Archive 2008 - 2019

Holliston Native Ventures to the Marshall Islands: Part One of Four

by Jim Flynn
6/4/2013

After graduating last year from The College of Wooster with a major in French (thanks, Holliston French Immersion) with a concentration in Education, Boo volunteered to teach on Bikarej, a small, remote Island that is part of the Arno Atoll that is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The program, run by World Teach, sends volunteers to help teach English to the Marshallese, as the RMI Government tries to adopt English as its official language.

A collection of hundreds of small islands and islets with a total land area about the size of Washington, DC yet spread across a physical area the size of Mexico, the Marshall Islands are located approximately 2,500 miles west of Hawaii in the Micronesia area of the Pacific.  Strategically located, the Marshall Islands were occupied by the Japanese during World War II and saw many battles during the war in the Pacific.  The Kwajalein Atoll, home of the US Army Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Facility, and the Bikini Islands, site of post World War II Atomic Weapon Tests, are two of the more known Islands.

Leaving Massachusetts last July, Boo arrived in Majuro – the capital of the RMI – for a month of training and orientation with the other volunteers before sailing to her official home of Bikarej in early August.  It is Bikarej where Boo is the only “Ribelle” – literal translation meaning “person who wears clothes” but now meant as a non-native.  Her home for the next year is a garden shed-sized tin hut, on an island with no electricity, no running water, no direct ties to other communities, but yet a most delightful location in an exotic setting.

The only means of communication for Boo is via mail – the lost art of written letters.  Often taking weeks to arrive, mail is sent from the island only when a visiting boat from Majuro arrives to transport any mail back.  Boo’s parents have created a blog –  - that contains her letters home.  Open for all to read, it is a wonderful diary of her experiences.  Surviving Paradise: My Year on a Disappearing Island is the name of a wonderful book written by Peter Rudiak-Gould.

And to demonstrate that even the smallest, most remote islands of the world are closer than it may seem, there is a great section on the connection with a Bikarej native now living in Maine who contacted Boo’s parents after stumbling upon the Blog.  He has been wonderful in explaining situations to Boo’s parents and writing his relatives still in the RMI to connect with Boo.

Comments (5)

Hi Jim, I'm from Majuro, the capital atoll. Peter's wife and I are best mates since elementary school days. I'm also a distant relative of Peter's. On Majuro my family run the local new paper, The Marshall Islands Journal. If you ever need any help with Boo let me know, I know my family will be happy to help her out.

catherine murphy | 2013-06-11 11:09:30

Yes Catherine it is Peter - how did you guess? :-)

Jim Flynn | 2013-06-07 17:49:59

Let me guess, the native in maine, is it Peter? lol. It is a small world. At least the internet helps to make it so.

Catherine Murphy | 2013-06-06 13:05:54

Inspirational!

Dave Martin | 2013-06-06 05:26:07

Jim and Beth, What an amazing trip for Boo - wow!

Kristin Tornifoglio | 2013-06-05 07:51:21