Marshall Islands: Volunteering on a Disappearing Island

Marshall Islands: Volunteering on a Disappearing Island

There are few locations in the world that you can visit knowing that one day they will cease to exist. There are even fewer opportunities to volunteer and have a lasting impact on sustaining a culture even when the national home from which that culture developed no longer subsists. Volunteering as a teacher in The Republic of the Marshall Islands through WorldTeach, a non-profit founded by students of Harvard University, positions volunteers to have exactly that chance.

Awareness of the threat to island nations resulting from rising seas has become more prominent as discussions related to climate change and sustainability continue to engage large audiences. In 1999, two uninhabited Kiribati islands disappeared in the South Pacific and the risk of rising seas poses challenges to many other low-lying island nations.

The Marshall Islands consist of two archipelagoes of twenty-nine low-lying coral atolls, a unique geographic position with its own unique challenges. At an average height of only three meters above sea level on an island so narrow that lagoon can be seen from standing on the oceanfront across the island, the Marshall Islands are literally disappearing due to its extreme vulnerability to climate change. The physical isolation of the Islands also lends to an indigenous culture of self-subsistence particular to its secluded position in the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the Marshallese maintain many traditions, tied to their seafaring and religious past, that have existed on the island since pre-colonial times. The concern for environmental sustainability as well as cultural preservation is prevalent across all aspects of Marshallese life, creating an extraordinary environment for volunteers to immerse themselves in a distinctive yet changing culture.

WorldTeach offers long-term volunteer opportunities in a variety of locations throughout the world, including the Marshall Islands, where it has been sending volunteers since 2002. The program offers a rare opportunity for those interested in international education and education policy to give teeth to the Islands' government initiated reforms, which seek to overhaul the national curricula and overall education standards.

The minimum requirements dictated by WorldTeach to participate in the program, allowing you to live and work within a rare and historically relevant culture, are to a native English speaker, between the ages of 18 and 74 and have obtained a Bachelor's Degree. WorldTeach's program is fully funded by the Islands' Ministry of Education, so qualified volunteers need only pay a $2,000 deposit for the twelve month program, which is fully refunded upon program completion. The funding covers the cost of pre-departure information sessions, round-trip international airfare, orientation upon arrival, housing, meals and health insurance.

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