the “power” breakfasts and lunches are held, and where you may well forget you are in a foreign country. Other restaurants are cheaper and cater less to the ex-pat community. A terrific place to eat more traditional Marshallese food is the DAR Restaurant, oceanside and behind the post office downtown. Some ethnic restaurants have sprung up recently including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, and Japanese. Some families are more health-conscious than others are. Sometimes people on the outer islands actually eat more healthy foods than those in Majuro or Ebeye because they have access to traditional foods. What families eat usually depends upon their economic situation. Please respect their customs and especially their economic standing and the general availability (or lack thereof) of food. Most Marshallese cannot afford much better food than they are eating. If you notice their cupboards, there is usually little except bags of rice and flour. It is very difficult to be a vegetarian in the Marshalls. Please remember that you are in a different culture and therefore exposed to many different experiences and changes. This may involve becoming more flexible with eating habits. Although we all have a preferred and ideal diet, it can be very hard to follow where people are limited in resources or choices. We ask that you be as flexible as possible and do not offend the host culture when making food choices. Strict vegetarians or vegans will have a very difficult time getting proper nutrition on the outer islands. While vegetarianism is very popular among western cultures, it is unheard of in many parts of the world. Islanders rely heavily on fish and sea life, pigs, chickens, rice and canned meats. On outer islands, you will have some control over what you are going to eat, but you are limited to preserved foods. It is for these reasons that vegetarians should not live on outer islands unless they are willing to eat meat during their time in the RMI. 94

In Majuro, volunteers have more food choices at the grocery stores and choosing a more particular diet is not a problem. In general, being a vegetarian and living in faculty housing on Majuro is much more feasible than trying to live on the outer islands.

Water Because fresh water is not plentiful, it is important to conserve it whenever possible. You should not take long showers. During most times of the year for those living in Majuro and Ebeye, you should take a “navy” shower, which means that you wet yourself down, turn off the water, lather and wash, and then turn the water on again to rinse. On outer islands, you will learn quickly the art of the bucket shower! It is very surprising how little water one actually needs to wash thoroughly. Always be careful with water. In Majuro, water is caught on the airport runway and pumped throughout the island. In general, the water supply is adequate, but diligence in conservation is vital. There is a large aquifer in Laura and water is pumped from Laura to the more densely populated sections of Majuro. It is wise to buy your water or boil or filter it, as these sources are not pure. On the outer islands, most families have a well. There is fresh water underneath the land in “lens wells” where the fresh water floats on the heavier salt water. Wells are dug to allow retrieval of this fresh water. It is important not to disturb the interface between the fresh water and the salt water, or the supply may be ruined for years. In addition, most, if not all, families “catch” their rainwater. Homes with tin or other solid roofs often have catchments. Rainwater runs into gutters that then drain into large holding tanks where Marshallese store their water. As on Majuro, in the outer islands, it is advisable to boil or filter drinking water.

General Guidelines for Interacting with Marshallese Families The more you know about Marshallese rules and customs, the easier it will be for you to enjoy the hospitality of your Marshallese family. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re not sure about something. They may have a goodhearted laugh at your expense, but they will be more than happy to help you. • • •

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Remove your shoes before entering a home. Never wear shoes inside a home. Be respectful of age. When Marshallese refer to “the old man” or “the old woman,” they are showing great respect. Be respectful of their traditional leaders. You may see things to criticize, but don’t become a vocal critic of these people, and in particular not of the iroij or the alaps. These traditional leaders are still very powerful, and you will hurt both yourself and your sponsor family if you are openly critical of them. If a family has a phone, do not use it without permission. If, for any reason, you are not going to be on time for dinner or a scheduled meeting with your family, please advise them. If they do not have a telephone, try to tell them in advance. If you plan to be away for the weekend, please let them know so they will not worry. 95

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Also, if you are planning to eat with another family, be sure to prepare for the occasion in a sensitive and respectful manner. If your family hears that you ate a meal at another family’s home and you did not tell them about it beforehand, they will feel ashamed that their food was not good or plentiful enough for you so you went somewhere else. You should offer to help your family with household chores. They may not expect you to do anything and may not accept your offer, but they will probably appreciate your willingness to help. Marshallese women traditionally arise early and rake around their homes. It is especially important to rake up the fallen leaves, like breadfruit leaves, which are quite large, so that water doesn’t accumulate and provide breeding areas for mosquitoes. It is impolite (and damaging) to put your feet up on furniture, so please avoid doing so. Marshallese are patient and polite. You must insist that you need help and corrections with language and with culture with your Marshallese friends and family. Some Marshallese think correcting people is rude. Never be afraid to ask your family or others around you if something is culturally appropriate. It would be very surprising if they were to correct you or scold you, but they may say something like, “Well, a Marshallese person wouldn’t do that, but we know that you are a ri-belle so it is o.k.” This can be a gentle hint to you. Remember that Marshallese dress conservatively and women especially should never walk to the shower in just a towel. You will always want to wear a guam dress or other clothing to cover you up when swimming. As a rule, “don’t give up.” You may feel like screaming or throwing in the towel due to frustration with the Marshallese lifestyle, but remember, that “this too shall pass” and peace of mind is often just a phone call or swim away. Don’t worry, adjustment takes a while, but it will come.

Information Sharing, Communication and Personal Interactions Over the course of the year, you will encounter situations involving communications issues that you simply do not understand. Be wise in how you respond to them. •

Knowledge is seen as power, and it is. It is also seen as something quite personal, something “owned” by the person who has it. Just as you would not expect someone to give you their possessions, you should not expect Marshallese to share their knowledge with you, unless a personal relationship has been established and the person feels interested in sharing. Sometimes this is true even in professional settings.

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Don’t talk too soon, too loudly, or too directly. Americans are often seen as loutish. Especially among the “classy” people in the Marshalls, people are gentle; life is gentle. The islands are too small and the population too dense for anything but the greatest civility (which doesn’t always happen, but is highly valued).

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Before you ask questions, try to sense whether or not it is appropriate for you to ask this person that question. Bright-eyed Ph.D.s with questionnaires in hand that probe all sorts of areas are seen as extremely intrusive and rude, and many times Marshallese will not answer, or at least not honestly. 96

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Conflict, where possible, should be managed by a third party and not directly, although Marshallese are getting used to Americans who are more direct. Teachers can deal with children directly, but not with other adults. Try not to have a confrontation, even with another expat, in front of others.

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Traditional medicine is not shared, in general. There are cures and treatments that are commonly known by the Marshallese, but some people and even some island groups are well known for their skills with various sorts of traditional medicine. Much as the medical world has specialties, so do the Marshallese. One woman will be known for her ability to help children, another diabetes, etc.

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Traditional people around the world have felt that for healing to occur it requires more than just the pharmaceutical agent. The power of the healer plays a major role in most of these cultures, as does the will of the person to be healed.

