A Marshallese in Las Vegas

     A friend of mine from Thailand and I from Marshall Island was in Las Vegas City last year and we had a great time. It was our first time to see this famous city which we hear from friends that it a gambling place and a sin city! My friend who lives in Salt Lake City wants to come over to visit Vegas before both of us returns back to our own country. When we came from the airport in the evening by car we saw many tall fancy beautiful building and we saw lots of fancy signs along the roads and it crowded with people. My friend stayed at a motel call Riviera and it's a nice motel. Coming down from the room to the casino area we saw it was crowded with people gambling. On our way out we saw these statues of ladies naked butts in front-door wall of motel then I told my friend this is why they said it a sin city!  It was surprising at first when we saw it, and was hilarious because we begin to take photos of us with these statues of ladies. We were able to go up to the stratosphere tower but we were too scared to get in the ride because we were like thousand feet up from the ground. The fountain of Bellagio show was beautiful alone with music played on the background. One thing that we were really not comfortable with is on the street it was crowded with people and employees for companies that pass out these dirty cards to people. We had no idea what those card were, but one guy handed us a card and first we thought it something they want us to buy from them. Totally wrong! I cannot believe my eyes when I saw the card with naked women on it. Well I confirmed to myself that oh boy it is a Sin City! We had fun going in and out of each big fancy building of Las Vegas, and we walked everywhere from Riviera Motel to Mandalay Bar Hotel. My feet were so tired and in pain because I was wearing flat sandal instead of walking shoes. We shopped a little and played games at New York Hotel and walked back to the motel. It was an adventure.

Moving to a new place far away from home and family

It was summer time in 2009 when my parents decided to send me to Hawaii with my oldest brother to stay with him and attend high school there. It was my first trip to traveling without my parents. I almost got lost at the Honolulu airport, but then a security guard came by and he showed me a sign that says Immigration. I walk out the terminal and saw my brother outside waiting for me. He took me to where he was living and showed me my room. I went in to sleep after the four hour trip. I woke up and found out that I wanted to go back to my parent. I told him that I wanted to come back to the Marshall Islands. I did not want to stay there any longer. I missed my home and family. I did not know anybody around, there was nobody around to talk to and nobody to play with when my brother was off to work and that really made me want to cry. One Saturday night, my brother took me to a park called Makiki Park. I saw many Marshallese my age but I did not know any of them. I look at them laughing and playing, this also makes me really want to  come back home with my family and friends. Then, my brother came and introduced me to his friends.

Life on Arno

People who live on Arno atoll work hard for a living. They wake up before the sunrise to prepare food for their family. Local food is what they eat every day. They encounter hard times getting imported food for themselves, so they rely on local food. They get up every morning and cook breadfruit while they are waiting for low tide. Low tide is the best time for them to go catch fish for their family. After they finish all this for their family, they often call their relatives to help them with farming. Farming is quite important in this country. Farming is another way for their survival. They know that without farming and fishing they cannot survive. Many people who live on Arno faced many difficulties and hardships in their life even though they still try their best to grow plants for themselves. People who live on Arno today always come to Majuro to shop for food and other items they need. They come to Majuro to shop because they think it is less expensive to shop on Majuro. There are a couple of small businesses on Arno today, but their prices are too high and people on Arno cannot afford to buy from them. They work really hard collecting copra so they can buy what they need for themselves. Copra is one of their main resources on the atolls. Even though copra is one of their main resources, they still have to work hard every day.

By Lucky Kelen

Being a college student while having a job

It’s challenging to taking classes and having a job at the same time. Why I’m saying this is because instead of focusing on my work stuff I have to focus on my studies too so that I can achieve good grades. This is very challenging because for sure, I need to focus on my work stuff because it’s the main priority for me so that I don’t get fired, but when I’m thinking about it, it’s also important for me to finish my college so that I can get a better grades. However, most of the college moms have jobs and take classes at the same time because they want to achieve their degree.  Being in college while having a job is very tiring because you have to focus on both things instead of one, and mostly I have to focus on my job because if not then my kids will not get food, clothes and everything that is needed for them. Sometimes I almost think of quitting from taking classes but when I look back and think about it I just find that it’s also very important for me to achieve my goal which is my college degree so that I can take care of my kids. Today, life is very hard if you don’t have a college degree and a job because without these you cannot take care of your kids and your family.

