What was on the agenda

• Workshops ranged from photography, painting and song-writing to traditional weaving, each one rooted in climate-change themes and the unique heritage of the atolls.
• Participants engaged in role-play games, presentations on national adaptation strategies (including the national adaptation plan), LiDAR sea-level rise modelling, and sessions blending traditional knowledge with modern science.
• The seminar culminated in a “Showcase Night” where youth displayed their art, performances and community narratives — reinforcing that resilience is first and foremost human, cultural and collective.

Why it matters

For the Marshall Islands — an archipelago already navigating rising seas, nuclear legacies and fragile ecosystems — adaptation isn’t a future problem, it’s now. CAAS flips the lens: instead of only infrastructure and policy, the focus is on creativity, youth voice and culture as engines of change.
The youth weren’t just learners; they became storytellers, interpreters and agents of adaptation.

Key takeaways

• More than 50 youth under 18 participated from different atolls and schools.
• Topics spanned national adaptation frameworks, health and energy sectors, loss & damage, traditional knowledge and modern data-driven models.
• Art and culture were central: weaving workshops, photography, song, dance and visual story-telling gave voice to climate issues rooted in place and identity.
• The event is part of a broader push to bridge youth, culture and climate action in the Pacific — a region where adaptation is urgent and local knowledge is essential.

What comes next

The fruits of CAAS don’t stay in a gallery. Jo-Jikum aims to channel the works, the voices and the energy into ongoing campaigns, community workshops and broader national dialogues on adaptation. The youth’s expressions become fuel for policy, education and cultural continuity.
Watch for exhibitions, digital storytelling, and follow-up workshops pulsing out of this seminar.

Gallery

This blog post was originally a press release published in the Marshall Islands Journal on May 4, 2021, and written by Mark Stege, who manages this project for Jo-Jikum.

Meet Nicky Komanta, the newest member of Jo-Jikum’s widening network of climate warriors, and the lead citizen scientist in a new community-based groundwater monitor proof-of-concept project in Laura Village.

Nicky earned a Marine Science Certificate from the College of the Marshall Islands, and later interned under the RMI EPA Water Quality Division. “It was good timing,” EPA Water Chief Tuvuki Ketedromo explains, “since our internship funding from NTC [the National Training Council] had run out for Nicky, and this position opened up with Jo-Jikum to continue his training as the first citizen scientist trained in data gathering of this type.”

In his own words, Nicky’s project goals include, “itotak jen bõrooj nan bõrooj im lale wāwein aer design their own groundwater wells einwot casing type, ewor ke cover ilo aibojlal ko, ewor ke an oror, im ko jet, innom test kajojo week aolep groundwater well im rokar survey ikijeen jonan salinity ak jool, im compare ippen jonan an wõt jen week nan week” or “going from property to property and see how they design their groundwater well like their casing type, if there’s a cover for their groundwater wells, if there’s a fence, and test the water on a weekly basis and test the salinity and compare it weekly.”

EPA General Manager Moriana Phillip adds, “There is a very clear and present need to enhance environmental data collection services by a number of stakeholders, and also a desire to engage communities in a meaningful way. Nicky is helping us prove that international researchers and national regulatory and enforcement agencies can get dependable data from a well trained community member, so that they can focus on data management and analysis. With a trained community member doing the work, equipped with a 4G connection and smartphone-based applications which allow direct uploading of collected data into a centralized dashboard, it changes things. We are watching Nicky closely keeping in mind that we have regional networks that could see Nicky go further into a University and emerging as a Water Specialist.”

Today you will often see Nicky bicycling around Laura visiting water well after water well. Later in August he will be sharing his results with fellow Laura residents such as National Training Council Director Julius Lucky, who is ever mindful that the RMI has an extremely high youth unemployment problem, at about 56%. Or other times, he’ll be inside a taxi in downtown Majuro gathering supplies and making sure he is ready to meet his goal for the coming week in Laura.

