EVE BURNS
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has dispatched four new volunteers to the Marshall Islands who will be dedicating two years to work here.
The four JICA volunteers have arrived and are not worried about the ongoing health outbreaks the Marshall Islands has been going through. They are focused on their goals for their two-year terms. These volunteers will be working for the the Public School System (PSS), Marshalls Energy Company (MEC), Laura Elementary School (LES) and Ebeye Elementary School.
Morisako Tatsuo is working at PSS headquarters as a mathematics instructor for public school teachers. He has previous volunteer experience and is confident in making a change in math abilities among young Marshallese students. Tatsuo is also looking forward to learning more about the Marshallese culture and language while hoping to learn the renowned Marshallese piit dance.
Norihiko Kawasaki will be helping MEC as a systems engineer. Kawasaki is excited to start so he is able help address the root causes of the electrical issues Majuro is experiencing. Kawasaki also wants to learn the local language and play baseball with local residents.
This year’s first batch of volunteers includes two women who will be primary school teachers. Sakura Uehara is going to be teaching at Ebeye Elementary School and she is confident to make a contribution in the area of teaching. She is looking forward to learning more about the culture and language.
Nagi Imamura will be teaching at LES. Imamura is really looking forward to teaching and helping students to appreciate math. Her aim is to get her students to focus on studying. Imamura likes to dance as well as play basketball. She hopes that after teaching here, her students will remember her as the best teacher they had and remember what she taught them.
JICA has dispatched volunteers since 1991. Around 280 volunteers have worked in the Marshall Islands since then.
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