Copra, Religion, Belief, and Magic Most Marshallese are quite religious. The first Christian missionaries arrived at Ebon Atoll in 1852, aboard a ship called the Morning Star, the first of many ships ferrying Protestant missionaries through the islands. The Boston Missionary Society financed these missionaries. The missionaries have had a greater impact on Marshallese lifestyles and culture than has any outside group. You may find that Marshallese culture has changed from what you expected, but in many ways, like cultures everywhere, it has continuously evolved. There are several other important influences on Marshallese life, history and culture. Copra, or dried coconut, was a valuable item the last of the 19th century and until the public became aware of the dangers of consuming too much poly-saturated oils, which coconut oil is. Europeans came and established sizable plantations on a number of the atolls, including Likiep and Jaluit. Several of the early copra traders married Marshallese women and were later ordained as ministers. James Milne on Jaluit, and Carl Heine on Ebon, were two such former copra traders. They became powerful advocates of Christianity in the Marshall Islands. Their descendants are prominent in the Marshall Islands today, as are the descendants of the expert copra traders Anton deBrum and Adolph Capelle who also came, married, and stayed at Likiep Atoll, where they engaged in a flourishing copra business. Milne and Heine were Protestants and deBrum and Capelle were Catholics. The country quickly converted to Christianity. The early missionaries wrote down the Marshallese language so they could translate the Bible into Marshallese. This translation is still used today, but more commonly used is the “New” translation made by Alice Buck, an American who was born in the Islands to missionary parents and who married an island missionary. Alice headed a team of Protestant and Catholic scholars who translated the Bible from the Good News Bible so that it would be more easily understood. 97

Today the country is about 8% Catholic and the remainder primarily Protestant. The Congregational Church or United Church of Christ was the church of the early missionaries, and is still the largest church in the Marshall Islands. Fr. Leonard Hacker, SJ, came in the early 1950s and built schools and churches and firmly planted the Catholic Church in the Marshall Islands, although Catholic missionaries had been in the Marshalls previously, especially on Likiep and Jaluit Atolls. In the past two decades, other denominations have come to the Marshalls. They include the Baptists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Assemblies of God, Bukot nan Jesus, the Baha’i and others. Traditionally, the Marshallese believed in spirits of the earth and water and sky, but much has been lost because of the overwhelmingly strong influence of the early missionaries. However, before Christianity came to the islands, the Marshallese celebrated various events with traditional dancing and by acting out historical events. Today, the Christmas celebrations in the churches reflect both the message of Christianity and the old traditional dancing and acting. Christmas is the most important holiday in the Marshall Islands, but it definitely is like nothing you have seen in Christian churches in the west. Don’t miss it! Another carry-over from pre-Christian days is the belief in ghosts, or demons as they are commonly called. Demons are considered departed spirits. There are parts of the islands that are known to be the haunts of demons. Akin to the belief in demons is the very strong belief in “black magic” and “white magic,” that certain people possess the power to put spells on other people. Many Marshallese believe it is possible for these people to put spells on a person so that a certain other person will fall in love with them, or will fall out of love with them. Spells can also be administered, many believe, that will cause people to become sick, and even to die. The Marshallese have a body of legends that rivals that of the Greeks! There are stories and legends that account for almost everything in the Marshall Islands. Some have been written down, but many have not. Check the Alele Museum and Library, and ask the older people. Some books of Marshallese myths are available on Amazon.com. More than most Americans, many Marshallese are very religious and will attend meetings at their churches not just on Sundays but frequently during the week as well. For many people, the church is the center of their lives. The women’s auxiliaries are active, and charity work is taken seriously. Volunteers are encouraged to attend church with their families, regardless of what their personal religious beliefs may be.

Time Many people in the Marshall Islands will refer to “Marshallese time.” Just how this works remains a mystery to many outsiders, but there are a few ideas on the subject: •

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Many people still do not have watches. Many people do not have their own cars and taxis are very unreliable, especially during certain times of the day. Others have their own car, but it is used by many people so it is not always available. Both churches and many schools use empty air tanks as gongs to announce church services and the beginning of school. Usually these “bells” are rung several times prior to the event, e.g., a half hour before school begins, 15 minutes before, and when it actually begins. They can be heard at quite a distance and don’t break, so are a wonderful way to let everyone know the time. One day really is pretty much like the next in the Marshall Islands, so what doesn’t get done today can get done tomorrow with little loss. Because it is perpetual summer, there doesn’t seem to be the rush to get things done; the clock doesn’t seem to be ticking in the same way you sense it when fall and then winter are around the corner. People do not try to jam so much into so little time, as we North Americans often do. If something is going to happen in the evening, you should block out the entire evening. It is likely to be scheduled for 6:00 it will probably start at 8:30 or so. Many Marshallese know that Americans work on a tighter schedule than they do, and some are very courteous when meeting with Americans, showing up exactly on time (ribelle time). If a meeting is scheduled for a certain time, many participants will check out the meeting place and if no one is there, or few, they will not stay, but return when they think the meeting is actually going to happen. It takes a courageous soul to be the first to sit down for a gathering. “Hurry up and wait!”

Marshallese Lessons Learning Marshallese will be one of the big challenges you will face in the coming year. During orientation, you will have language class almost every day for one hour, but at the end of this two-and-a-half week crash course, you will still likely find yourself quite confused when listening to rapid-fire Marshallese conversations. The Marshallese will always be happy that you are making an effort to learn their language, and even if you mispronounce every word, they will still do their best to help you. Not everyone who comes to the Marshalls tries to learn the language, so your efforts really will be appreciated (even if your attempts serve as comic relief). If you begin early and take learning the language moderately seriously, you will be speaking before you know it! Written Marshallese presents interesting issues. The early Protestant missionaries first wrote down the language during the nineteenth century. Recently scholars have come up with a “new spelling” which has been unofficially adopted as the official spelling of the country. However, many Marshallese, quite understandably, are resistant to changes in the spelling, and the end result is that there really is no “correct” or “official” spelling. People use several different spellings for numerous high frequency words, which can be rather frustrating to those of us used to the rigid rules and regimentation of English.

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We encourage you to continue studying Marshallese after orientation. Depending on your teaching schedule, you will probably want to arrange hour-long tutoring sessions at least three times a week. It has been said that if you learn only 500 words, you will have enough Marshallese to “get by” reasonably well. That’s only 10 words a day for 50 days, not bad! The best way to arrange tutoring is to exchange Marshallese lessons for English lessons. To find a person who can tutor you, first ask people at school and your sponsor family. Exchanging lessons creates an equal relationship between you and the other person and allows you to provide a service at the same time that you are receiving one.

