It’s 9am on Gugeegue Island, Kwajalein, and over 40 youth are eagerly sitting at
their desks to turn their lives around, with at least one Ebeye employer ready to
sign up some of the students when they graduate.
“These are special youth,” Sereima Lumelume, the lead teacher of the
Out-of-School Youth Literacy and Life Skills Program, said in a missive to Majuro.
“This program is the first of its kind on Ebeye,” the University of the South Pacific’s
Continuing and Community Education Coordinator Tamara Greenstone said, adding
that “I had over 100 youth interested in taking the three-month course.”
Of these, 43 youth aged between 18 and 25, who had all left school in either
11th or 12th grades, were accepted and are now undergoing intensive training in
English literacy and grammar, life skills, numeracy , science and computer technology.
As well as normal classroom work, the students will listen to talks from members of
Women United Together in the Marshall Islands, local Job Corps program and the
Diabetes Wellness Center. Greenstone added: “They will also do field trips focused on
opening their eyes to problems and solutions affecting their lives.”
Before the course started, Greenstone and Lumelume, who worked closely with
Jabro Elementary School Principal Kiorong Sam, met with interested community
members to discuss the program’s curriculum. “One of the key parts is Topic 2,
which is on culture, tradition and language,” Greenstone said. “We have ‘workshopped’
this and the other topics in Majuro over the three years since we implemented the
program here, but we very much wanted input from the people of Ebeye.”
This section of the course allows the youth to “reflect on themselves and their cultural
background and recognize the important place they have in their community and their
future potential.”
Greenstone said the meeting with teachers and community leaders was extremely
useful. “There were very animated discussions, but it was great as there were no
harsh criticisms of the current curriculum and many good ideas presented and
anecdotes added.”
One of Greenstone’s favorite suggested additions to the cultural topic came from
Scott Paul, manager of Triple J. “He wanted us to include a discussion on endangered
species and the sustainability of traditional food. For example, we know that it is
traditional to eat turtle and coconut crab, but if this continues at a high rate, the
species will become endangered.” At the meeting, Paul also indicated that he
would be interested in interviewing some of the top graduates with a view to employment.
“At the end of the program, which is being run by USP with funding from the National
Training Council, we intend to send the GED (General Equivalency Diploma) director
Kenson Alik to administer the GED test,” Greenstone said. “If students pass that test,
they will receive a high school equivalency diploma from MOE (Ministry of Education) and
with that in hand they will be able to apply for USP, CMI (College of the Marshall Islands),
CMI’s ABC Toolbox Program, Job Corps or a college in America.
“There are students from our last program currently attending USP and CMI as well as
waiting to go to Job Corps. The rest will have the confidence to continue to strive to
achieve their goals. They all have their continuing education certificate from our program
that will show future employers that they worked hard to accomplish something.”
To find interested applicants for the program, Greenstone spent a week or so walking
the streets of Ebeye telling people about the course. “I found that there are literally
hundreds of youth on Ebeye who left school early for one reason or another who could
find a program such as this useful.”
Her process of elimination to choose the final class, which was restricted financially to
40 students, was rigorous. “They had to come back to me each day, bringing me more
information and show me their dedication and motivation to be part of this initial
out-of-school youth program on Ebeye.”
“On the first day of class I could see that the choices were good. These young people
understood that this was a special opportunity.”
Class officers
A key organizer of the Out-of-School Youth Program, USP’s Tamara Greenstone, was
extremely happy with their first Ebeye group of students from day one, telling the
Journal: “I was thrilled by their decision to elect officers to represent their group and
help keep things going smoothly. Danly Listo (voted the President) is a stand-out student.
He completed 11th grade but didn’t return to 12th and now really hopes to complete his
GED and continue in post-secondary education.
“In his speech to the class he reminded them how lucky they are to have a second
chance, told them to work hard and to be appreciative of the opportunity to study
again as well as reminding them to come on time and do their homework. He was
inspiring to the students and is going to be a great leader and mentor both for his
group and I hope for the people of Ebeye/RMI.
“I am so inspired by the students! Ebeye has some very unique problems and
obstacles, but it does not lack in optimism and drive.”
Interested community members
The curriculum for Topic 2 of the Out-of-School Youth Literacy and Numeracy Program --
Culture, Tradition and Language – made for animated discussions at the Middle School
one evening.
Those attending the key youth program meeting were MOE’s Assistant Secretary on
Ebeye Hiram Malolo Kiorong Sam, Wayne Korok and Sandy Bulele of Jabro Elementary
School, Deo Keju and Altred Hichfield of Ebeye Elementary School, Ainen Clanry of
Ebeye Kindergarten, Carl Jeadrik and Sivoki Kuilamu of Kwajalein Atoll High School,
Joseph Loeka and Nious Junious of Ebeye Christian Elementary School, Scott Paul of
Triple J, Karen Dribo of the MOE’s Special Ed Program, and Jack Akeang of the Micronesian
Legal Services Corporation.