By Charity Tawoj

Being a dorm student in the College of the Marshall Islands

Being a dorm student at the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) is a good opportunity for me because it might be helpful for me in many ways to learn how to live alone. Staying in dorm is difficult for me to support myself without my parents and my family. Being a dorm student is easier to go to class and not spent lots of money to pay for transportation. And living in a dorm is good for me to gain more experience of living without parents. It helps me in work in school. I can spend all my time in the computer lab and doing research and dorm is close to the math tutoring area. Dorm club is one of the active clubs here,  doing many kind of activity like community service, car wash every Saturday and barbeque to raise money. Staying in dorm is good for me because I can learn how to cook my own food, wash my own clothes and other kind of household chores. Living in dorm is a little bit hard for me because we buy our own food. Water, electric are provided by CMI. Staying in a dorm is easy because CMI also provides computers.There are many reasons why students are kicked out of dorm: they break the rules like drinking alcohol on campus,  using tobacco on campus and also they do not follow the weekend sign out form.  Staying in the dorm in privilege and we the students do not have our own right to do anything we want to do.

How Special Freindships are in the Marshall Islands

Getting along with friends here in the Marshall Islands is one of the special and unique things to do.  The custom of friendship here is very strong and meaningful to our lives. I have a special friend who that I rely on. Even though we didn’t grow up together, the connection of trust, love, and support is very strong for both of us. We become real friends after knowing each other in school and because we usually helped each other out on school work. From those moments, we started to spend most of our time with each other. In our culture, it’s unusual for one person to share their personal problems to other people- even with parents. However, I think it’s not so strange for me and my friend to share personal problems. We usually talked about family matter too. For example, I was once mad with my father because I think he never wanted to support his biological kids’ needs anymore after getting another wife. After more than a year of asking for everything but always neglected, I made a call to him and said bunch of foul words to him. These kinds of issues are hard to share with a friend but I did it because I considered my friend’s life the same as mine. Whenever we go to see each other at our houses, it’s always sound crazy. For instance, when we’re at my house, my family will treat him better than me as though he grew up with them. And it happens at his home too. One day, I went to his house and spent most of the day there. From the moment I entered the house, I knew that the family also cared for me because they talked so politely to me and treated me well. We still earn and have respect for each other, which I truly believe that we will continue to have until the time we are gone from this world.

As a boy in Majuro

As a boy in Majuro I would wake up every morning hearing the sound of roosters crowing in the morning and the smell of bubu’s(grandma) cooking of delicious pandanus bread and coconut bread pudding. I and my younger brother would race to the kitchen to see who taste the first piece of pandanus bread from the oven bubu had just baked. As a boy in Majuro me and my younger brother would chase the neighbors or the alaps(landowners) roosters  on our front lawn, we would catch two or three roosters and lock them up in a small pen hut we had built from wooden cardboards and tin we had found.

                As a boy in Majuro every Sunday I and my family would go to church. The smell of sweet strong scent of coconut oil and hearing the singing from the bible song made me feel happy and joyful especially hearing the beautiful sound of mother singing right next to me gave me comfort and peace.  After church we would visit our relatives and eat over or go bubu’s house for an evening rest or sleep over.

                As a boy in Majuro I would go bubu’s  house in the weekend clean yard,  if I don’t go bubu’s gonna work hard so I would help her carry and clean, and always have chores around  her house. As a boy in Majuro i am happy to live right next to the ocean, as a boy in Majuro I am lucky and proud to be whom I am and where I am from. 

Uniforms

 

Wearing uniforms for school separate students from other student’s temporarily because they wear the different color and style of uniforms. Each school in particular matter for example, when the school first founded what atoll and village it from. Wearing uniforms simplified where the school it represents. For example, M.I.H.S uniform is green because it is the color of the trees and plants on Majuro. Laura elementary school color is orange because it is the same color of the sun when it set in Majuro. Wearing a uniform causes no worries in the morning. Wearing clothes to school is the opposite of wearing uniforms. It takes time to choose what clothes to wear - what color and what style. Choosing or wearing clothes to school every day show or proof that you are a college student in Majuro because only college students here wear clothes to school. Each student has different taste and style. Other wear same style because they have something in common; for example, most kids wear baggy pants because they like hip-hop and rap, or some kids like to wear tight clothes to show off their muscles because they  like to work out. Not wearing uniforms makes things very different in other ways. Wealthy kids like to wear designer clothes that are expensive. All in all people have their own choice to wear uniforms or not; it all depends on what school they go to.