Gender Issues While gender issues in the Marshall Islands are not as serious as those found in many places in the world, they are a part of life there and you should be prepared for them. One important point to remember is that the Marshall Islands is a matrilineal society. Both the lands and the titles pass through the women, so the women are taken very seriously. Depending on their position in their clans, their opinions can be extraordinarily influential. The female traditional leaders, leroij, are very powerful in the Marshall Islands. In all events, social or otherwise, the leroij outrank any other women present, including government leaders. They will always be first in the lines for food, will take the lead in any group of women, and will preside under all circumstances when they are present. Other women will not question what they do or say (at least not openly!). While some men resent women in powerful positions, many women have done well and have held many important positions. Some of the prominent women in government past and present: •

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Marie Maddison is the former director of the National Training Council and has served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Health, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of Social Services, as well as Public Service Commissioner. Biram Stege is the former Secretary of Education and current Principal of Assumption School. Daisy Momotaro is currently the Secretary of Internal Affairs and former executive director of WUTMI (Women United Together in the Marshall Islands) . Carmen Bigler is a former executive director of WUTMI, has served as the Secretary of Internal Affairs, was the only woman to serve in the Congress of Micronesia and was the first Marshallese person to graduate from college. She was also the first woman elected to the Nitijela (Senate). Hilda Heine, current Aur Senator and Minister of Education, worked with PREL, was Secretary of Education and President of the College of the Marshall Islands. She was the first Marshallese person to earn a PhD, which she completed in May of 2005. Sister Dorothy Nook, a Catholic sister, was President of the College of the Marshall Islands, principal of Marshall Islands High School, and worked at the Ministry of Education. She currently works at Assumption School. Amatlain Kabua, was the former mayor of Majuro and Ambassador to Japan. Tarmile Ishoda was mayor of Majuro. 100

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Neimon Philippo has served as the only woman judge on the Traditional Rights Court and is currently on a commission to write down Marshallese customs. Mary Lanwi, at the request of the government, organized the first handicraft co-op and revived dying art forms; her shop is near the Alele Museum. Evelyn Konou was a member of the Nitijela from Jaluit, served as Minister of Health and Minister of Education, and was Principal of Delap Elementary School. She is currently the Principal of Marshall Islands High School.

To quote from a paper on “Women and the Nation, Women and the Land” by Neimon Philippo: In the traditional way of life, the status of women in the Marshall Islands was always one of great respect. The recognition of the women as the foundation of one’s family lineage and clan placed her in a position of great importance and potential influence. There are a number of rights and obligations attributed to all women under our culture, of which the most important is the recognition of the matrilineal succession to the land rights. The Marshallese say, “an kora ailin kein” or “these islands belong to the woman.” “Kora ej iep jeltok” and “Jened ilo kobo” refer to the expectation that come good times or bad, sorrow or joy, we must always be prepared to share in the grief, hardship, and the triumph and to provide that solid and calming effect that can only be provided by a mother; it refers to our duty to ensure that the family remains a cohesive and viable institution. The “Jined Ilo Kobo” was traditionally the highest and most important position in the traditional culture, and referred to all women who had children and raised their children correctly. Women who were unable physically to have their own children will always adopt and raise several children as their own. In addition, a woman would be considered a mother to her sisters’ and brothers’ children, so every woman in the Marshall Islands could attain the status of “Jined Ilo Kobo.” “Lejmanjuri” – Peacemaker – This woman is usually the oldest woman of her lineage or within the immediate family. In dealing with family problems, it would be the oldest daughter (manje) who would be the “Lejmanjuri.” During times of warfare, when one Iroij (chief) would fight another Iroij for power, land and prestige, the Iroij’s older sister (either older or younger than he is), or oldest female parallel cousin from his mother’s lineage could stop the warring by telling her brother to stop. The Iroij had to listen and obey his sister because she was “Lejmanjuri.” In addition, in times of warring, if the Iroij of the loosing side came to the “Lejmanjuri” of the winning side and asked her to stop the fighting she would then tell her brother who would be the Iroij of the winning side to stop and he would obey her request. Both warring Iroij would have sisters who would be “Lejmanjuri,” and these sisters of the two opposing Iroij could also decide to end the warring…Today, since there is no longer warring, the “Lejmanjuri” possibly acts as the final decision maker for her family or lineage, especially in circumstances concerning land …A woman who is the “Lejmanjuri” is looked to for strength and wisdom in making decisions. Children belong to their mother’s clan, not their father’s clan. Traditionally, when a couple got together, they moved to the woman’s land, to live among her people.

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While the lands and titles pass through the women, women often defer to their brothers who will often act for them. However, even when women seem to be quietly in the background, the men are listening to them. The first Marshallese navigator was a woman. It was she who taught her son to sail and from this family sprung the great navigators of the Marshall Islands.

CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT The Culture Adjustment Curve Living in a foreign country is not easy. Nearly everyone who lives abroad for an extended period of time feels depressed or homesick at times. Such feelings are a normal part of adapting to a new culture. In place of the common term "culture shock," which emphasizes only the negative aspects of the adjustment, we like to think in terms of a "cultural adjustment curve.” An adjustment curve better describes the continuing process of cultural encounter and adaptation. Cultural adjustment is a very individual phenomenon. Every person adapts differently. In general terms, the four stages of the most common adjustment curve can be described as: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Initial euphoria "Shock" Progressive recovery Adjustment completion

This curve expands and contracts depending on the individual's length of stay. The extremes are also often softened if the person has had previous experience living in another culture. Of course, this is all subject to individual variation, so do not expect your year to follow any predictable or even "appropriate" pattern. In fact, you will probably feel as though you are going through a mini-cultural curve every day. If you are so inclined, track your personal adjustment curve throughout the year. Almost every volunteer who has come to the Marshall Islands has experienced all of these symptoms, regardless of how much international travel experience s/he has.

The Low Points While the path of your particular adjustment is unpredictable, the following list describes some of the not-so-desirable feelings you may experience during your time in the Marshalls. At some point, you will feel irritable, confused, or homesick. This is normal! Keep in mind that recognizing and acknowledging your feelings is the first step towards feeling better. • • • • • •

Loneliness, feeling isolated Homesickness Boredom Anxiety Identity problems Withdrawal 102

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Sleeping excessively Fatigue Compulsive eating or loss of appetite Compulsive drinking Irritability Exaggerated cleanliness Marital/family stress and conflict Stereotyping Hostility to host nationals Loss of ability to work effectively, loss of motivation Unexplainable fits of weeping Physical ailments (headaches, stomachaches, trembling)

Coping Mechanisms Perhaps the most important factor in “surviving” cultural adjustment is having a positive attitude. If you feel yourself slipping, start working to change your attitude as quickly as possible. If you can describe your feelings, you can begin to influence them. Here are some tips to help you climb out of the adjustment trough during those inevitable low points. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Practice role reversal. Try to see things from a local point of view. Get out and do something. Develop new routines. Don’t be negative. Avoid complainers and don’t make comparisons to home. Accept local ways. Be a good listener, ask questions, and learn about the culture. Prepare. Read. Study Marshallese – the best antidote to culture shock is knowledge. Don’t deny reality when things are hard. Seek respect. Don’t get hung up on being liked. Don’t take things personally. Reduce stress through activity. Exercise, meditate, relax, and write. Create comfort zones. Go some place where you can be your American self. Speak English, do things that you like. Set realistic work expectations. Don’t expect to be as effective, especially in the beginning, as you were in your last job. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Make observations, not judgments. Think of your time in the Marshalls as a time for you to learn, and that being a teacher is your “guise” for learning about the culture. Make use of a support system. Turn to other volunteers as you can, make good Marshallese friends, and help each other. If you are in real difficulty, contact the Field Director for help.

Getting Involved In Your Community While we stress the importance and time commitment of your involvement in the schools, most volunteers find themselves with time and energy to spare. We encourage you to jump into your community and share with them things that you care about, things you can share with them. 103

Teach adult language classes, organize after school sports activities, help your students put on a dramatic production, start a teen club, help with scouting, teach your favorite crafts, teach swimming lessons to the children, start pen-pal classes with schools from home, etc. Share whatever you can. Try to be 100% a member of your community – not simply a teacher who goes from ri-belle house to school to ri-belle house and does not become involved in the rest of community life.

