Anxiously Engaged in Kiribati

Our big day this week was working with the Pathway Senior Missionary Couple, The Frehners,  with their big presentation on the pathway program. President Ashton and Vice President Eyring from Pathways was there along with Vice President Kau from BYU-Hawaii. They all spoke to help promote the Pathways program.  I can't believe what an amazing program it is.  The students must pass an English proficiency test and take a computer competency class. Then they are given a free refurbished lap top and can apply for some of the many on-line jobs the pathway program has. They will work for minimum wage for one year and then they can move up and get a much better job that pays more money. All chapels will be equipped with star link internet that they can access for their job. All of this is free!  And all of this is in preparation to start the pathway program.  Where they can get a bachelors degree for about $800. That's before all the scholarships that are granted. ...

 It's been a pretty slow week because Kiribati celebrates their independence day for an entire week. This year the holiday lasts from Thursday July 11th through Wednesday July 17th.  Lots of singing, dancing and sports events. Keith and I went to see the fish weighing event. The winner was a 235 lb black marlin.  We were able to inventory the natural disaster emergency container. It was so well organized. I was truly impressed. We will send in the results and see if they want to restock anything.   Have I mentioned how much I love the children here. They are not shy in the least. We walk down the street and they all say "Hi" and give us high fives.  They saw us coming and ran to salute us.  Of course we saluted back and then took their picture. 

 This week, we went to our first gratitude ceremony. The government of China installed 4 dehumidifier  water systems for the hospital.  Basically, these machines pull water out of the air and then adds the necessary minerals and thus you have clean water to drink!  Each machine puts out about 250 liters of clean water per day for a total of 1000 liters of water. Pretty amazing technology. The Kiribati people have a tradition that they have a gratitude celebration every time they receive a gift. This celebration includes speeches, dancing and food.  The Chinese ambassador, Kiribati's president, the Australia's High Commissioner, Representatives from Doctors without boarders, and other high ranking people were there. So Cool! President of Kiribati and the Ambassador from China drinking the first glasses of water  We also spent time with the other senior missionaries serving here. They went from having no senior couples to 4 couples in less than 6 months....