The Republic of Kiribati

After nine months on our mission we finally made it to Kiribati to visit Moroni High School. It was definitely worth the wait! Where is Kiribati (pronounced Kiribus) you ask? Right on the equator about a 3 hour plane ride north of Fiji (which is three hours north of Auckland).  Kiribati is a part of what used to be called the Gilbert Islands. It is an island nation composed of 32 atolls and one coral island dispersed over more than a million square miles.The best part of our trip was the chance to meet the people of Kiribati who are the most joyful group of people you will ever meet. They carry a song in their heart which often results in singing and dancing and celebration.

Elder Jacobsen is looking out from the seawall with Sister Osborne (an  ITEP- TVET Missionary). We were standing in the backyard of Elder and Sister Rasmussen,  ITEP Missionaries who live in Kiribati. 

Right after Elder and Sister Rasmussen picked us up at the airport it was lunchtime so we stopped at the CHiNEESE restaurant we passed on our way back to the school. The food was very good. We were in Kiribati for three days and we ate at a Chinese restaurant once each day. The best restaurants in Kiribati all happen to be Chinese. However, there are very few restaurants on Tarawa (the atoll where the Moroni High School and the International Airport are located) so eating out is not something  people do very often. The country and people of Kiribati rely on imports for their food and goods. Kiribati is considered, by world standards, to be poor but the richest resource of this small country of 100,000 are it's people. 

Mary Taitai is the school counselor at Moroni High School. This is her second year working as a school counselor. One of the fun things I get to do on this mission is to work with the school counselors in church schools. Although Mary and I had "met" at our monthly counselor meetings on Polycom (internet TV), this was our first chance to meet in person. Mary is showing me the bulletin board she created to teach the students about the SSEOP (Students Spiritual Educational and Occupational Plan). Since Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance has only been around for two years in the church schools, many students are still learning the role of the school counselor and the services they offer. 

This sign was on the door of our "office" at the Administration office at Moroni High School.

Mary and I had a chance to spend several hours together talking about school counseling in her office.

Two fabulous missionaries, Sister Cassita (a nurse) and Sister Bush (a Member and Leadership Support Missionary, along with her husband). These sisters had just finished feeding the young missionaries who were at Moroni High School for a combined
P-Day (the young missionaries have a day off each week) with all the Kiribati missionaries. They were playing volleyball on the court to the left in the picture below. Elder Jacobsen and I knew Elder and Sister Bush 36 years ago when we all worked for the Saudi Arabian International Schools in 1977. It was great to see them again and they are loving their mission in Kiribati.

Looking towards the front entrance to Moroni High School. Administration and classrooms are on the right side and fields and sport area on the left. Year-round the temperature is around 88 degrees with 90% humidity and the sun rises around 6 a.m. and sets around 6 p.m....life on the equator. :)

Welcome to Moroni High School!

Question: How many Elders does it take to light the pilot light in the oven? Answer: three!

From left: Elder Osborne (ITEP TVET missionaries), Elder and Sister Bush, Elder and Sister Rasmussen (ITEP missionaries), and Elder Jacobsen.
Our first night in Kiribati we were treated to a yummy dinner prepared by these wonderful missionaries. We had dinner at Elder and Sister Osborne's house and they had only arrived in Kiribati four days before we arrived. The Osborne's have been a travelling missionary couple with the calling to evaluate and support the development of the vocational programs (TVET) at all of the church schools. They are on the last three months of their 23 month mission. Elder and Sister Rasmussen have been in Kiribati since February and are providing professional development to the teachers on Literacy and Teaching English Language Learners. In addition, they will also be teaching BYUH classes to teachers to qualify them for an ITEP Teaching Certificate. They are all very busy people.

The first morning we were at the school we attended the faculty devotional before school started. Elder Jacobsen and I were asked to provide some thoughts to the faculty.

Elder Osborne also met the faculty for the first time at the faculty devotional and he spent some time talking about the importance of  the TVET programs for the students.

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Sister Rasmussen and Mary Taitai

From left: Elder Osborne, Brother Tune (Service Center Director), Elder and Sister Jacobsen, Sister Rasmussen and Principal Lita
We were welcomed by the faculty with beautiful flower garlands. Hospitality in the South Pacific is like nowhere else in the world!