BEFORE YOU GO Between Now and Departure During spring term, in addition to taking Ed. 41 or Ed. 45 to help prepare you professionally, Professor Garrod will be conducting a number of workshops. It is important to attend these workshops. They will help you start to understand what the next year of your life will be like.

Hanover Orientation The Field Director will be traveling to Hanover to conduct a few days of orientation sessions on June 7-8. While Senior Week is not an ideal time for these sessions, it is the only time that the Field Director, you (the new volunteers), this year’s volunteers, and the Program Director can all be in the same place at the same time. Volunteers have consistently said the one thing that prepared them most for this experience was meeting with the field director and the old volunteers from their site. Even though it is not an ideal time, it is extremely informative and even enjoyable. Attendance is mandatory at all sessions, and you will find yourself much more prepared for the Marshall Islands the more alert you are at these sessions, both physically and mentally. Your family members and friends are invited to join us for a multi-media presentation and question/answer session with the Field Director and past volunteers on June 8th in the afternoon.

Studying Marshallese Before You Go You might want to consider learning a bit of Marshallese before you depart for the Marshalls, especially if you will be on an outer island. Even a few phrases of conversational Marshallese will help make your transition into the community much easier and will also enhance your ability to communicate in the classroom with both teachers and students. You can also purchase a Marshallese-English dictionary available through Amazon.com.

Visa U.S. citizens do not need visas to enter the Marshall Islands, but citizens of other countries may. Everyone is required to have a HIV/AIDS test conducted within 3 months of arrival in the Marshall Islands, a police clearance report, and a valid passport. If you are not a U.S. citizen, please contact the Field Director to discuss your visa needs.

Suggested Reading and Resource List 104

There is little in print on the Marshall Islands. Your best bet is to read about the Islands on the internet. There are quite a number of excellent sites on the Marshalls, with links to other sites that you will find interesting. The recommended sites, along with books and films you may want to explore, are the following: Websites 1. The DVTP website: www.dartmouthrmi.com. 2. This is the big resource site as well as message board slash blog for Marshallese: www.yokwe.net. This site has many resources and is the place to see what issues the Marshallese are interested in currently. There are links to many other sites you might want to visit. 3. The Embassy of the Marshall Islands site: www.rmiembassyus.org This site is good and has recently been overhauled. There are also links to many other sites that you will want to visit. It is the official site of the RMI. 4. The Micronesian Seminar site: www.micsem.org. This site contains the marvelous papers of Fr. Francis X. Hezel SJ, the prime scholar of Micronesia. His papers on other Micronesian island groups apply, in general, to the Marshalls also. This gives information on Marshallese culture, and in particular, to the issues they are facing today. 5. East West Center at the University of Hawaii: http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org This site is the dynamic East West Center, the heart of island research at the University of Hawaii. 6. The University of Guam at http://www.uog.edu/marc/default.htm This is the University of Guam’s research center on Micronesia (MARC). 7. The Consular Information Site: http://travel.state.gov/marshall_islands.html There are many other sites, but they are linked from these sites, especially the embassy site and the yokwe.net site. Books Ø Barclay, Robert. Melal: A Novel of the Pacific. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Barker, Holly. Bravo for the Marshallese Ø Burgess, Warren E., and Axelrod, Herbert R., Dr. Burgess’s Mini-Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes, T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. Ø Bushnell, O.A., The Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawai’i, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Carucci, Laurence Marshall. Nuclear Nativity: Rituals of Renewal and Empowerment in the Marshall Islands. Northern Illinois University Press. Ø Dibblin, Jane. U.S. Nuclear Testing and the Pacific Islanders. Dee, Ivan R. Publisher. Ø Heine, Carl, Micronesia at the Crossroads: A Reappraisal of the Micronesian Political Dilemma, An East-West Center Book, the University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu. Ø Hezel, Francis X., The First Taint of Civilization: A History of the Caroline and Marshall Islands in Pre-Colonial Days, 1521-1885, Pacific Islands Monograph Series, No. 1, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Hezel, Francis X., Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands, Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 105

Ø Hezel, Francis X., Winds of Change, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Hezel, Francis X., The New Shape of Old Island Cultures, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Hinton, Alan, Shells of New Guinea and the Central Indo-Pacific, Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. Rutland, Vermont. Ø Kelin, Daniel A. Marshall Islands Legends and Stories. Bess Press. Ø Kluge, P.F., The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia, Random House, New York. Ø Lewis, David, and Derek, Sir Oulton, We, the Navigators: the Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Marshall, S.L. Island Victory: The Battle of Kwajalein Atoll. University of Nebraska Press. Ø Niedenthal, Jack. For the Good of Mankind. Bravo Publishing. Majuro. Ø Oliver, Douglas L., The Pacific Islands, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Steene, Roger C. and Allen, Gerald R., Butterfly and Angelfishes Volumes 1 and 2, Aquarium Systems, Mentor, Ohio; published initially Mergus Publishers Hans A. Baensch, Melle, Germany. Ø Von Chamisso, Adelbert , A Voyage Around the World with the Romanzov Exploring Expedition in the Years 1815 – 1818 in the Brig Rurik, Captain Otto Von Kotzebue, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Ø Weisgall, Jonathan M., Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. Ø Also, there was an article in Harper’s, January 2002, on Kwajalein/Ebeye and the U.S. missile testing. Travel guides Ø Galbraith, Kate, Lonely Planet: Micronesia. 4th edition: Lonely Planet Publication, 2000. Ø Stanley, David, Micronesia Handbook: Guide to an American Lake, Moon Publications, Chico, California. Preparation Ø Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, W.W. Norton & Company, New York. Ø Fersh, Seymour. Learning About Peoples and Cultures. Evanston, IL: McDougal, Little & Company, 1989. Ø Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, New York. Ø Kohls, L. Robert. Survival Kit for Overseas Living. Maine: Intercultural Press, 1984. Ø Landes, David S., The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some are so Rich and Some so Poor, W.W. Norton & Company, New York. Ø Ward, Ted. Living Overseas: A Book of Preparations. New York: The Free Press, 1984.

