For those of you who don’t know, I am currently in the Marshall Islands with WorldTeach. I was looking at a few of WorldTeach’s programs in the Pacific and stumbled upon this 6 month program, and since I hadn’t yet been to the Marshall Islands, my curiosity forced me to apply.
The Marshall Islands is different from most countries because it is made of 27(?) atolls. An atoll is like a group of small islands surrounding a lagoon, but unlike typical islands, they are flat with little vegetation and extremely small.
World Teach has different kinds of placements in the Marshall Islands. While everyone serves as a teacher and most teach English, your location can give you a very different experience. Majuro is the main atoll, and the capital of the Marshall Islands. Being placed there you would have access to a movie theater, internet, restaurants, and the main airport; though you would have less of a cultural experience. The second placement type is Ebeye. Ebeye is an island in the Kwajelein Atoll that is less than half a square mile and has a population of over 13,000. I’ve heard it is the densest population in the world. Since it is near a military base on a nearby island, many speak English. While it does not have most amenities, it does have the basics. The third placement option is the outer islands, which makes up most of the placements. On outer islands you live in small communities. The villages are usually very traditional, going spear fishing and boating in outrigger canoes. For the most part, there is no electricity, water, phone, or internet. There are also no other volunteers placed in visiting distance. Isolated seems to be an understatement for the outer islands.
Most volunteers started this past summer, and the five of us who just arrived are joining to serve as replacements for this spring term. After sending in my application, I was told all new volunteers would be placed on the outer islands. While I was excited to explore traditional Marshallese life, the extreme isolation and lack of communication made me a little anxious (most outer islands only have a radio as communication).
After having mentally prepared myself for life on an outer island, I found out my placement had changed while I was halfway through packing. I found out I would be teaching English at an elementary school on Ebeye and living on a nearby island. While I knew my stories of “roughing it to the extreme” now wouldn’t exist, I was at ease to know I would have some communication AND another volunteer to live with. December 27th I was off to Majuro for some orientation.
No comments:
Post a Comment