That's a Big Ocean

Follow me as I spend 10 weeks in the Marshall Islands as a Tech Consultant

[nrebovich]

Week 9

Arno

On Thursday night Daisy and I decided to go to Arno, the closest atoll to Majuro. We would have gone sooner, but there is only one boat to and from Arno each day. It leaves only during the week, staying in Arno for 30 minutes and comes back to Majuro. Under normal circumstances you need to stay the night to do anything. However, Matt worked out a deal for us with the boat’s captain; the boat stays a little longer and we can have an hour at the beach in exchange for a $40 tip for the captain.

 Arno is next to Majuro, but it’s still a 2 hour ride each way

Matt and Solomon (the ship’s captain) the night before

We left the dock at 10 o’clock sharp. This boat not only carries tourists and Marshallese back and forth, but also supplies. This is the main way people on Arno get living essentials such as food because Arno has very little infrastructure. It is primarily a tourist island and there are only 1,000 Marshallese living there. We got into the dock at 12 o’clock, giving us an hour to get to the beach and back.

 Unbeknownst to us, one of our expat friends was also going to the island with her friends for the weekend. We hopped a ride with them on the back of a truck for the short ride to the beach. There is only one dirt road on the island and a handful of stores. The “City” of Arno was mostly trees with a few houses in between.

 We drove up to the beach, and it was beautiful; the whitest beach I had ever seen. The white color is due to the sand being composed mainly of ground of seashells. This is one of those beaches you find in a tourist guide. The water is pristine, the beach is undisturbed, and there’s nobody for miles down the beach. We quickly got in, savoring the few minutes we had. We also needed to save enough time to take plenty of island paradise pics. We got back to the dock by 1:30 and headed out satisfied that we made it to Arno before we left.

The water was super clear and the beach was empty

You can barely make out the islands on the other side of the atoll

The island was covered in palm trees and not much else

[nrebovich]

Week 8

Eneko Part II

Daisy and I went back to Eneko on Saturday. This time we went with Grant on his sailboat. Grant is taking a short break from sailing around the Pacific and offered to take us to Eneko for the day. It was well timed because there was a planned power outage from 8am to 5pm for line repairs. We were also joined by Doug; He’s Marshallese but raised in Australia and spending the summer working for the National Telecommunications Agency, the government phone and internet company.

 The boatyard where recreational boats are moored

Doug staring into the distance

The four of us go going around noon. The plan was to motor to Eneko because the weather was calm with little wind. Once we got halfway (about an hour) it started raining hard and the wind picked up. The good part was that we were able to put up the sail and turn off the engine. The bad was the canvas over the cockpit wasn’t strong enough to keep out the rain. I don’t think I’ve been on a dry boat yet.

 We got to Eneko around 2 and quickly warmed up. All you must do is dive in and you’re good to go. It was a similar set up as last time, a Marshallese picnic was happening on shore, a few kayaks, and the floating dock. This time we also had some masks for snorkeling. I also picked up some coral rocks that had washed ashore. We left around 5 and came back to power and a nice shower.

The sunset after we came back. You can see commercial fishing boats in the background. They catch tuna and send it back to Asia for processing. There’s always a handful of these boats in the lagoon.

[nrebovich]

Week 7

Laura Beach

We finally made it to Laura Beach on Saturday. Before I came I assumed there would be beaches a plenty on Majuro. However, due to the topology of the island most areas near the ocean are rocky and coral reefs break the waves far away from shore. Perhaps Laura beach would be different.

Laura is on the opposite side of island from where I live in Uliga

We took a shared taxi from our place to the beach. It takes about an hour to get there; it’s pretty much the length of the island. We arrived around eleven and were the only people there. From the land you can see both the ocean and lagoon sides of the island. Unfortunately, the ocean side was separated by a large swathe of dead coral and the lagoon side by patches of seaweed. There was a shallow pool right near the beach.

But I wanted to be in the waves! So, I trekked bare foot over the seaweed, dead coral (ow), and rocks (ow). It was a fifteen-minute exercise in light stepping and balance. At end was finally a beach with waves. I was expecting more coral, but the area had some nice sand with only large circular coral. It was a nice area, but there’s not much to do once you get there since the waves are small and you’re so far away from land. I needed a nap after.

The view from land

When I woke up the areas with coral and seaweed were filled in with water, the tide was rising. We were also joined by a group of kids from Rita elementary on a day trip. Daisy and I joined them in the water and had a nice time with them. Meanwhile the weather started to cool off with more wind and clouds. By 3 o’clock it started to rain so we decided to go, but not before having some BBQ from the school’s picnic.

Students from Rita elementary. You can see the coral in the background (its the black area)

[nrebovich]

Week 6

BLACKOUT

On Saturday afternoon the power went out. It only affected our side of the island and many places have backup generator in place, like the grocery store and the hotels. There are also island wide backup generators in case this happens, but apparently all four of them were out of commission at the time.