Packing List 106

A Guide to What You Might (and Might Not) Want to Take With You What you will need, want, and use during your year-long stay in the Marshalls is, to a large extent, an individual matter. Packing needs will vary depending very much on your placement and on you. For instance, those living on outer islands will want to bring fewer clothes from home and consider purchasing more clothing in Majuro during Orientation. This list, based on previous DVTP volunteers’ experience, should be regarded as a general guide. Use your own judgment about what you need and would like to have with you. There should be no need to rush out and buy all kinds of new supplies and clothing. Generally Take lightweight, versatile, and durable clothing (preferably not white) that won’t wrinkle easily. Weather is hot and humid, a lot like Florida, but the temperature doesn’t get much higher than 88 degrees. Especially in the windy season, the breezes from the ocean make the temperature quite nice (once you’re used to it!). When choosing clothing, bear in mind that the clothes you bring will suffer quite a bit of wear and tear from the rough washing and permanent stains from the skins of coconuts. Don’t bring clothes that you really care about! For those living on outer islands, you’ll probably need only one pair of jeans or other comfortable pants and a sweater for when you travel but for those placed in Majuro, a few pairs of pants or caprs are a good idea. Do not bring skintight pants, just comfortably fitted ones. Your clothing should always be kept neat and clean. Luggage Remember that you will often have to carry your luggage for some distance. Do not take any piece that you cannot manage easily. For domestic flights, you are now only allowed one free checked luggage, so be prepared to pay the $70 for an extra bag. Suitcases may weigh up to 50 pounds. Especially in Honolulu, they are very strict, and if you are only a few pounds overweight, they will either make you take things out until you meet the weight requirement or make you pay an exorbitant fee. You are also allowed one carry-on. If you have more things than you can carry, ship them. Domestic postage rates are a big boon to Americans living in the Marshall Islands. Your baggage will receive a lot of abuse in airports, trucks, boats, etc. when in transit. Canvas and nylon duffel bags or a large internal frame pack that can be locked are highly recommended. Internal frame packs are slightly better than external frame packs as they are less likely to be damaged in handling, but they are more expensive. It is essential to have a small daypack in addition to your larger bags. Every piece of luggage should be marked with your name and the DVTP address in the Marshalls both inside and outside. For outer island volunteers, Air Marshall Islands has a 30-pound weight limit for checked baggage. Don’t let this worry you, as you can send extra weight on the plane as freight. The process will be explained in detail once you get to Majuro. Your bags may not come to your island on the same flight as you do, but will get there soon after. 107

Shoes The footwear of the day is rubber zorries/ flip-flops. They are waterproof, which is useful when the frequent rains fall; they are easily taken off and on, which is useful for the many times you will go in and out of homes, and they are cool. They are also handy for walking in water, but they are not good for walking in the ocean; the tidal action will likely rip them. If you plan to look for seashells along the reef (a fun adventure when the tide is especially low), you will want something like Tevas or Keens (which are ideal because of the extra protection they afford your feet). There are basketball and volleyball courts on Majuro and the outer islands. Most people play barefoot, but some have shoes, so bring what you want. Many people share the same pair of basketball shoes. You may want one pair of sturdy, comfortable walking shoes or nicer shoes for important ceremonies, but this is not necessary. Women’s Clothing Clothing options can depend on your placement; variations on appropriateness do exist. Most women wear skirts and t-shirts, or full-length “guams” and “muumuus” in the classroom. You can buy these cheaply in Majuro. Pants, unfortunately, are not acceptable for teaching or outer islands. On the outer islands, you will want to play it straight and wear skirts and dresses – always with a slip or pair of long shorts underneath. If you do not, the Marshallese will be kind to you, but they will treat you like an outsider and not respect you. The Marshallese style is loose-fitting skirts and dresses at knee length or below. You can wear a sleeveless blouse in Majuro, but, in general, it is a better idea to wear dresses and blouses with sleeves. Overall, tight clothes are frowned upon. For volunteers living on Majuro, you should bring long skirts and nice tops for teaching. T-shirts are not as appropriate to wear in the classroom on Majuro as they are on outer islands. You should buy your shirts at home, as they are hard to find on Majuro but you will be able to buy many types of skirts there. Majuro-based volunteers may wish to bring a few pairs of jeans or Capri pants for “American” evenings out, but you cannot teach in them. Please remember that you are a teacher and as such, it is your responsibility to abide by cultural rules and show respect to your host-country. The best advice for women placed on outer islands is to bring a couple of outfits from home and enough nice t-shirts. Then you can buy cheap Pohnpei skirts, Guam dresses and a muumuu or two. Past volunteers have ended up doing this anyway, and ended up not wearing many of the clothes they brought from home on outer islands. Outer island volunteers might also want to bring a pair of jeans or long shorts to wear while in Majuro. Simple skirts and dresses often cost less than $10 in Majuro, and you might also receive muumuus as presents from your sponsor family or others. It won’t take too long to see the virtues of these simple, brightly printed dresses. You will quickly learn the value of the “guam dress,” a light and almost nightgown type dress popular on outer islands although not okay to teach in or walk around in on Majuro. Outside of the classroom, you will live in guams. They can be purchased very inexpensively in Majuro. You should bring slips or long shorts to wear under the skirts as an alternative to a slip. Also, shorts prevent chafing on hot days. If possible, you should try to find cotton slips, as they are cooler than nylon or polyester slips. 108

Bring a year's supply of bras and cotton underwear. Hand washing destroys socks and underwear rapidly. Underwires will rust, so be prepared to purchase new bras in Majuro or have them sent from home. Men's Clothing Take a few pair of easy-to-care-for pants, some nice shorts, “fun” shorts, one long-sleeved button-up formal shirt, lots of short-sleeved collared (button and polo) shirts and t-shirts, swim shorts, underwear, socks, and maybe a sweatshirt or anorak for cold air-conditioned places or long bouts of rain. In outer islands, polo/collared shirts and nicer shorts are acceptable for teaching. In Majuro, men should expect to wear polo/collared shirts and khakis to school. Rainwear The Marshalls get a lot of rain between May and December. Moreover, any day it may rain several times for short periods of time and then clear up as quickly as the rains came. Any type of light raincoat or poncho is fine (heat can be a problem, so your rain gear should be as lightweight as possible). Most Marshallese do not have any rainwear. Umbrellas also come in handy, but not for truck or boat rides. Nicer Clothes In Majuro, many prominent Marshallese dress in North American fashions, as well as in the Hawaiian-type dresses. Even at formal events, you’ll still find you fit in perfectly with a shortsleeved collared shirt. For women, most formal events mean muumuus, but a polo shirt and skirt also count as dressy. Linens Take one set of comfortable sheets, a pillowcase, a pillow, a light blanket and two towels (one for bathing and one for swimming). Volunteers will have mattresses or sleeping pads to sleep on. The DVTP will provide mats for orientation. Check the list of items in the house at your site for more information on bed sizes and any linens already on island. Medications and Cosmetics Take a year's supply of any special or prescription medicines as well as sunscreen and bug spray and whatever else you think you really need. There is never any guarantee that a given medication or product is available on-island. Know the generic name of any special medication you need, as the supplier in the Marshalls may use a different brand name. There is no malaria so don’t bring malaria medicine. Cosmetics, perfume, soap, contact lens solution, deodorant and toothpaste are widely available in the Marshalls and can be purchased there if you are flexible about brands. Bringing a year’s supply of basics like soap and shampoo is unnecessary. For each item, you will find several North American brands. Imported brands are generally more expensive. Tampons are not widely available; you might want to bring a year’s supply to ensure you have them (or have your family ship them to you during the year.)