My Best Friend Ishner

Being with best friends is really helpful in many ways and wonderful for one’s life. Since I was 5 years old, I had one real best friend and he is still my best friend now. He is kind, polite, brave and mostly honest to his friends. He is not attending any school now, but should be in college now. He is very kind and often asks me what should be done to make his friends happy with him. He is now 20 years old and next semester he will attend the College of the Marshall Islands. Sometimes if I feel bad with something, he helps me and makes me happy. It is really nice to be near him and playing games with him often. He is staying at Laura now and living with his relatives. Being friends with him makes my life strong and good. He is a kind of person that I know for sure that many people might want to be like, or become one of his friends.  

 

My First Trip to Mom’s Home Island

 

Lae is very beautiful and people there are very kind and generous. My first trip to Lae was fun and exciting. I found it very beautiful because there were lots of trees and the nice painted canoes by the sea that were handmade by the men there. There were also handicrafts that women there made by themselves too. They make them and sell them or use them to welcome other people that are visiting, especially chiefs whom we call “Iroj”. It is one of their traditions. One of the best things I loved doing there was sailing with one of my uncles. We would take one of our canoes and sail to other small islands there and take some breadfruit which is my favorite. Kayaking is very popular too with people on Lae atoll, but too bad they have only 4 kayaks there, but people there care for each other and share things. When there’s a birthday celebration, it’ll be a big feast. They celebrate together and each family makes their own special meal and they all come together and eat and dance and enjoy their night of birthday celebration. Life there is full of fun and laughter. I didn’t see any violence or kids smoking and drinking. I was there for only one week but I’m glad I had to experience some new things and meet my family.

Basketball in the Marshall Islands

Basketball is one of the most played sports in the Marshall Islands. Many people play it and have a lot of fun. Most of the time the sports committee make leagues for the community and everybody usually signs up for it. Whenever many of the students are on the court, they do their best to be the best player out there. Many of my friends and I love to go outside and shoot some hoops. We usually play just when the sun is about to hit the trees. At that time it’s the best time for balling because the sun is just below the horizon and the shade covers the court. Basketball is most likely the best sport in the Marshalls and many young kids love to play it. As a young kid, I hated playing basketball because I was too busy playing video games. Whenever my friends would come over, they would make plans to shoot some hoops at the court at the College of the Marshall Islands. I would always think otherwise and stay home by myself while my friends would go play some basketball.

One day I just got tired of the same old games and went to hang out with my friends. We all went to play a little basketball. When I started playing it became very fun and interesting, even though I didn’t really know the rules. I got better at it and have been playing basketball ever since. Now I play for many school leagues, community leagues, and state leagues. And it is also one of my favorite sports.

Quenched Pain in the Atoll

Hi my name is Kenny Sasser Lath and I want to tell you a story about twin sisters who found happiness in the midst of pain and grief in Majuro Atoll. It all started on September 23, of 1991 in the afternoon. Rose Lang and Robert Smith had two twin girls that were brought into this world. Even on that day, the Lord had already begun to setup divine appointments as their father, who would not be their father for ten more years, held them. It still feels like it was yesterday, the ocean was emerald in color and the twins could feel the warm breeze against their skins. Everything in their life felt like a fairy tale, but that all ended one beautiful morning. The twins were only 4 years old at the time, their older sister and younger brother were all seated for breakfast and their parents got into a fight and their dad got too carried away with his temper. Then the twin’s Grandma came and saved the day from it getting worse.

The children’s hearts felt like it was ripped from their chests. Their fairy tale life just went from having two parents to only having one parent because the father divorced their mom and left them for good. That was the last time they saw their father. Growing up without having any man in the house made the twins vulnerable to life and men. The mother did her best to take care of them all. At the age of 6 the sisters experienced something devastating that no child should ever go through. This situation went on for a while. Life just got more confusing and dark. Four years later on June 21, of 2002 their prayers were answered. The twin’s future dad, Derek, who held them when they were born, and his wife Renee began the process of adopting them along with their beautiful girls Sophia and Michaela. There were mixed feelings. They were both going to miss their biological mom and family.