Wherever you see Nicky, please let him into your yard to survey and monitor your groundwater well. He—and the other Jo-Jikum climate warriors like him—might just wind up saving us all.  As with all of Jo-Jikum’s youth, a broad support network is in place to support Nicky meet his project goals. The project is made possible by a Unitarian Universalist Services Committee (UUSC) partnership grant in support of a human rights-based approach to climate change.

This blog post summary of this year’s arts camp was written by our Youth Coordinator Johnny “Jobod” Silk, who took lead in coordinating the program. Jobod is in his last year at the College of the Marshall Islands. This is Jobod’s second time facilitating our arts camp – he was a participant in the first arts camp as a high school student.

The second Climate Change and Health Arts Seminar was held during the last two weeks of July 2021 at the College of the Marshall Islands. While there were many fun activities and games throughout the seminar, our group of 39 students were able to learn how climate change affects different aspects of our health.The first three days of the first week were filled with informative presentations from different members of various organizations on Majuro followed by an art workshop at the end of the day to reflect on the information we learned.

Kirsten Maddison and Helene Jacot des Combes from the Climate Change Directorate introduced the topic of climate change and its effects on different areas of health in the Marshall Islands. Our Director Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner followed their presentation with an explanation of what the RMI is doing to prevent the impacts of climate change. Kathy explained the difference between adaptation and mitigation and what each working group has been doing on a national level. After that, she jumped into her poetry workshop with the students to conclude the day. 

On day 2, Dr. Underwood shared some light on the issue of Climate and Covid as well as disease outbreaks in the RMI such as Dengue Fever. Dr. Holden followed in the afternoon with a presentation on Climate Change and its effect on mental health. After his presentation, painting instructors, Aravapo “Apo” Leo and Debby Schutz held a painting workshop in collaboration with Barab Harris and Timothy Kabua, the songwriting instructors, where the students were asked to decipher a painting prepared by Debby in the form of a song, which they were to perform the next day, as we ran out of time. 

The third day consisted of a talk with two of the members of the Culture Learning and Language Commission (CLLC) on the effects of climate change on Marshallese culture and traditions. Randon Jack from the Ministry of Resources and Development followed straight after with a detailed description of how climate change affects agriculture. In the afternoon, Barab presented a song he wrote in collaboration with Timothy inspired by Debby’s painting. The students presented their interpretations of the painting after. Susan Jieta, our weaving instructor led a workshop in the afternoon which linked the presentations from the morning to how climate change affects weaving. 

The rest of the days that followed were “work days”; the students busied themselves working on their paintings, writing their songs, and mapping out their weaving processes. The students were not the only ones who were busy. While they were working on their projects, the interns were running around coordinating the little things like lunch, supplies, invitations, ice breakers, and prepping for the showcase. The interns were split into the different art classes- Tristen Horiuchi contributed his musical talents in the songwriting class, the artistic Eleas Beaj was in the painting class, and Rosenet Timius and Jollia Peter committed to learning from masterweaver Susan in the weaving class. I served as the “floater”, moving among the classes when needed. 

On Monday of the next week, the interns moderated the “Arts as a Career Panel” featuring the art instructors. The purpose of the Panel was for the students to ask the instructors what it’s like to pursue art as a full time career (Apo as an art teacher at Coop, and Susan as a masterweaver) as well as what art as a side gig is (Kathy as part time poet and Barab as a part time singer). The panel was a success as the students were able to learn as much as they can in the short time they had together in the panel.

The students returned to their arts for the remainder of the week. On Friday night the students’ works were presented to family and other members of the community including the Australian Ambassador, members from the US Embassy, Minister of Health and Human Services Bruce Bilimon, and Aur Senator Hilda Heine . The painters’ canvases and the flower pots woven by the weaving class were auctioned off and sold. The songwriters performed their songs, which ended the night in high spirits. 

The workshop was concluded on Saturday with a picnic at Kolalen Island to celebrate the young artists’ hard work. There was good food, fun in the water, as well as a friendly game of “pikwor”. 