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If you mail important medical supplies (like medication), make sure that you send them priority mail, and bring a comfortable supply with you in case the mail is delayed. Documents Make photocopies of your passport pages with personal information and a list of your traveler's check numbers. Take one copy with you and leave one with a friend or relative at home. This will make replacing lost documents much easier. Take at least three passport photos with you (these will come in handy if you need them; otherwise, you can give them to your students who will beg you for photos upon your departure). Documents should be carried close to your body in a small purse, pouch, money belt, or closed pocket. Be sure to have a copy of other important items like your driver’s license, credit cards, etc. in case your wallet gets stolen or “borrowed.” When you enter the country you should also have the following documents: ¨ Valid US Passport (1 copy for FD, 2 for Immigration) ¨ U.S. Health Insurance Plan Card (and copy of card for FD) ¨ Evacuation Insurance Plan Card (provided by the DVTP this year) ¨ Immunization Card (1 copy for FD, 1 for hospital registration) o Hepatitis A vaccine o Hepatitis B vaccine o Typhoid vaccine o Tetanus Booster ¨ HIV/AIDS test within at least 3 months of travel to the RMI (1 copy for FD, 2 for Immigration) ¨ Cipro prescription (verify with FD) ¨ Police clearance (1 copy for FD, 2 for Immigration) ¨ DVTP Health Form (brought to RMI for FD) Books You might want to bring a fistful of books to read under your palm tree by the lapping waters on the sandy beaches of the Marshalls. You can swap paperbacks with other volunteers. There is a library in the complex with the Alele Museum, and the College of the Marshall Islands has an interesting collection of books that is quite impressive considering the resources of the country, but you still might want to bring some. The DVTP office and each of the DVTP houses have growing libraries (close to 1,000 volumes) that you are welcome to peruse (and contribute to!). Electrical appliances Most Marshallese households on Majuro have electricity, but some do not. All DVTP housing has electricity. The current is the same as in the U.S., so an adapter is not necessary. Surge protectors are very helpful to protect your electronics when the power goes out and can be purchased in Majuro (but are cheaper in USA). Good batteries are often in short supply on Majuro and are quite expensive. Due to waste management, rechargeable batteries are a cheaper and more environmentally-friendly choice. Laptop Computers In the past, volunteers have brought their laptops for work and entertainment purposes. 110

Laptops are easily stolen everywhere and the Marshall Islands is no exception. If you plan to take one, be vigilant with it. If you leave it where it can be stolen, it will be. If your classroom, office or bedroom isn’t secure against break-ins, you may lose it as well. In addition, you need to take into account the pervasive rusting that occurs and protect your laptop from the elements. If your computer is in a place that’s not kept well air-conditioned, leave it on and asleep when you’re not using it, because the heat generated by the computer will prevent moisture from accumulating inside. The electrical sources on all the islands are uneven so you need to bring a decent surge protector and use it always. There are many “brown-outs” and uneven surges of electrical power, as well as occasional outages that make using electrical equipment more of a challenge. It is not likely that anyone on island could repair your laptop should something happen to it. Computer supplies are minimal, but they are there. Most likely, you will need to have someone mail supplies to you. It is always a good idea to regularly back up all your documents and files, but especially important here in the event that your computer goes bust. Especially if you have your grades and classwork kept on your computer, make sure you have it backed up in case your computer goes bust during the year. You will also want to bring a flash drive to transfer documents to print them. CDs/MP3s/iPods Nights away from home are easily filled with a little familiar music, and a tape recorder is also a valuable teaching tool. These can easily eat through batteries, but are often well worth it. You’ll want to consider bringing small speakers with your CD/MP3/iPod. iPod users are recommended to bring a waterproof case to keep it dry and cool, particularly on the outer islands. Also, an extra pair of headphones is useful as the climate can take its toll. Hobbies/Sports Take what interests you: art supplies, sports equipment, or music. If you take a musical instrument, remember to take along extra strings, reeds, or other supplies that you may need, as well as your music books. Outer island volunteers are strongly encouraged to buy a ukulele in Majuro before heading to their outer island. Frisbees make a good gift to your school. Basketballs, volleyballs and other basic equipment are available in Majuro. Cameras and Film Consider size and weight when choosing a camera. It's nice to have a good camera, but remember that cameras are easily stolen, they rust easily, and sand can get in them. Take plenty of film. You can get film in the Marshalls, but it is expensive. Bring a good sealable container to store film, which is very susceptible to heat and humidity damage. Digital cameras are great, if you keep them protected from the elements. Some volunteers choose to send film and CDs to Snapfish or other mail-in developers because there is no place to have your film developed in Majuro, only on Kwajalein. Waterproof cameras are a great idea. Other Equipment 111

A good flashlight and a water bottle are essential for travel. A small mirror, a combination lock, an alarm clock or watch, and a pocketknife are also useful. Gifts Taking a small gift to your sponsor family is a nice gesture and will help you start off right. Good gift ideas include items representative of your hometown or Dartmouth or practical items, like Swiss army knives, Nalgenes flashlights and fishing lures (for ocean fishing). Baseball hats and inexpensive women’s accessories are also well received. Marshallese women love nice perfume and fruity lotion. You might want to have a stash of small gifts on hand (good pens, fragrant soaps, fishing lures, pretty hair accessories, etc.) to give to people that help you as you get adjusted and throughout the course of the year.

Checklist of Suggested Clothing Although this is a recommended list, some volunteers may find they need other things. This is a general collection of items you are likely to need based on the experiences of past volunteers, but by no means is it definitive. If you have further questions about what you should bring, contact the Field Director or some of the previous volunteers from your site. •

Footwear o 1 pair sneakers o Multiple pairs of flip flops (although you can purchase these in Hawaii or Majuro) o 1 pair of Tevas, Keens, Crocs or snorkel booties o 1-2 pair of socks (more if you exercise) o 1 pair nicer shoes for special occasions

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Clothing (men) o enough underwear for at least 10 days (preferably cotton) o at least 3 pair of pants o at least 5 short-sleeve button-up or polo shirts o lots of T-shirts (colored shirts show fewer stains than white ones) o a more formal shirt (for church and funerals) o 4-5 pair of shorts

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Clothing (women) o enough bras and underwear for at least 10 days (preferably cotton) o 2-3 suitable teaching outfits (you can buy more in Majuro) o 2 slips (cotton is preferable; nylon is fine) o lots of loose-fitting t-shirts (colored shirts show fewer stains than white ones) o casual clothes for weekend wear o one nice dress or skirt and top for special occasions o 1-2 pairs of slacks/jeans/capris for travel and lounging around your room o 1-2 pairs of shorts (knee-length board shorts work best) for lounging around your room, wearing under skirts and Guam dresses 112

o o o o

pajamas (Guam dresses are comfortable for this) 1-2 sports bras for exercising long baggy shorts for swimming rash guard top for swimming (t-shirts are fine, but don’t offer sun protection)

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Miscellaneous clothing o sweater, sweatshirt, or a light jacket for Hawaii, and in case you get wet o rain jacket or poncho – very lightweight o hat for the sun (fishing, boating, hiking) o 1 swimsuit (or 2 if you like to spend time on the beach) o sleep wear o rash guard or shirt to swim in

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Linens o 1 set of sheets o 2 large towels o 1 small towel and/or wash cloth o A comfortable pillow

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Odds and Ends o Snorkeling gear – mask, fins and snorkel. o Some sort of music player with external speakers (almost every volunteer recommends music in his/her top 10 lists of important items) o 3 passport photos and 3 copies of your passport and other documents o insect repellent/sunscreen o spare pair of eyeglasses o sunglasses o flashlight and batteries (mainly for volunteers on the outer islands, who found headlamps to be quite useful, but Majuro volunteers also need flashlights for the occasional power outages) o extra batteries (alkaline last longer than regular) or battery charger and rechargeable batteries o watch with alarm o Leatherman-style multi-tool o 2 water bottles (Nalgene) o small case to carry passport and money close to your body o $500 in cash and traveler’s checks (the actual amount that you’ll need may vary…but it’s good to have extra cash should you need it.) o calendar o gifts for your sponsor family o leave a duplicate address book at home in case yours is lost o leave a record of your passport and traveler's checks' numbers at home o multi-vitamins o basic antibiotics o an alarm clock o a flash drive 113

o plenty of blank cds and dvds - these are expensive in Majuro and impossible to find on Wotje/Kili/Jaluit! •

