At least six Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) trainees are guaranteed jobs after they graduate on Friday, October 2, with the potential of 12 jobs being available, according to WAM Director Alson Kelen.
“All of the trainees did internships during this six-month training program and this really paid off for us, with six being promised jobs and two of those already working on the weekends,” Alson said. “If everything goes well, there will be 12 job openings by the time graduation day comes around.”
Twenty youth have spent the last six months learning vocational skills from cultural instructor Binton Daniel and literacy and numeracy from GED teacher Agatha Rollis. “They do two hours a day of English and math. The rest of the time is spent doing hands-on work,” Alson said. This has included building a 27-foot tipnol canoe.
This year’s group of trainees has been a great group, Alson said. “They have been very open to learning and right from the start they clearly wanted to participate. Over the years, I’ve seen a growth in the amount of English the trainees have and their ability to stand up in front of a group and do presentations.”
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