The workshop, although stressful, was a good learning experience, not only for the students, but also for the interns. Having heard the presentations from the different organizations expanded my knowledge on the impacts of climate change on health- whether that be mental health, food security, or disease outbreaks. Because these topics can be pretty depressing, the fact that the students were able to transform the information they learned into meaningful art pieces was satisfying. 

Jo Jikum would like to thank MOHHS, GCCA + SUPA, WHO, CMI, CMI Media, Chewy Lin, Deputy Secretary Francyne Wase Jacklick, Climate and Health Coordinator Tamar Capelle, all the presenters, and especially the students’ parents and families for their contributions to another successful program.

To close out, please enjoy some of the paintings from this summer that were turned into posters. You can click on the files below to download and browse. The posters include the artist and their schools, as well as the meanings behind them written in the students’ own words below. These posters have been printed and are being distributed to schools and organizations, as a way to promote our student’s work as well as to engage the public on the importance of climate change and health.

The blog below is written by Digital Storytelling Intern Rosenet Timius who served as lead manager for the program. Rosie is in her last semester at the College of the Marshall Islands studying Liberal Arts. Previously, she managed the Environmental Artists in Residency program in Spring of 2021. The Digital Storytelling Workshop was the second program she managed as an intern.

Jo-Jikum held the second ever Digital Storytelling Workshop on June 21- July 2, 2021. Special kamolol to Smithsonian Institution of Asian Pacific American for funding the two-week long workshop along with donating cameras and other equipment necessary for the workshop. 

The objective of the Digital Storytelling Workshop was to recruit high school students who are interested in film-making and editing to capture images and create videos focusing on environmental issues in the RMI and how it is affecting our manit (culture) from their perspective. The Digital Storytelling Workshop consisted of ten students from various high schools on Majuro including two other students from the neighboring island of Ebeye, Kwajalein. For the whole two-week workshop, Jo-Jikum collaborated with two of the experts in the film-making field, Chewy Lin, and College of the Marshall Islands Media Center staff, Alindol Candle. 

On the first day of the workshop, after Jo-Jikum staff alongside Lin and Candle introduced themselves to the students and vice-versa. Jo-Jikum staff observed that some of the students were still very shy and reserved, so they gathered them around for some activities to help loosen the tension and get them comfortable. After the first day, the remainder of the week consisted of Lin and Candle instructing the students on the basics of photography and video editing while also helping them in handling and properly using a camera and other equipment. The week also consisted of guest speakers coming in to talk to the students. The director of the renowned comedic-action films based in the RMI called Microwave films, Jack Niedenthal, visited the students and extended his knowledge on film-making to the students whilst praising them on their interest in film-making. That same week, the students had the privilege of joining the Operation Crossroads Commemoration event hosted by the Nation Nuclear Committee at Marshall Islands Resort. After the first week, it was noticed by the instructors, Lin and Candle, and Jo-Jikum staff that the students have gotten very comfortable around each other and were excited to start making videos and editing them. 

For the other remaining week, the students were split into groups of two, and they were allowed to go around town to take pictures and videos, and some of the students took it as far as going to one of the islets on Majuro to record their videos. The pictures and videos that each group captured and edited were then compiled together and used for their final project presentation.

 On the last day of the workshop, the instructors, Lin and Candle, all the Jo-Jikum staff, and all the students cozied up to each other at the Jo-Jikum Youth Center as we munched on our snacks and proudly watched each groups’ funny yet interesting videos. To say they did amazing would be the understatement of the year! 

Last Word from Rosie

I am big on watching documentaries, and most of the documentaries found online on how climate change is drastically affecting the Marshall Islands are generally captured and based on the perspective of those who come out to our islands to see and record the scene. Therefore, having workshops like this are crucial as they allow the world to view the scenery happening beyond our seawalls through the lens of indigenous Marshallese youths. My initial response to the videos that the Digital Storytellers created was the surprised Pikachu face. I was not shocked because I didn’t doubt they would deliver well. I was shocked because they were only granted a limited amount of time, yet they did an amazing job on their respective group’s videos! Although these are younger students, I feel like I learned more from them throughout the two weeks that I spent managing the workshop. Their dedication and creativity is something that I had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand, and something that I truly admire and would instil into my everyday performance. They definitely made working a lot more fun and adventurous! AND CUT (as they would say, lol). 

