Rising Sun, Flame Tree and Bridge Pier

I'm always fascinated by light - all kinds of light. I took this soon after sunrise and love the reflection of the rising sun on the pounding surf!

Here is the pier by our only bridge on that same morning but about half an hour later.  Coconut palms in the foreground. We eat a lot of coconut. We pick up the coconuts that fall off the trees by our apartment and Elder Crooks opens them up.








To the right is a picture of one of the "flame tree" blossoms. These trees are all over the island. This tree was just starting to get a fresh crop of blossoms. The blossoms cover the top of the tree so when they are all out, it looks like a flame on the top.

Second Clinic Series Complete

We finished a second series of 4 community clinics in the last week. Here you see Elder Crooks testing blood sugar of an adult but surrounded by young kids.  He was giving kids a stamp on their hands from our clinic which says "Bamille eo Ejmour" - Healthy Families!

Here I am testing blood pressure on one of the participants. We track weight, blood pressure and blood sugar readings and put them in a little passport for them as well as post it to their hospital data so their doctors can see it.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

 This past week was World Diabetes Week and there was a host of planned activities, some of which we were involved in. One of the these was to get Sister Clark (on the left) to lead some good ol' country and western line dancing for the exercise portion of an educational session for diabetics.

We've had Sister Clark do this with other groups. She is amazing and fun and as you can see from the faces of participants, people have a great time. She is pictured above with her companion Sister Fetalauga.

Early Saturday Morning

 Elder Crooks and I headed out to the pier below the bridge one recent Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous morning. We enjoyed watching and listening to the breakers crash on the reef.

When we got to the far end of the pier and looked back under the bridge into the lagoon, we could see one of the tuna ships.  The Marshall Islands has the largest tuna transshipment port in the world. Normally the lagoon is filled with smaller tuna ships which then unload their catch onto one of these large transshipment ships which takes the tuna to a market in other countries.

Uliga Diabetic Clinic Series

 We have almost completed a second series of diabetic outreach clinics in Uliga. We run the clinics once a week for 4 weeks. Elder Crooks is great at testing for blood sugar. He smiles and makes people smile even when he's sticking them with a needle!

We also test blood pressure and weight. Nurse Tanner Smith is providing some counseling on what the numbers mean. We make referrals to the Hospital Diabetic Clinic if necessary. 

 A hands-on healthy cooking class is always well attended because people get to eat what they cook. There are always lots of hungry children who love to try the recipes too.

Physiotherapist Mina Manrique is teaching a lesson on how to care for your feet and avoid foot wounds. Our clinic runs from 5:00 - 7:30 so people who work can attend. It is dark by the time we finish.

A King Died

 One of the Iroij (traditional kings) died this past month. Jurelang Zedkeia had also served as President of the country and had been involved in many different aspects of the country's life.

Following a week of wakes and memorial services, the main road throughout the island was decorated to honor him. This road extends for 31 miles. The picture above is a shot down the street towards one end of the island and the road was decorated all the way to the other end to where the royal graves are.

Building Keyhole Gardens

Last month, we brought over 2 garden specialists from Samoa who trained 20 people to build "keyhole" family gardens. They are built on top of the ground using layers of organic components.






Because this island is built on a coral reef, digging up the ground is very hard work.
This garden was built for the new Iroij (traditional king) a few weeks ago using lots of plant cuttings.

 Neilani's garden has been in the ground for two weeks. It uses banana tree trunks as its' outside structure. Her cucumbers seem to love the environment.

 Richard put two rows of bricks on this garden. You don't have to bend over very far when weeding it. Richard has lots of different kinds of gardens. He may be young but he knows a lot about gardening.

 We had lots of help when we went out to Ajeltake to build Nesia's garden. She chose to use banana tree trunks for the outside structure. Then we put a layer of cardboard and soaked it well.  In this picture we are putting down a layer of coconut husks to help retain moisture.

 Next, went in layers of compost, manure and soil with a top coat of peat moss. Then Nesia chose the seeds she wanted, putting the tallest plants around the "live composter" shown in the middle.

Elder Crooks is just bringing the last basket of coconut husks to line the outside of the garden to make it look pretty. The seeds are in. Nesia just has to water and throw plant scraps into the composter with water whenever she has them. This is my favorite garden so far.