Life in America felt like a dream, the twins accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts as their savior. Their dad, Derek explained to them about being born again believers with the blood of Jesus. Derek baptized them at East 91 Street church where they attended in Indiana. That was the happiest day of their lives, accepting Jesus into their hearts and forgiving those who had done them wrong. It was not easy at first for the twins but with the grace from the Lord nothing is impossible. For about for years later they move to Missouri. Years and years have past and they are now living the life they always wanted and are happy. So now both twin’s are happily married and have surrendered themselves to Jesus, and they and their husbands are living in the state of Missouri.

Being the Youngest In My family

Since I am the youngest and the one and only girl in my family, my parents kind of depend on me to do the chores. My dad actually doesn’t want me to do the chores and the cooking at our house. But I like to do this kind of work for my family.  Every day I wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast. After I am done cooking and setting the table, I go out of our house and do some cleaning. Then, after I finish picking up trash, I get back inside and eat. When I am full, I get dressed and ready to go to school.

At school, I wish I were home. Pretending to be at home makes me feel like I am doing all the chores one at a time. When my classes are over for the day, I immediately go home. The first thing I do is put my school materials away and then getting ready to do the chores. I fix everything inside first and then outside. When the sun sets, I prepare my utensils to cook dinner. When the food is served, I provide water for everyone. Everybody enjoys their dinner and says their thanks to me for the lovely dinner I prepared and say our goodnight to each other. When dinner is over, I wash the dishes and clean the table.

Finally, I go to my room and lie down and study for a few minutes and then fall asleep. This is what I do as the youngest and the only girl in my family.

Fishing in the RMI

Marshallese boys like to go fishing. They like to spend most of their time at sea. Fishing is like a hobby for the boys in the Marshall Islands. Almost every boy knows how to fish for food. They like to go fishing with a group of many boys. The boys on my home atoll, which is Utrok Atoll, love to go fishing every day. I used to be afraid of the sea when I was a child. Back when I was seven or eight years old, my uncle asked me if I could accompany him on his boat when he went fishing. I told him that I didn’t want to go with him because I was afraid of the sea. He told me that it was going to be very fun and I was going to learn how to catch big fish. He tried to persuade me and then all of a sudden I changed my mind. I went with him on his boat and we set off for the sea. When we reached the coral reef, he made himself bait and placed it on his hook and started to put down the line into the sea, down to where the coral was. He made one for me and I held it until the hook was bitten by a fish, and then he told me to pull it toward me so I can take the fish. Finally I had caught a big fish and felt so great about it for the first time. From that time I began to go fishing on the boat and also other types of fishing like spear fishing and fishing with a net. I really have enjoyed going out on the sea with my friends since I was eight years old.

Living far From School

Living far from school can be really challenging. Here on Majuro, there are only two colleges and they’re very far from Laura village where I come from. However, there are many college students from Laura, Woja, and Ajeltake who are attending college. Every day, we students have to wake up at 5:30 so we can get ready and catch the school bus. If we don’t get up early then we miss the school bus and we have to catch the public bus or a taxi. Sometimes we don’t have money to ride them so we just stay home and are absent from our classes. It is very hard to wake up every day so early to try and catch the school bus, but we don’t have a choice so we do this every day until we graduate.

Sometimes we don’t have time to eat our breakfast but we go to school anyway. After arriving in school and going to class, we find it hard to study with an empty stomach. Other times we have headaches from getting up early and going to bed late. We’re in college so we have lots of work to do. Some students get home late because they have to stay and do their studies in the library or the school computer labs. It is very hard for us, but it is something we must to every day so we can finish our education and get ready to start a new life as an employee.

My Life in Enid, Oklahoma

Living in Oklahoma was a challenging thing in my life. Even though I was thousands of miles away from my parents, my love for them was still in my heart and theirs.  In Oklahoma it was really hard for me to get to know people that well because I was new to the school I went to. It took a whole month for me to talk to the Marshallese girls and boys who went there, too. When I got to know them well everything went great. But to tell you the truth I got good grades but I was not allowed to go anywhere unless my guardians went there, too. Even though it was really hard I tried my very best to get what I wanted. For example they will not let me go to church activities or hang out with my best friends at all. I hate it when things you want won’t come, but the things that my guardians wanted, they had to have it right away. And if you won’t or don’t do as they ask they will spank you because you are not doing the thing that they asked you to. For example if I didn’t do my chores well which I do, or didn’t do all my chores just that day, my guardians would get mad at me and then spank me. Things got really complicated back at Enid, Oklahoma, but I didn't mind them. I stayed focused on school till my senior year so that I could come back to the islands because every time I did something good or something bad and I usually ended getting all bruised up.