Things not to take in large quantities, but that you might want to send ahead o most toiletry & cosmetic items (razors, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. which are available in Majuro but can be expensive) o high-quality alkaline batteries, re-chargeable will be much more cost effective and environmentally friendly) o extra cartridges for water filters o “spare parts” (flashlight bulbs, spare watch batteries, etc.) o books o school materials, teaching and art supplies

Many things are available in Majuro. Deodorant, toothpaste or floss, sun block, shaving supplies, soap and shampoo – all of these are widely available if you’re not too fussy about brands. The stores have plenty of brands from home, just not all of them, and brands from home will be expensive. Do not pack any flammable materials or liquids such as lighter fluid, cleaning solvents, hair spray, or aerosol insect repellent in your luggage. Volunteers may not take pets, weapons, explosives, or radio transmitters into the Marshalls. You are cautioned about taking expensive items overseas. Jewelry, expensive watches, radios, and cameras are subject to loss or damage, and maintenance and repair are usually inadequate. In many cases, a cheap item will do the job of an expensive one and reduce the impact of loss. The DVTP is not responsible for volunteers' personal belongings.

Teaching Supplies Many volunteer teachers in the Marshalls have been frustrated by the lack of teaching resources at their schools. Since every school is different and since you may teach at beginning, lower intermediate, or high school it is hard to say for sure what books and other teaching materials you should take with you. If you’re planning on bringing teaching materials to the Marshalls, pack carefully. You can get the basics in Majuro or at your school, although certain items such as good markers, paints, electronics, or English-specific materials will be more expensive, if available at all. Good English-specific materials might include cassettes with children’s songs (bring a tape player and batteries), children’s books, pictures (magazine, family, etc for describing colors, adjectives, people, actions), maps, or an English grammar book for teaching adults. Below are some recommendations based on previous volunteers’ experiences. There is one copy of most of the books listed below at the office in Majuro – you are welcome to photocopy whatever interests you, although the materials cannot be taken to your sites. In general, the level of English among the Marshallese students is quite variable. On Majuro it will be higher than on the outer islands. Many of your students at primary schools will be 114

absolute beginners. Look through a range of EFL books before you go to get an idea of level, and aim for the beginning and intermediate level for those you decide to buy. If you have time, visit an ESL classroom at a local elementary school to see what is used at home. The DVTP office will have a small resource library that you are welcome to use throughout the year. In addition, many of these books can be found at your sites. •

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If you can take only one book/series to help with ESL, you might want to look at one of these series, which come in various levels from beginner to intermediate English. o Word by Word; also Side by Side: both by Steven J. Molinsky and Bill Bliss; Longman Press o English in Action o Fundamentals of English Grammar, by Betty Azar o Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan Although most of the following activity books are available in the DVTP/WorldTeach library for perusing and photocopying, you will probably want at least a couple with you at all times for quick reference. Possible titles include: o Zero Prep: Ready-to-Go Activities for the Language Classroom, by Laurel Pollard and Natalie Hess o Action Plans, by Marion MacDonald and Sue Rogers-Gordon o Discussions that Work, by Penny Ur o Keep Talking, by Friederike Klippel o Recipes for Tired Teachers, by Christopher Sion o Communication Starters, by Judy E. Winn-Bell Olsen o Before the Bell Rings, by Gregory Stricherz o Grammar Practice Activities, by Penny Ur Take a pocket English dictionary if you already have one. A good learner’s dictionary can be handy – it provides definitions in very simple language. One such dictionary is the Longman Dictionary of American English. You may also want a picture dictionary (recommended for both elementary and high school classes). If so look at The Oxford Picture Dictionary, by Oxford University Press. You may want to take additional reference books to help you with the difficult questions that occasionally come up. Some possible books are: o Dictionary of Two-Word Verbs for Students of English, by Eugene Hall o Crazy Idioms: a Conversational Idiom Book, by Nina Weinstein o Dangerous English, by Elizabeth Claire Volunteers wanting to teach environmental education may want to bring along some materials and resources that will provide ideas for group discussion and projects. Also, materials are available from CMI, MIMRA and EPA in Majuro. Take some posters, postcards, maps, and other visual aids or mementos you can use in the classroom. Images and objects liven up the classroom and can be used in a variety of lessons and activities. (Students will also like seeing pictures or postcards of your family and hometown.) Some teachers suggest going through old magazines and clipping a few dozen of the most interesting, most vivid, or most beautiful pictures. For your primary school classes, see if you can find some children’s stories, games, and songs. You may also want to take markers, glue, stickers, etc. 115

Again, if you are able to gather these materials, or have them donated before you leave for the RMI, that’s wonderful, but don’t let it bother you too much if you don’t have a trunk-full of teaching supplies. Many volunteers have shown up with few materials and plenty of imagination. They have done fine.

DVTP ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Paying Taxes United States Your stipend counts as a living allowance, not as income. You will still need to file income earned in America. Though doing your taxes is a drag, there is a bright side. If taxes were withdrawn from your paychecks at home during the calendar year in which you arrive in the Marshalls, you may be eligible for a refund. Ask a family member or friend to take responsibility for doing your taxes. As a U.S. citizen living and working abroad, if you are outside the U.S. on the regular due date (April 15th), an extension may be granted until June 15th. Again, consult the Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens Abroad to figure out if you qualify. Relevant forms can be downloaded off the IRS website (www.irs.gov). If you are on contract and a United States citizen, you must file federal income taxes and declare all income earned abroad (unless you qualify for exemption). Income earned while abroad up to $80,000 is not taxable (and you don’t make that much) but you will need to get proper documentation and still file your taxes. To get more information, consult the Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens Abroad (IRS publication 54) that is available from the U.S. Embassy or can be ordered from: Forms Distribution Center Rancho Cordova, CA 95743-0001 All tax forms are available at the U.S. Embassy in Majuro. Canada If you are a Canadian citizen, you must file an income tax return on your world income (income you receive in Canada and overseas). You can get a general tax guide and return with information for individuals outside Canada. For further information, contact: International Tax Office Revenue Canada Room 534, 875 Heron Road 116

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1A A relative or friend handling your taxes can call the International Tax Office at 1-800-267-5177 for additional information. Other Countries If you are a citizen of a country besides the U.S. or Canada, we’re sorry – we don’t have income tax information for you. Please let us know if there is anything (forms, letters, etc.) you need from the DVTP.

DVTP Update The DVTP Update is a newsletter distributed via email once every couple of months. The update keeps friends and family informed of current happenings and changes within the organization as well as news and pictures from each island group. Each volunteer will submit pictures and an update on what they and their students have been up to. This is a great way to keep in touch with those people who want to know what you are doing, but don’t have time to write. Volunteers can submit a list of email addresses to the Field Director at Majuro Orientation.

