• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Janice Beetle Books

Writing, editing, book development, and publishing help

  • Home
  • About
    • My Books
    • Clients’ Books
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Creative Writing Review/Coaching
    • Book Development /Writing
      • Book Development Sampler
    • Book Editing
    • Copy Editing
    • Book Design
    • Publishing Guidance
  • Blog
  • Poem Pods
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Order My Book
You are here: Home / Adventures / Marshallese Children: The Heart of the Island

Marshallese Children: The Heart of the Island

January 7, 2016 by Janice Beetle Leave a Comment

Note: This is the fourth of fifteen parts. Click here to read from the beginning.

Without doubt, the children are what brings Majuro to life for me.

There are so many of them, and because their homes are small and cramped, they tend to be outside in easy view. Molly tells me—because she knows from having 27 children in her classroom—that many of them live in one-room homes with over a half dozen other people. They don’t get to sleep until late at night, when the adults have finally gone to bed, and some of them even sleep outdoors.

They don’t eat well. They don’t have proper hygiene, and their options for the future are limited. Still, these Marshallese kids are always laughing and playing, full of hope and promise and affection.

On my first walk through the campus of the cooperative school, as I headed out the back to cut through the yard of one of the caretakers, five smiling faces beamed at me. They were children ranging in age from 2ish to 10ish. They were bare-footed, dusty, and they all closed in to hug me or wrap themselves around my legs.

Molly told me to get used to this type of greeting, and I was happy to do so! Because none of them speak English—either at all or very well—I wasn’t quite sure how to connect to them, though. But Molly taught me how.

On my second afternoon, after having been away from my apartment—the only place on the island where I have wifi—I was outside trying to get a good signal on my iPhone so I could check several days worth of email. A clump of four young girls came to say hello, but of course, they don’t speak English so they didn’t actually say hello. They came and smiled at me and giggled.

They were fascinated with my phone and tried to peer over my shoulder. I showed them my screen. “It’s just email,” I said, then, feeling silly, added, “You probably don’t know what email is.”

More smiling.

I asked them their names, and this they understood. They weren’t able to tell me how old they were, though.

One appeared to be the spokesperson. Her name was Thi-thi. She asked me if I was Molly’s mom, and I said I was. They all continued to stare and smile and giggle at me, and I literally did not know how to connect.

“Where’s Molly?” Thi-thi asked.

“In her apartment.” I walked them next door, opened the door and pointed inside. They all waved and smiled at Molly, who grabbed four colored pencils from her bookshelf and handed one to each of the girls; then she gave them a pad of paper to share.

Giddy with delight, the girls sped off.

Five minutes later, there was a knock on Molly’s apartment door. Thi-thi showed Molly a drawing. Then skittered off. Ten minutes later, another knock. When Molly opened the door, Thi-thi said, “Green.” Molly handed her a green pencil, and off she went.

There is one Marshallese child who is special to Molly. His name is Rueben, and he is a third grader in Molly’s friend’s class. She knows he has an especially difficult home life and has taken him under her wing. Several children are becoming special to me: Thi-thi, of course, and an older girl, Charlotte, who is 14 and attends a different island school. She is bright and friendly and very level-headed.

On Christmas Eve, Molly filled stockings for these children, and we bought them the game of Sorry. On Christmas Day, when they came knocking, we welcomed them in and taught them how to play the board game. It was so fun to see them catching on to the rules and laughing as they would knock each other off the board and back to “Start.” I can’t imagine 14-year-old American children enjoying this kind of experience as the Marshallese children did.

In the early evening, Molly and I shared our chicken dinner with Charlotte and Rueben, and other adult friends of Molly’s came to visit. We played more games of Sorry, and Charlotte taught Molly’s friend how to play a game called Take Two. (We think her rules were not exactly consistent!)

Let’s just say I am getting attached. It will be hard to leave these little guys. Molly and I have even started thinking about a Kickstarter campaign to bring Charlotte and Rueben home for the summer.

Possible or another of my fantasy ideas? Who knows, but I love the idea of Rueben playing with my grandson Eli. They each have much they could teach the other.

 

Click here to read the next blog in this series. Make sure you don’t miss it; sign up to follow this blog on the Home page, in the sidebar.

← Previous Post
Next Post →

Filed Under: Adventures, All Tagged With: children, school, teacher, travel, writing

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Please enter your email address to receive blog posts by email.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Larceny in the Aisles is Hot Off the Press!
  • Ten Tips for the Travel Writer-Wannabe
  • Thrilled to Meet My Client From London

Archives

  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • November 2012

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

© 2023 Janice Beetle Books · Privacy Policy
Content by Janice Beetle Books · Site by Turn Signal Media