Stay tuned! Videos to be uploaded soon!

This past summer, Jo-Jikum was happy to finally host the second instalment of our Climate Change Arts Camp in its new iteration as the Climate and Health Arts Seminar.

The Climate Change and Health Arts Seminar was an arts camp for high school students that allowed participants to explore the connections between climate change and health through the medium of the arts.

The Seminar, run by our nonprofit with partnership from Ministry of Health, recognizes the power of the arts in communicating and understanding the complex issue of climate change. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting and closing the borders in the Marshall Islands, these discussions became all the more relevant, in understanding how the destruction of natural habitats is interwoven with climate impacts and manifests in community health impacts such as COVID-19 as well as other illnesses such as dengue.

The theme for the camp, “Ejelet añõneañ im rak” is a theme that was given to us by the Culture, Language, and Law Commission (CLLC), who explained that añõneañ and rak are seasons for harvest. “Añõneañ” is the season for preserving pandanus, or bõb, as well as other traditional foods such as bwiro, makmok, and jaanwkin, while “Rak” is the season for preserving breadfruit or ma. Members of CLLC explained that climate change makes bõb season or ma season unpredictable. Sometimes the harvest is late, or sometimes it’s too early. The changing temperatures and rising sea level affects growth of plants, which in turn affects our health and food security. The logo featured on the seminar tshirts incorporates this theme and was designed by Marshallese graphic artist Ronnie Reimers.

The Seminar took place July 20 – 31 at the College of the Marshall Islands campus. The Seminar worked with 39 students in total, 13 boys and 23 girls, with representation from high schools across Majuro and Micronesia. The 39 students came from the Marshall Islands High School, Assumption High School, COOP School, Seventh Day Adventist High School, Kwajalein High School, Marshall Islands Baptist Christian Academy, and Xavier High School, and were from 9th to 12 grades.

The Seminar daily schedule was broken up into team building exercises and presentations from partners who with expertise in environment and health in the mornings, followed by intensive art classes in the afternoons. Students were able to choose between weaving, painting, songwriting, and poetry for their art classes – they ranked their top preferences and they stayed in these classes for the duration of the seminar.

The art classes were taught by local artist professionals. The camp was also assisted and facilitated by 6 college student interns – these interns acted as “camp counselors” and provided additional administrative support as well as moral support for the students, and were affectionately known as “Powerpuff Rangers.” A component of preparation for the seminar was spent in providing leadership workshops to these 6 interns to provide proper support for them as well.

The presentations included representatives from the Ministry of Health, Climate Change Directorate, Weather Station, Culture Language and Law Commission, CMI Land Grant, Red Cross, and MICS. Besides presentations, the students were able to go on two field trips – one for coastal planting with CMI Land Grant, and another to snorkel to observe coral bleaching effects with MICS. The topics of discussions included COVID-19 and dengue and links to climate change, climate change and its effects on manit (Marshallese culture), coastal erosion and coral bleaching.

The final showcase was the night of July 31, with students sharing their painted and woven pieces, and the poets and songwriters performing their new work, with opening remarks from the Secretary of Health Jack Niendenthal.

The products created from the Seminar are in the process of being shared. The songs will be recorded by the local radio station 103.5, while the poetry and art work will be reprinted into small chapbooks by local printers. The weaving will be framed and along with the artwork will be transferred to the Majuro Hospital for display, before being transferred to other locations for the purposes of dissemination.

We are grateful to these organizations for providing the funding for this program: RMI Ministry of Health, Scaling Up Pacific Adaptation (SUPA) – GCCA+, Marshall Islands Conservation Society (MICS), with support from College of the Marshall Islands (CMI).