This structure is used for a classroom and social events. It sits at the back of the school property right on the ocean (of course, in some places in Kiribati you can see the ocean on both sides of you as you drive along the only road).

Kiribati was the site of the Battle of Tarawa during WWII. The Japanese had occupied the atoll. You can see rusted tanks in the background and to the left of the picture behind the Rasmussen's

We met a couple of Kiribati boys on the beach by the site of the Battle of Tarawa. They have great smiles! 

You can find these little "sand crabs" all over the beach. 

The family pig.

The cooler in Moel Trading Co. LTD. The empty space is where the fresh fruits and vegetables go when they are available. A ship had not been in port for about 6 weeks so the supply was gone.

Elder Jacobsen and Sister Rasmussen just finished their grocery shopping. This is the nicest grocery store on Tarawa.

This is a water pump folks. It is made out of PVC pipes and it really works. The public bathrooms don't have running water so you fill the pail with water from the pump and use it to "flush".

The Japanese bunkers built during WWII. 

The Tarawa WWII Memorial 

These students at Moroni High School were gracious enough to let me take their picture.  

Since February I have been teaching an Introduction to School Counseling class from Auckland on the Polycom (phone/internet TV) to interested teachers in all of the church schools. In Kiribati there were 10 teachers in the class! While I was there I was able to teach one of the classes "live" and we had a great time. After the class they decided we should all go to dinner the next day to celebrate. :) 

Kiribati at dusk

The Moroni campus just as classes are starting after lunch.

Dinner on our second night was with the missionaries and school folks at a different and very nice Chinese restaurant. Lita, the principal, made the arrangements for the evening.    

Form 1 (Grade 7) students in accounting class. The classes at Moroni all start with a  5 minute devotional and are conducted by a student in the class (top picture center).The teacher (below) did a great job teaching and the students were very engaged in the lesson, which was in English. She also incorporated a little career planning into the lesson by mentioning how they could use the skills they were learning in a future job. 

Every Wednesday at Moroni High School there is an assembly. Elder Jacobsen and I were the speakers on the Wednesday of our visit. We spoke after musical performances by several students playing selections on the piano and singing. They were great!

Elder and Sister Rasmussen

Sister Rasmussen conducted a teacher in-service after school on Wednesday afternoon. As you can see by the slide on the wall the training was on Literacy.

A social studies teacher at Moroni presented one of her lessons to the teachers and showed them how she incorporated literacy strategies in her instruction. Sister Rasmussen, a former principal, has observed all of the teachers since arriving in February and is working with them to utilize additional strategies to improve Literacy. 

Working in groups at the teacher in-service.

Principal Lita is discussing with teachers how to reinforce English when students are having trouble understanding a concept. First, state the concept in English, then re-state the concept in Kiribati and ask the student to restate the concept in English. 

On our last night Kiribati Elder Jacobsen and I went to dinner (Chinese, of course) with the 10 future counselors in the School Counseling class. Both of us were the recipients of beautiful gifts from the class. Elder Jacobsen received a red golf-shirt with the symbol of the Kiribati flag on the pocket and I received 3 Kirbati shirts that were crocheted with the words "Kiribati" or "Mauri" (hello) on the yoke. They were crocheted and smocked by Marinoa (left in the picture) and Titeebwa (on the right). They were presented to us with great decorum, including dancing and speeches.  

Here is the whole class after dinner. It was a feast of great food and friendship. It is hard to describe how special it was to be with these lovely people. 

Of course, after dinner was over there was still room for desert! So a stop was quickly arranged to buy ice cream at a local store close to the restaurant. Had it not been a school day the next day I think we still would have been celebrating! :)

Beautiful Kiribati children!

While waiting at the Kiribati airport for our flight to Fiji and then Auckland,  I took a stroll past the airport shops. 

We arrived early to get our flight back to Auckland and waited outside because there was a nice breeze helping to keep it cooler. There are two flights a week to and from Kiribati. Below you can see an aerial view of the Bonriki International Airport.  

Our time in Kiribati will never be forgotten. This tiny nation has made a lasting impression on our hearts. 

Love and prayers 'til our next post!