Extensions and Transfers Extensions Many DVTP volunteers find that as the school year is coming to a close, they are just getting into the swing of things. When this happens, many volunteers discover that they would like to stay at their school for a second year. They feel that a second year would allow them to see their students through graduation, or to finish a project only recently begun, or to hone their newly acquired teaching skills. Any of these reasons, and many others, are good reasons to consider extending your DVTP contract for a second year. The DVTP encourages volunteers to consider staying on at their schools, as an extension is often very valuable to the students and faculty of the school as well as to the volunteer. In most cases, you can accomplish much more during your second year, because you will already have adjusted to the country, the community, the school, the language, and the host culture. Volunteers have all the same costs covered during year two as were covered during year one. If your school has invited you back to stay for another year and you can commit to staying, then you should consider extending. It also might be possible to apply for a contract position to teach at your school. Talk to the Field Director if and when you are interested in extending your time in the Marshalls. Transfers Volunteers are expected to stay at their original placement sites for the entire DVTP year. However, if you find that a school has violated the terms of its contract or the placement puts you in a clearly unacceptable living or working situation, then you can request a transfer. Transfer request forms are available from your Field Director.

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Once you have submitted a transfer request form to the Field Director, she will contact you, your school, and any other parties concerned. The Field Director will evaluate the situation and decide if a transfer is in the best interest of both you and your host school. The Field Director will then ask the Program Director to approve the transfer. Transfers are usually only approved at a semester break. While we do not want volunteers to be in situations that are unsatisfactory, it is important to minimize the disruption to the school. Transfers are hard on schools and students, both of whom lose a much-needed teacher. Of course, if you believe that you are in a dangerous or otherwise threatening situation, you should contact your Field Director immediately for assistance.

Personal Belongings We advise you not to take expensive items with you to the Marshalls. A good general rule is to leave home anything you cannot afford to lose. The DVTP is not responsible for volunteers' luggage or personal belongings at any time. While traveling and during orientation, we advise you to keep all valuable items such as cameras and music players with you. The DVTP cannot replace or reimburse for items lost or stolen at any time. You may take out insurance on your personal belongings if you wish.

Student Loans In order to defer your student loans while you teach, request the appropriate forms from your lending institutions. Normally there is a section for you to fill out and a section for us to fill out, and then we return the form to the bank. Each loan is different, so you should ask for a separate form from each institution. If you have any questions regarding your loans, please contact your school financial aid department. U.S. Federal Loans For Stafford and Perkins loans, the principal and interest payments may be deferred while the borrower is experiencing economic hardship (up to three years). In addition, these loans may be forgiven under certain circumstances, which may apply to you in the Marshall Islands. We are waiting for the schools of the RMI to be added to the official list of schools that qualify so until that happens, there is no forgiveness. If you have U.S. Perkins Loans, you may be eligible for a certain percentage of debt forgiveness, since the Marshall Islands has the special association with the United States through the Compact of Free Association. The Field Director will work with the Secretary of Education to make certain that the RMI’s schools are listed as eligible schools for this loan forgiveness program. For details check out the following website: www.salliemae.com/loans/perkins.html The document states: “Cancellation, from 15% to 100% may be available for the following: Teacher Cancellation: You may be entitled to have up to 100 percent of the amount of this loan plus interest canceled if you perform quality service as a full-time teacher in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school in the school district of a local educational agency that is eligible in such year 118

of service for funds under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 and which has been designated as a school with a high concentration of students from lowincome families. An office directory of designated low-income schools is published annually by the Secretary.” “A portion of this loan will be canceled for each completed year of teaching service at the following rates: • 15 percent of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance accruing during that year will be canceled for each of the first and second complete academic years of that teaching service; • 20 percent of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance accruing during that year for each of the third and fourth complete academic years of that teaching service; • 30 percent of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance accruing during that year for the fifth complete academic year of that teaching service.” “To apply for loan cancellation, you must request the appropriate forms from the office that administers the Perkins loan program at the college or university that holds your loan. You must submit two forms for each year for which you seek cancellation: postponement/ deferment request form at the beginning of the school year and a cancellation request form at the end of the second year. You must also provide any documentation the college requests to show that you qualify for cancellation. It is the college’s responsibility to determine whether you qualify for cancellation. The institution’s decision cannot be appealed to the Department.” U.S. Stafford Loans may be forgiven but the qualifications are much more stringent. You may be able to cancel up to $5,000 of your Stafford Loans if you are teaching in a low-income school and you are a “new borrower” after October 1, 1998. A new borrower is one who received his/her first Stafford Loan on or after October 7, 1998, or had no remaining balance on Stafford Loans made prior to 10/7/1998 on the date the new loan was made. To qualify, you must work as a full-time teacher for 5 consecutive years in an elementary or secondary school that has been designated as a “low-income” school. Low-income elementary and secondary schools are designated by the Department each year and are posted at: www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/stafford.html. The elementary school must be public or private non-profit. You may apply for cancellation after completing the fiveyear teaching requirement.

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Important Contact Numbers and Addresses Andrew Garrod (Program Director) [email protected]

John Tansey (Dartmouth Liaison) [email protected] office: (603) 646-1202 (Office of Off-Campus

Programs) fax: (603) 646-3838 44 N. College St. Suite 6102, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH 03755 When calling the RMI, first dial 011 to leave the US, then the RMI country code 692, then the number.

Carleigh Beriont (Field Director) office: 625-3739 cell: 455-3887 (DVTP) home: 625-7227 email: [email protected] P.O. Box 673, Majuro MH 96960, Marshall Islands

Ministry of Education General Office: Secretary of Education, Hilda Heine

625-5261/5262 fax: 625-3861 625-6698

Bikini Office Jack Niedenthal: July Note

625-3177 625-4265

455-3177 455-7805

WorldTeach (as surrogate & emergencies only) Todd (Field Director) Ken (Assistant Field Director)

455-6443 456-0787

625-5971

Schools MIHS: NVTI:

625-3255 625-2688

Laura High School: Ejit Elementary:

528-4594 625-5426

Public Service Numbers Information American Embassy Majuro Hospital Majuro Clinic Laura Dispensary NTA Customer Service NTA Trouble Desk (repairs) NTA V7AY Outer Islands Operator Local Police - Rita Local Police - Delap

625-1411 247-4011 625-3355 625-6455 528-2634 625-2273 625-3851 625-3363/3571/3681 625-7911/8044 625-5911/8999 120

Local Police - Ajeltake Local Police - Laura National Police *Emergency* (National) V7AB Radio Station Payless Wholesale

247-2911/5444 528-5911/2013 625-3233/8666/4049 625-6911 or 528-6911 625-8411 625-7409/6111

Other Volunteers Kili Volunteers’ Cell Wotje Volunteers’ Cell Jaluit Volunteers’ Cell

545-3305 545-2275 545-3228

Others Foster Heine (NIHS Principal) Raymond Johnson (Kili Principal) Ajenta Mikieo (JHS Principal)

545-2236 545-3669/3322 545-1918

Volunteer Mailing Addresses You should have mail and packages shipped to the following addresses. We have found sending packages airmail works best. Bikini Volunteers (Ejit & Kili): c/o July Note P.O. Box 470 Majuro, MH 96960 MOE Volunteers (MIHS, NVTI, Laura, Wotje, Jaluit): c/o DVTP P.O. Box 673 Majuro, MH 96960

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