Normally a power outage wouldn’t be a big deal; you kill time until the power comes back. However, it’s so hot here you depend on a/c. It also didn’t help that every day was sunny and 85 degrees. Daisy and I spent as much time as we could in the office, which still had power. Unfortunately, by Sunday evening a burned wire put the building’s generator offline. Meanwhile, at home we opened all our windows at night, but it still wasn’t enough to have a good night’s sleep; go to sleep sweaty and wake up miserable.

Our food began to go bad on Monday. I bought some ice down the street to keep the fridge and the freezer cold, but by this point it was too late. By the afternoon there were some strong smells emanating from the kitchen. I had to throw everything out and scrub it down.

Throughout the outage there were various rumors about the power coming back: it should be on this afternoon, tomorrow morning, maybe by Wednesday?, they need to ship in a transformer and it won’t get here until Thursday. Luckily the power returned by Monday afternoon, ending the ordeal. It turned out there was an underground cable that shorted, which is why it took so long to fix. That doesn’t matter anymore because I got my a/c back!  

[nrebovich]

Week 5

Marshallese Dinner Party

We went To Sultan Korean’s house, the Banking Commissioner, on Saturday to celebrate the life of his father, who passed away seven years ago. We started off the evening with a memorial service at the family mausoleum including a prayer and personal remembrances from the family.

From left to right: Jabto, Matt Muller (IT), Souvenir (Admin), Rendy (Financial Stability Manager), Commissioner Korean, Me, and Daisy

Afterwards we were treated to a plethora of traditional Marshallese food. This includes:

Breadfruit: A starchy fruit that has the taste and consistency of soft bread.

Roasted pig: A whole pig roasted in a covered brick pit.

Coconut juice straight from the coconut.

We also had Asian cuisine such as egg rolls, sushi, and sashimi from locally caught tuna (raw tuna).

The pig is ready!

Clockwise: Egg rolls, sushi, grilled chicken, roasted pig, breadfruit

[nrebovich]

Week 3 and 4

Samelda (red), Sana (yellow), and Matt working hard!

Work has been going well so far. The Banking Commission originally wanted me to improve the functionality of their database by making printable reports and adding data. Although I could easily add these features, I felt it was more sustainable to train the Financial Intelligence Unit to make these reports themselves. It will also improve their familiarity with access so they are not afraid to change the database in the future.

We had our first training last week to introduce how to make a table, form, and report in access. Samelda, FIU’s manager, Sana, FIU’s analyst, and Matt, the IT specialist not only saw how to create these objects, but created it themselves on their computers. I also created printed guides for them if they needed more guidance.

This week we practiced these skills using real examples. With minimal guidance they created tables, forms, and reports that will be used in their daily work. They used their practice from last week and the guides to create solutions for the Banking Commission today, and into the future as well. 

[nrebovich]

Week 2

Saturday at Eneko Island

Matt, our IT specialist, invited Daisy and I to Eneko Island for his daughter’s graduation party. There were 6th graders, 8th graders, and 12th graders and the parents, about 100 people in all. It wasn’t the best day for the beach being cloudy and rainy, but everyone was in a celebratory mood.

It took us about 30 minutes to get to the island. We then anchored off the beach on the lagoon side of the islands and pulled ourselves in by rope on a floating dock. Daisy and I had a great time eating barbecue, pasta salad, and a local banana paste like tapioca pudding. It was nice to get out of the city, enjoy the water, and relax for a day.

(from left to right); Matt, Daisy, Jabto (Matt’s wife), and me

Eneko Island on the lagoon side

Kayaking is popular here

At the Banking Commission

In the first couple of weeks I’m getting a feel for the organization and using that information to write a context analysis. This will help me identify the needs of the Banking Commission and potential solutions. It’s also important to establish personal relationships with your co-workers both as a way to integrate into Marshallese culture and as partners working towards a common goal.

[nrebovich]

The Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean. After World War II it was a U.S. territory and it is most known for having U.S. nuclear tests near the bikini atoll. The islands are pretty spread out. From Majuro the only island you can make a day trip to by boat is Arno.

The Marshall Islands gained its independence in 1987 but still hosts a U.S. missile defense base on Kwajalein Island. I will be staying in the capital, Majuro. The city is divided into the neighborhoods of Darrit, Uliga, and Delap on the map below.

The island of Majuro, both the city and the island have the same name, is an atoll with the Pacific Ocean in the outside and the lagoon on the inside. Since the island is so narrow there is only one main road the extends the length of the island. There are also many small islands that dot the ring around the lagoon. These are generally vacation spots for locals who want to get out of the city.

[nrebovich]

My Organization and Work

This summer I will be working as a consultant through Technology in the Global Community (TCinGC). This program is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University, student consultants (like myself), and organizations in need of technology-based solutions. The student consultant works with their organization to implement a technology-based solution, build the capacity of the organization to use this technology, and foster project sustainability for continued use of the technology after the student consultant finishes.

I will be working at the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) along with Daisy, another TCinGC consultant. The FIU is the main enforcement agency in the RMI in combating anti-money laundering. In 2016, two TCinGC consultants made the FIU’s anti-money laundering database. My project this summer will be to improve the capabilities of their anti-money laundering database.