Today was a rainy day. I still love rainy days. The boat is so cool, I can use as much water as I want, & it's an excuse to be lazy.
Actually, we weren't too lazy. In the morning, TC and I once again sorted. I had a few clothes left from the kids on Kwaj, so I packed it in two separate bags (girls and guys) since we were going towards the southeast end of the island (where we hadn't gotten clothes to kids). We also sorted mosquito nets, fish hooks, fishing line, batteries, flashlights, some toys and kids sunglasses.
After lunch, I printed out about 40 pictures to hand out around Jeh.
Around 3, we headed in to Jeh. Lucky for us, it was fairly overcast, but no rain, so it was fairly cool. We went into near the SDA school first. Selvin wasn't there, but Nora and Nervin were. We gave them some batteries, another couple toys for Nervin, another shirt for Selvin, & some pictures from our last visit. Then we said our goodbyes.
On our way to Tommy's house, we handed out fish hooks & fishing line to him & another man that was out fishing in his own outrigger. They were cheerfully accepted. Plus we said goodbye to Tommy.
At Tommy's, we have his wife and kids a rum cake, a mosquito net, a box of school supplies from Aimee (for the Jeh School where Tommy is a teacher), & a soccer ball (for the Jeh School). Then we handed out sunglasses to the kids (provided by the Breen family). As the kids looked so cool, in their new shades, I realized that a jumping picture was necessary.
We followed this pattern - handing out our last gifts and saying goodbye, as we worked our way westward on the island.
We also went to check out the outrigger canoe that had been painted - with the paint that we brought a couple weeks ago.
It was sad saying goodbye. They asked when we'd be coming back & if we could have another "party on the boat." I was a little bummed that we didn't have enough time to have them out again.
It will be fun to see how much they have grown on our next visit to Jeh (I'm sure there will be one).
As we left, we were presented with gifts of coconuts & pandanus. Beethleen gave me a Marshallese shell necklace, as she exclaimed, "Thank you for my mosquito net."
Beethleen was the one gave me the idea to buy the nets when she asked (a month and a half ago or so) if we had any extras to hand out. They were only $16 a piece from REI and are probably the best gift that we could give. So many of the kids have scars all over their arms and legs, most of which I'd guess are from mosquito bites that they scratch until they bleed. The next time we go to any inhabited outer island, I'm ordering LOTS of them. Plus, I'll ask lots of people if they want to donate a mosquito net or two. We'll do my own "Idol Gives Back." Although, I suppose the people in the Marshalls are lucky that we don't have malaria here.
Tomorrow we head out to Namu Pass for more surf (hopefully).
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