Beautiful Giant Clam

This photo of one of the giant clams here was shown on the U.S. Embassy website. We've never seen one before with such beautifully colored "lips."  It is illegal to ship out the shells of this giant clams.  We have one on our deck that someone must have put there years ago.  It weighs about 50 lbs.  It is so solid we can't pick it up.

Some children we've met

Here are a few of the children we've met while running our diabetes screening clinics.

I think this little girl must have been born with a cleft palate but has had it repaired.

 The kids love to have their picture taken and always seem to pose with their fingers in different positions.

These good looking young fellas were hanging around hoping to get a taste of some of the food we were demonstrating at the clinic.  Of course Elder Crooks gave them some and they seemed to enjoy it.

Happy graduate!

We were invited to the graduation ceremony for 50 some people who just finished taking the Reversing Diabetes Class offered at the Wellness Center. This class is for diabetics and involves a 10-day commitment to attend each of their classes for full days and eat only the food they are provided by the Center. They are taught how diabetes affects their bodies. Shown how to select healthy food. Participate in hands-on cooking classes to learn how to cook healthy food and take part in daily exercise.  Participants' blood sugar and blood pressure are taken every day and at the end of the 10 days, they are told how their new eating and exercise has affected their blood sugar, blood pressure and weight.

As participants were asked to come forward to get their certificates of completion, they were invited to "dance" their way to the front. This lady just stole the show. She was so cute as she made her way to the front!

Graveyard

There are many graveyards on the Marshall Islands. Because the islands are coral atolls, it is hard to dig into the ground so the graves are generally built on top of the ground. This one is along the main road in the Delap area.

Funny Sign

We think this is a funny sign. It shows you the way in and out at the only gate to this gate.  You either head to the dock at the ocean or to the main road.  Seems pretty clear without the sign but...

Picture of Us At Our Pizza Place

So here we are at the Chit Chat Club, our favorite pizza place. We can sit outside and watch the waves roll in while we wait for our large combo pizza!

Presentation of Equipment to KIJLE

We were pleased to provide some new equipment Dec 16th to KIJLE, a women's group that supports some of the country's most vulnerable families. Area Welfare Manager Hans Sorensen presented KIJLE representatives with a new printer for their office and a portable speaker they can use when teaching exercise classes. KIJLE works with families affected by addictions. They promote good healthy by connecting families with individuals and agencies who can provide services, and teach families how to cook healthy food and the importance of regular exercise.

Cooking Demonstrations at Farmers' Markets

Taiwan Technical Mission has worked for years to help develop local farmers in order to create better access to local produce. They hold a Farmers' Market the end of each month.

Taiwan Farms asked for some help recruiting organizations that would help launch a new series of cooking demos at their market. We found three groups for the first market and even helped at one run by the Wellness Center.

This is one of the other groups called KIJLE. Their wonderful volunteers work with families affected by addictions. They are great cooks too!
Next month we expect to have six cooking groups.

Non-Communicable Disease Coalition

 Our Non-communicable Disease Coalition, which has representatives from the Ministry of Health, community organizations, NGOs and churches, is going through some positive changes.

We have had several meetings in the past month to review and update our bylaws and to talk about where we want to go in the next year and years ahead.

We are now in the process of recruiting new and additional members to our Board of Directors. We look forward to further work with this group as we organize more community screenings for diabetes, cancer etc.

Opening of Agroforest

We were excited to help open a new Agroforest Demonstration Garden Dec 15th at the Majuro Hospital. This was the culmination of a broad project aimed at increasing access to fresh produce in the islands.

 The Agroforest was developed by partners LDS Charities, Canvasback Wellness Center and Taiwan Farms.

 Besides being a site that the Wellness Center can use to train gardeners, it will also provide space for healthy cooking demonstrations and a quiet green space that hospital patients can enjoy.

 LDS Charities provided technical expertise on garden design and plants, some labour, park benches, solar lighting and plaques describing plants.

Agroforestry is a system where trees and shrubs are grown around other crops to create more diverse, productive and sustainable land use.