Looking at Kwajalein from the southern tip of Ebeye
"Last Friday was Liberation Day, which celebrated the day the Americans liberated (hence the name of the day, haha) the Marshallese from under Japanese rule. Of course, this liberation has come with a great price: giving up their home islands to all reside on the small island of Ebeye. The day was long, parts were fun, parts were boring, and I have a very red neck to prove I was there. But I learned a couple of things about Ebeye on this day. For instance, there are over 2,000 school aged children that are not in school because there are not enough schools or teachers. And there is no land to build more schools. And more and more kids are being born every year, which means more and more kids are not going to be able to go to school. It is a very, very sad reality for this small island.
I have never realized the difference between developed nations and developing nations more in my life. After the Liberation Day festivities I walked down a very littered street with a child on my hip (whom I don't know) and I looked out from the edge of Ebeye to Kwajalein about 3 miles away. What two completely separate worlds sharing the same lagoon. One: constant electricity, clean, spacious, adequate health care, good education, and clean water... the other: dirty, way over crowded, definite power problems, no clean water (can't even boil it because it is salt water), poor education, poor healthcare. Yet, let me tell you, the sunset is still beautiful no matter which one of these islands you are on."
Written on February 13, 2007
Photo courtesy of Mel Wade
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