Watch: Climate Change and Health Highlights Video

Photos from the Final Performance and Showcase Night

Full statement script:

Minister Loeak:
My name is Christopher Jorebon Loeak. I represent the Government of the Marshall Islands as Minister-in-Assistance to the President and Minister of Environment. On behalf of President Kabua, the government, and the people of the Marshall Islands, I would like to present a warm iokwe and greetings to the government leaders, civil society representatives, and youth that have joined this event. The Republic of the Marshall Islands recognizes the importance of youth involvement in the decision making process for issues such as climate change and covid. We demonstrated this through the Kwon Gesh pledge, calling for governments to sign on to incorporate youth meaningfully into government processes on climate change. Recognizing the importance of youth voices, I would now like to recognize some of our youth from the Marshall Islands, who will share some of their perspectives with you all today.

Jae Marie Mae Digno (Jo-Jikum): Youth representatives must be made part of the decision-making process in regard to covid responses because they must have a say in what will impact their future. If voices of future leaders of our nations go unsaid, unheard, and disregarded, how can they be reassured that they will be taken care of in dire times like this. Allow the youth audience to have a seat at the table so they may have the opportunity to voice out their concerns and share their ideas of strategies that they believe will ensure their future. Let’s listen to them.

Frank “Chase” Domnick (Jo-Jikum): Here in the RMI, our youth led in local efforts such as a Tiktok Challenge, a hand-washing video, and a quarantine video. These local efforts presented by the youths help spread the awareness of COVID-19.

Jollia Peter (Jo-Jikum): As youths, we see that students both here and abroad are being affected by COVID-19. These issues are not just issues experienced and specific to the RMI but worldwide issues. For example, students studying abroad are being stranded, some far from their homes. Students, including those abroad, are also facing times of increasing financial difficulties. Because of COVID-19, we see the severity of some challenges that our fellow youths face. We recognize these issues and request that students here in the RMI, as well as those studying abroad, and from all over the world be prioritized.

Jobod Silk (Jo-Jikum): Although covid is still a big problem around the world today, it is important that we don’t lose sight of our fight against climate change. The RMI is one of the nations suffering greatly impacted climate change, and should we fail to do something about it during this pandemic,by the time it dies down, we will still be affected. Because of quarantine, carbon emissions in bigger countries have decreased. This shows that when faced with a crisis, the world is capable of reducing carbon emissions. We need to make people realize that climate change is as big of an issue as covid.

Anfernee Nenol Kaminaga (Youth to Youth in Health and Brighten the Rainbow – both are Marshall Islands non-profit organizations): The Marshall Islands is still threatened by climate change no matter the status of COVID-19 and we have to remember we, the Marshallese people, who have thrived off of the land given to us by our ancestors just sits 2 meters above sea level. We must recognize that climate change has become the oppressor and that we will not compromise without a fighting chance. We, the Marshallese, stand in solidarity with black, brown and indigenous voices calling for change. With climate change already in effect our chances of survival are threatened to a greater extent and we ask to not be forgotten in your steps towards healing your community as well as ours.

Nuclear Remembrance Day is an important opportunity for Marshallese to commemorate the legacy of nuclear testing conducted by the United States on our island. It’s an important yearly ceremony that honors those who died due to the testing, as well as the forced sacrifices of the 4 atolls in particular that were deemed irradiated by the US – Bikini, Rongelap, Utrik, and Enewetak atolls.

This history is a contentious one, filled with broken promises, destroyed documents, unheeded testimonies by countless Marshallese to the US, as well as incredibly high death tolls due to radiation related illnesses.

For my part, I’ve continually created poetry performances that engaged with different aspects of the nuclear issue. You can view some of these poems here.

Here at Jo-Jikum, we wanted to make sure that our organization is just as involved in nuclear issues as climate and environmental issues. We recognize the many intersections between nuclear and climate issues – the ways in which Marshallese lives have been viewed as dispensable during the nuclear testing program, as well as the ways we’re viewed as dispensable today in the era of climate change and rising sea levels. There is also the simple fact that the nuclear testing program had major impacts on our environment – from completely vaporizing islands off the map, to irradiating our islands so that it’s no longer safe to live on, to dumping and leaving nuclear waste in our islands.

