Sharks, Strawberries, and Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday was our last day of Spring Break. Lonnie and I were given the opportunity to go to Kwajalein, the US Military base that is half an hour away on a ferry. That may not sound like a huge deal to you, but it was for us. Even though we are American citizens, we are not at all allowed to be on the island, outside of the dock and the airport. And that is the treatment that the Marshallese are given as well – even though Kwajalein is their island and their soil, they are not allowed to be there without a job or a sponsor.
We hopped on the 12:00pm ferry and met our sponsors at the dock. Their names are Jack, Mary Lou, Patrick, and Barbara, and they all helped out at the chapel on the base. Jack gave us bicycles to use to around the island, which was so nice. Our first stop was Easter lunch.
They took us to the ‘Pacific Café’ which is like the cafeteria for the workers on Kwaj. I was smiling like a fool the whole time I was walking down the food line. Man, I could feel the stares of the regulars burning through me. I felt like such an outsider in the midst of all those Americans.
I don’t know if many of you will understand how wild it was to be eating there. All you can eat?! Caesar Salad?! Fresh vegetables?! Grapefruit?! Options?! I mean, they had Strawberry Shortcakes for desert, but even bigger than that was the fact that they actually had strawberries! I haven’t eaten, let alone seen, a single strawberry in 8 months! It was heaven. I think I’m going to explode when I get back to America.
As I got to know our sponsors, I learned that Kwajalein was spoiled. They were complaining about such small issues like the strawberries being to frozen most of the time, having less food in the line since the remodeling of their kitchen, not having boiled eggs very often, serving chocolate instead of vanilla ice cream, among other things.
I just couldn’t help but thinking, “Wow! You have SO many problems! I’m just living on a neighboring slum island that has 15x as many people as you do.” But I kept quiet.
They took us to the small boat marina to see the sharks. The fishermen were kind enough to clean up a fish and throw it into the water to see the sharks struggle and fight for food. It was so cool! They are nurse sharks, and are like 8 feet long, and they say that they are as nice as puppies if you swim near one. The fishermen ended up giving us the fish so we could eat it for dinner.
They then took us to the food court to get ice cream from Baskin-Robbins. Baskin-Robbins! They had a Subway and a Burger King too! I almost lost my mind! The grocery store had everything that they would have back home, and it was all at a regular American prices.
It made me kind of mad, because I kept thinking how the military took control of that island, and they’re actually hoarding all of the goods, while there are people just next door on an island who don’t have options for healthy foods – people who are not even allowed to go there and look at healthier options.
We had a salad and the fish from earlier for dinner at Barbara’s house. It was over dinner that everything was worth it. I realized over the table how incredibly nice our sponsors had been to us. They understood our situation, and they wanted to help us out and spoil us. It was almost like someone had noticed the work we were doing and wanted to reward us for it. They paid for everything while we there! All the meals, the snacks, the desserts, clothes from the thrift store were all complimentary of our sponsors! They treated us like royalty, all because they wanted to. They were happy to help us out and they were excited to be there and see their home. It really was an amazing day. It felt great to get away from Ebeye, and get a taste of America again. The entire Kwajalein trip was one of the nicest things anyone has done for me.
I learned of the Kwajalein-Ebeye situation from Jack’s perspective. He sees that the American presence has done more harm to the Marshallese than it has helped them. When the Americans first arrived, they proudly exclaimed that the Marshallese people were going to learn by their example. But ever since their arrival, the only examples that the people of Ebeye have are the military men that come to the bars to get drunk and find women; the same people that were the first to put cigarettes in the hands of these people. This is the example the Marshallese have picked up from the Americans.
Today there are only a handful of people that actually come to Ebeye from Kwajalein to care for and help the people. There is a lot that those people could do to help over here, and it makes me sad that they don’t. They just soak up their blessings, living on a perfect little resort island, blinded and blocking themselves from the poverty that is so near to them.
I don’t really know how to end this post. I could go on and complain about how things aren’t right, but that won’t do anything positive. Look around you and where you live today. There are plenty of people that you can help out and show some kindness to. Don’t keep your blessings to yourself. Get out there and share them with the people that need help; that’s why God gave them to you in the first place.
p.s. pictures coming soon
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