Loving family

Family is the most important thing in a person’s life. I am the youngest of my family of eight children. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters. The first thing we like to do in the beginning of a day is have a morning worship where we sing and pray. In the afternoon we have our daily bible reading schedule, finish all the bible assignments for that day given from our father. The most important thing about our family is that they will never leave you, and they will never put you aside as other friends do. They won’t let you face your obstacles by yourself. Whenever you are in grave danger, they are there for you.Whenever you need help and none of your friends are there to help you, then you can always count on your family. Whenever you in a deep hole and struggling about your studies, friends might look at you and say you are so irresponsible, but your family is always there for you to pull you up from the deep hole that you are trapped in. In life, friends,girlfriends, boyfriends have the last three letters “e-n-d” whereas the word family is different because the last three are amazing for us to imagine, and those are i-l-y meaning “I Love You”. So it is true that families are the best thing, and I am really blessed to have such a great family.

Mejit Island

Life is different everywhere. The most perfect life in the Marshall Islands is a life on Mejit Island. On Mejit Island, there are many things that are different from life in other places. Life is different in way of living, food and temperature. The way of living is different because all of the members in the family live together to help one another in everything they need for the family. In other places, not so many family members live together. Life on Mejit Island is also perfect because many families live together in different towns. Food in Mejit Island is healthier than food from different places. People there eat pig, chicken, fish, crab, some also eat dog. They eat many plants like banana, taro, pumpkin and others. Some people also eat a lot of fat food instead of healthy foods. They eat corn beef, spam, and rice, flour and other unhealthy foods. There is a big space for the people in Mejit to plant Marshallese foods. The farms there are enough to plant Marshallese foods. The temperature in Mejit Island is really perfect and good for people. It can rain for two and three days, and it’s not really hot in the afternoon.  When it’s windy in the evening on Mejit, and the sky is not really cloudy, people can watch sun going down. People know that life on Mejit is more perfect than ever. They eat a lot of healthy food, live together and help their family with everything they need.

My Great Great Grandfather

I was told that I am half English and half Marshallese. It is quite true. My great great grandfather came to the Marshall Islands in the year of 1890 and served as a missionary around the Pacific. His name was Carl Russell Heine. He was from England but grew up and was raised in Australia along with the rest of his family. He migrated here by himself with no family or friends. He started working as a missionary at Jaluit, an outer island, where he met a woman named Arbella. They had a son named Claud. Later on, his wife passed away and there he got re-married to the younger sister of his late wife, named Nenij. They had eight children, and my descendants came from the sixth child.

Carl Russell Heine continued his missionary work, travelling from island to island with all his children, grandchildren, and wife with him. During that time, Japan took control of the Marshall Islands. The Japanese did not believe in God and did not want the missionaries to teach the Bible to them and the local people. They were trying to prevent missionaries from preaching the word of God around the Marshall Islands. They warned people that whoever was preaching the word of God, they would have them beheaded or hanged. The Japanese soldiers found out that there was an old man who persisted in preaching even though he was aware of the consequences. Before they arrested him, he put all his children, grandchildren, and wife in a hole where they could hide from the Japanese troops so they would not be killed. He told them to hide every Bible they had and also his missionary papers. After he made sure that his family was safe, he turned himself in to the Japanese. They had him killed. It is a sad story but I can say that my great great grandfather risked his life for his family, and did what was best for them.

From Public to Private

In the Marshall Islands, parents are working hard to earn money so they can send their children to a better school. Some parents have financial problems and cannot send their children to private schools. The private schools are more advanced than public schools. In public schools there are many teachers who are not qualified and are less experienced. I remember when I was in fifth grade my dad made me transfer to a private school where I had to work much harder. The school curriculum there was so different from my old school. I had to learn more from more experienced and qualified teachers.  I can still remember my first day of school. I was so scared, shy and nervous. But I realized that I would have to face those students and get rid of my shyness. Fitting into a new school with new faces was very hard for me. I had to leave my friends at my old school and make new friends at my new school. As days went by, I decided to hangout with two of the girls in my class and we became best friends. Every recess we would wait for each other and go buy snacks at the cafeteria, even at lunch time. We would sit at the same table and chat while we are eating. They were like sisters to me when I got to know them better. But as we went up to high school we became closer to each other that we shared each other's secrets.