With all this history still alive and unresolved today, days like the Nuclear Remembrance can feel hollow, especially when the US has yet to apologize, clean up the nuclear waste in Enewetak, or properly address and compensate our islands for the destruction.

But there’s also small, insidious ways in which the nuclear legacy impacts us, at  the local level. And being a part of the organizing committee illuminated these concerns. “Jejamin meloklok im jejamin ebweer” was this year’s theme, meaning “We will never forget, we will never give up.” In addition to participating in the national nuclear march, Jo-Jikum also coordinated art workshops and an open mic for youth.

One concern was our elders – those who were a part of the original communities that were affected by the testing, many of whom have passed away since then. We discussed with the organizing committee how many of these elders are brought out to the ceremony during the Nuclear Remembrance Day  – some are asked to speak, while some are a part of the crowd. Some have difficulty moving due to illness and age. We’d heard complaints about what the purpose was in these ceremonies – why did we bother when nothing has changed? Or how in the past these elders were left to stand in the hot sun, with no shade or chairs due to poor planning. We wanted to find another way to honor them.

An idea was raised that was inspired by a Marshallese New Years tradition. During New Years Eve, Marshallese children and youth will go house to house, singing a New Years song. For their songs, they’re generally rewarded candy and food by the household. We took this tradition, and decided we’d gather a group of youth and have them visit the elders from the 4 atolls, those who experienced the testing in some form, and visit them house to house, singing songs to them to honor their experience. And instead of getting food, we’d bring food to them – traditional Marshallese food in woven baskets called banninur.

It was quite a bit of work to organize the visits, coordinate rides, food, as well as track down and visit each elder. We were thankful that we played a small role in coordinating the banninur and also bringing our own members to participate in the visits, but ultimately much of the credit needs to be given to the College of the Marshall Islands Nuclear Club and the Nuclear Commission. All this effort was worth it, to see these elders light up, as well as share their own experiences of the testing.

This was an action, led by our youth, that was locally-involved. There’s something to be said about the fact that this wasn’t done for an international audience – as so much of our campaigning tends to be. This was an intergenerational moment that was as much for our youth as for our elders, and was meant to do nothing more than honor our elders and grieve with them over their experiences.

For myself, with all of my international campaigning background, this was a very powerful and moving experience to be a part of. And luckily, it was captured on film. Please see the video below.  

-Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Jo-Jikum Director

Photos and video by Corrie Lejjena

Our organization has experience teaching and creating workshops in climate change – however this has been limited to day long workshops, or workshops spread over months. From my own observation as an educator, this has resulted in a training that feels disconnected, and a team that isn’t as close as they can be.

Last year, I participated two weeks of training at Training for Change, a nonprofit in Philadelphia which is “a training and capacity building organization for activists and organizers.” I took the “Super T” training, where “participants learn the major principles of direct education, an approach to training groups that is about liberation and empowerment.” I wasn’t able to finish the training, but the skills that I got from those 2 out of the full 3 weeks were enough for me to apply to the creation of this workshop. “Building a container” became an important part of the workshop – a concept I learned during the training which was all about making sure participants feel comfortable with each other, with us as facilitators, and feel empowered with the subject matter. We did this through buddy systems, energizers, small group work, regular check ins, incorporating cultural protocols, and teaching climate change without using the usual presentation styles. Rather than starting off with basics of climate change workshop, we instead had each of them share in small groups what they knew, questions they had, and then we addressed and established important information as a larger group.

Most of the workshop models around Majuro which Jina (our Program Manager) and I have attended tend to focus on powerpoint presentations and passive listening from participants. Games can be incorporated, energizers, but these tend to be focused entirely on waking participants up, rather than having it contribute meaningfully to the process. During our lunch breaks, we had chats with several participants, reflecting on this style. Kumit Bobrae, another nonprofit that is focused on substance abuse, follows a similar model in making sure their presentations are interactive and engaging, especially since they’re working with youth. Youth to Youth in Health, an organization founded by former activist Darlene Keju Johnson, also recognized the need for innovative approaches – she historically used Marshallese song, dance, and skits in her outreach.

