Besides community workshops and campaigns, Jo-Jikum runs four core programs for the youth of the Marshall Islands:
Climate Change Arts Camp
Purpose: Transform Marshallese youth artists from victims of climate change to survivors and creators
Details: A one to two week summer arts camp that provides high school students from Majuro and the outer islands with the combined knowledge of the science of climate change and artistic training from established artists to create new works of art speaking to their individual experiences of climate change. The latest Arts Camp was reimagined as the Climate and Health Arts Seminar in July 2020. Read more at our blog.
Jo-Jikum Internship
Purpose: Provide work place and community organizing skill sets for RMI youth
Details: Funded by the National Training Council and the College of the Marshall Islands, the Internship program is open to all youths aged 18-25 who’ve completed high school and takes place throughout the year. Contracts with CMI lasts a full semester, while NTC contracts last 3 months with a possibility for rehire.
Jo-Jikum Interns help maintain and monitor the Jo-Jikum Youth Center and community garden, coordinate the logistics and assist in implementing our programs, design and deliver workshops to other youths, use their creativity to create campaigns related to environmentalism, and attend meetings and conferences on behalf of youth and RMI.
Digital Storytelling Collective
Purpose: Engage Marshallese youth storytellers in sharing impacts of climate change with the world
Details: A digital storytelling training for youths aged 18-25, after which they collect stories related to climate change from the local people of their villages using cameras and phones. They then share these stories through social media and online platforms. We facilitated a pilot of this program this past April 2019 with support from the International Organization of Migration and the World Bank. From this training, we created the first Jo-Jikum Digital Storytelling Collective – a collective dedicated to supporting one another in media and social justice.
Earth Champions Program
Purpose: Empower Marshallese youth leaders to develop solutions to issues impacting their village.
Details: A six month youth empowerment program that transforms local youth leaders aged 18-25 into community changemakers through capacity-building trainings and small grants. This allows youth leaders to develop and implement solutions to environmental issues in their villages. The first Earth Champions program focused on helping villages with waste management.