WAM - canoe builders

 We took our special guests from New Zealand to visit WAM - a youth training facility which teaches young people how to build their traditional canoes. This sign which is beside their front door says that it is an alcohol-free, smoke-free and betel-nut chewing-free zone.

 Here is some of the pretty coloured wood that they use to build the canoes. It is from the breadfruit tree. Tom and I love the taste of breadfruit curry and breadfruit soup.

H

 Sister Winters (in the blue sweater) and I are looking to see how they put together the canoes.

Here are the young people building another canoe indoors. And below is a finished model hanging from the rafters.

We plan to book a one hour trip on a canoe with the other missionary couple. We can ride for $20/per person.

When it rains its pours

 On Sunday, we walked to the Mission Office to send a message and the heavens opened up on us.  Needless to say, we had to camp in the office for about an hour while the storm blew through.  The pictures are not the best but we tried.

 In a matter of minutes the road was flooded and everyone was looking for shelter. Except a few people who began to body surf on the streets.

 After a short while the road became nonexistent and the cars were forced to drive up into our apartment complex to get around the high water.

Finally it quite raining and we were able to walk home.  Even though we received many many inches of rain, within 20 minutes the water has already settled into the ground due to the island being all coral.

Mother's Day Celebration 2015

Mother's Day in our little branch was a big celebration and feast. The Church and even the outdoor pillars were decorated with ferns and posters.

This picture shows Branch President Banny and some of the men saying kind words to the women/girls assembled. The men do not have flowers around their neck - those are bubblegum necklaces which were given to each woman (the kids promptly took the gum.)

 Here are some of the women and children assembled to hear the speech then everyone went outside to have the feast.

We are introduced and thanked each week in Sacrament meeting for our help with the Branch. On this special day, we were given a crown and a necklace to show that we were honoured guests.

 This is Elder Crooks with Brother Rakin. He was the former Stake President when our Stake was first established and now teaches priesthood classes with Elder Crooks. He translates for Sister Crooks in adult Sunday School and for Elder Crooks in priesthood.  He must be hoarse by the end of the meetings. His family is really terrific.

 These little boys have sweet faces now but you should see them in Primary!

This is a picture of some of the people waiting for the feast to begin. They served fried chicken, rice, boiled pumpkin in coconut oil, potato salad, breadfruit roasted over coals (absolutely delicious), a raw weiner, tuna sashimi (very good), yellow cake and a fresh coconut for everyone to drink. I didn't have room to try the mashed green banana rolled in fresh coconut.  I believe the lady in the picture front right was one of the original missionaries for this branch.

Fine Wine and Dining

Mark May 2nd in your calendars and get your recipes to us for Elder an Sister Crooks' first Spam cook-off.

Just as in Canada we tap maple trees to get the sap to make maple syrup, here in the Marshall Islands they tap palm trees to get a sap that makes a pungent drink that turns into wine.

Maybe not as precise as with the maple trees, here any empty container will do.

Some bottles even come pre-labeled!

Majuro Hospital Clean Up March 27, 2015

Our local hospital wants to clean up their hospital and the grounds around it, so we got 33 Church missionaries and volunteers to get started in March. This will be volunteer help we give on a monthly basis.

We picked up trash from wheelchairs to rat skulls, then cut and whippersnipped the grass...

 Here are three of the pretty sister missionaries who helped that day.  Notice their bright blue gloves.

 Our final project that day was to paint a large brick wall that surrounded the back of the hospital.  It looked so much better when we were done.

The Minister of Health, the Hon. Phillip Muller, came out to have his picture taken with us when we were finished.

Disaster Preparedness Day

We attended a Disaster Preparedness Day on Saturday at which different organizations provided information and hands-on demonstrations on a variety of topics.  This was particularly timely as Cyclone Pam went through many of the Pacific Islands and caused damage and loss of life. Vanuatu was hit very bad.  

These are solar panels people can use to heat water.  We are looking at solar panels for the Church's emergency container to recharge cell phones and other batteries.

This little house with the metal roof and eavestroughing is an example of how the people are urged to capture the plentiful rainfall and have it flow into a big tank that they can use for drinking water. 20 - 30% of the Islanders don't have a catchment tank and have to rely on their friends and neighbours for fresh water.

We met Dr. Pinano (in the red shirt) who has a family practice in Majuro and is also President of the Red Cross. They were collecting donations for victims of Cyclone Pam.

This is one of the other agencies involved in disaster management. They were providing information for children.

Above is a group of students who attended the demonstrations.  It is important for the young people to understand the important of disaster preparedness.

On the right is the Red Cross Program Director with one of the volunteers helping during the day.

A Day in the Life...

This is how you buy fresh fish in the store. They come in all colours and sizes.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are not as plentiful and are costly.

The local people use machetes for lots of purposes, almost like our kitchen cleavers.  These are short and have maybe a 2' blade but you can get them much longer.

Elder Crooks and I like wading in the tidal pools to look for shells and interesting things.  The water is as warm as a bathtub. This particular area is right at the end of the airport runway.  The planes were going over about 10' above our heads.

The Crooks' family queen.  You know what I mean!!!!!!

For you Uncle Don, does it bring back memories?  The Islands have lots of trucks circa WW2.  This one is now used to haul scaffolding and building supplies.