As we move forward with growing our organization and our movement I hope there will be more opportunities to learn the best ways to reach our community.

Joy is a Native Hawaiian multi-disciplinary artist, activist, scholar and educator who is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Center for Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her art practice engages in ancestral memory, climate and social justice, plantation genealogies, extractive colonialism and other issues currently affecting Pacific peoples.
I know her as a good friend from my days at the same program. She reached out to me because her focus was climate change in the Marshalls, and she was studying some of my work and poetry on the topic. She offered to conduct a photography workshop for our organization on the topic of climate change.

Anja is a sound artist and academic, and is exploring climate justice issues in the Pacific through the Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research at the University of Wollongong. They explained to me that they were looking at the disappearance of sounds due to the disappearance of landscapes, environments, animals as a result of climate change. Anja offered to facilitate workshops on podcast making on the topic of climate change.

The workshop took place in July this past year, and it happened to coincide with the 2nd National Climate Change Dialogue for the Marshall Islands – so it ended up being a rather busy time.

The podcasts that were created were aired on the Marshall Islands national v7ab radio station, while the photographs were displayed during the closing session of the Dialogues.

You can view the photographs from the photography workshop participants as well as details behind the workshop here: https://aeloninaibojooj.weebly.com/

And the podcasts can be listened to here:

• Chatting under the Coconut Tree by Fern Raffela Lehman and Jinna Lavin https://soundcloud.com/hemos-matauto-437241035/marshall-islands-summer
• 2K18 by Hemos Matauto, Caston Zackious and Timmy Itaia https://soundcloud.com/lifern-1/chatting-under-the-coconut-tree

Iakwe,

My name is Kathy and I am the co-founder of our organization. I co-founded Jo-Jikum in 2012 along with my cousins Tamera Heine, Hetine Heine, and Desmond Doulatram.

We were fresh out of college in the US when we returned home to an island we no longer recognized – one that was ravaged by frequent tidal floodings, droughts and overwhelming amounts of trash. The Marshall Islands has limited resources, and yet are on the front lines of climate change – at only 2 meters above sea level, our atoll nation will be one of the first countries to disappear under a rising sea. 

However, our youth make up as much as 50% of our population, and we see youth as an untapped resource. They will inherit our islands that are under threat, though many feel helpless and hopeless against the face of this monumental crisis. And yet, there remains limited resources for environmental curriculum that is based in our unique atoll land/oceanscape, as well as no other organizations targeting both youth and environmentalism. Which is why we decided to begin an organization dedicated to providing programs that raise awareness of climate change impacts and environmental issues, as well mobilize and empower youth to contribute to solutions.

The organization began in earnest with community clean-ups and awareness workshops after being registered formally with the government in 2012. It evolved further after me and my former Co-Director, Milan̄ Loeak, took the helm and were exposed to the international community of climate change activism.

I gained that exposure after delivering a speech and poem dedicated to my daughter at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit, where I received a standing ovation from world leaders. During the same month, Milan̄ stood alongside 350.org Pacific activists as they participated in an action that used traditional Pacific canoes to blockade a coal ship in Australia, and toured Australia speaking to various news agencies to shed light on climate change effects on the Marshall Islands. Through this exposure, we both began to see the potential and the importance of speaking out on climate issues internationally.

The organization developed stability once I was recognized as an Impact Hero under the Japan based nonprofit Earth Company in 2016. Through non-profit management trainings as well as a fundraiser, we have since established a partnership with the College of the Marshall Islands, and will be opening our first Jo-Jikum Youth Climate Change Center, as well focusing on our two existing and ongoing programs – the Earth Champions Program and the Climate Change Arts Camp.

We are still a young organization, so we recognize that the road ahead will be long and hard. Our focus this year will be building our first Jo-Jikum Youth Center in the Uliga of Majuro, Marshall Islands, as well as running the second round of Earth Champions, our first pilot of the Climate Change Storyteller’s Program, and revamping our Climate Change Arts Camp. Stay tuned, and thank you for following our journey!

komol,

Kathy