Ebeye, one of the small islands of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, is known as the "Slum of the Pacific" because of the poverty there. On January 11, 2013, I was able to take the ferry from Kwajalein to Ebeye to visit Class 12C of Kwajalein High School; these students are the authors of the forthcoming Takki and His Boat, a book on marine safety that is part of our Unbound Bookmaker Project.
Sharlen Smith, one of the WorldTeach volunteers on Kwajalein Atoll, invited me to come and read the first book, The Important Book about Majuro, to them and share some information about how to publish books. They normally hold class on Guegeegue (pronounced goo-jee-goo!), a neighboring island, but the bus, which takes students from Ebeye to the high school on Guegeegue via a bumpy causeway, was broken that week. We met in the evening at the local elementary school.
Sharlen Smith, one of the WorldTeach volunteers on Kwajalein Atoll, invited me to come and read the first book, The Important Book about Majuro, to them and share some information about how to publish books. They normally hold class on Guegeegue (pronounced goo-jee-goo!), a neighboring island, but the bus, which takes students from Ebeye to the high school on Guegeegue via a bumpy causeway, was broken that week. We met in the evening at the local elementary school.
It was wonderful to go and thank Sharlen's class for the work they did on their book. All 12 new Marshallese/English children's books are on track to be published and should be available on Amazon the second week in March, if not sooner.
Class 12C of Kwajalein High School
I got to meet Takki himself! This is the young man that the main character is named after. In the book, Takki enters a fishing contest and braves the dangers of the ocean (safely), going on to win the contest and bring honor—and dinner—to his family.
Many thanks to Sharlen Smith (left) for helping her students create their own book and for all the other WorldTeach volunteers (like Stef Stretch, right) who serve the children of the Marshall Islands despite very challenging situations. Thanks for all your collaboration with The Unbound Bookmaker!
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