Amazing Kiribati!!!

We just returned from this small, shoestring island nation of Kiribati.
You may be asking yourself (as we did), where is Kiribati (Kerr a bus)? It is right on the equator just north of Fiji!
What an amazing, awesome, memorable experience!

From the air it just looks like palm trees lined up side by side in a straight line with the sea on one side and a beautiful lagoon on the other. The whole island chain is only about 3 or 4 feet above the sea -- no high ground anywhere!

(Right now, just for your info, we are sitting in our flat in Suva hunkered down and waiting for an intense cyclone to blow on through. We have had warnings since last Friday afternoon -it is now Sunday. The storm has a name, Cyclone Tomas and it is traveling very slowly but it is building up strength as it progresses. So, this post will have less words so I can finish before the power goes out. But since "a picture is worth a thousand words" you will still get a good report of our Kiribati trip.)

Here is The Lagoon Breeze Lodge where we stayed for 12 nights. Kiribati is not featured as a tourist destination so the accommodations are very limited. We were very happy with this place. We had a good sized room with a comfortable bed, air conditioned and a mini fridge. There was no hot water for our shower but we had A SHOWER! We have learned to appreciate the very basis necessities of life (those listed above and one other: Coke Zero! which was also available). That is our rental car too!

There is ONE paved, main road in the whole country! Between the minivan buses that "own" the road, the potholes, the narrowness of the supposed two lanes, locals walking alongside the road or down the road and only moving off the road two seconds before we could have run them over, packs of dogs and many, many speed bumps that seem to magically appear just when you least expect them, driving was a huge challenge especially at night! Because of all the above mentioned obstacles, it would take about an hour to drive 15 - 20 ks but because we were traveling so slowly, we did get to observe everything along the roadside.

During WWII, the Japanese occupied this land and they constructed 3 main causeways to connect some of the close islands that today make up the main island of Tarawa. This portion of the roadway was in the best condition and very scenic with the ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other.

We were not prepared for how poor the living conditions are here in this land. Because the base of this land is just coral reefs, the soil is not fertile so things don't grow like they do here in Fiji or Vanuatu. These people really just live on the fish they catch daily, rice that is imported and whatever fruit their trees can grow like breadfruit and coconuts.

The children are darling! So happy and active! Remember they live on the equator so clothing is not really necessary for these little ones!

When Paul & I would go out on the main street each morning for our daily walk, we soon turned into the entertainment committee and we always had kids following us and calling out "mauri" ("hello" in Gilbertese: pronounced like "howdy" but with an m as in "mowdy")

Fresh catch of the day! There are lots of people along the roadside with these cooler containers and weight scales to offer their fishing results.

Fresh water is a huge problem in this area as fresh water has to come from wells and because the soil is so shallow and filled with rubbish, buried bodies, etc and that has contaminated the aquifers. There are wells everywhere along the roadside and in the "neighborhoods". Everyone shares the water. These guys were just having their morning shower along the side of the road as we walked by one morning. The guy on the right is covered in soap and the guy on the left had a #10 can tied to a rope and he draws water from the well just next to them for rinsing.

This was a new fruit to me. In fact, I still don't know what it's real name is but it is called the ice cream fruit because when one of those knobs is pulled out it is in the shape of an ice cream cone and very sweet. I just took their word for it!

These kids were on their way to school. All the children wear school uniforms. Here is the neighborhood "7-11". These kinds of shops are up and down the main street and in every neighborhood so the locals don't have to travel very far to get things like canned beef and crackers, and sweets, of course.

Accountants are needed everywhere!

I loved these blouses that were for sale along the road. They are handmade by smocking.

Here is the symbol of Kiribati: the sea, the sun and a seabird.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Gilbertese.

This chapel was located right on the seashore. A beautiful view from 3 sides. I had to laugh; the 4th side looks directly at the local prison! There is a lovely garden with a lot of beautiful native flowers between the prison and the chapel but still....

Here we are having a wonderful reunion with a friend of ours from almost 36 years ago! This is President Brad Smith. He is the mission president of the Marshall Island mission. He just happened to be in Kiribati (which is part of his mission) and we got to spend time together 3 or 4 times.

Just so you don't think we were just off on a vacation, I thought I'd better post some photos of some of our training meetings and the Priesthood leaders we got to visit and interact with. What dedicated, committed, sincere men. The highlight of each and every day!

We got to take 2 boat trips to go out to 2 remote branches. One branch was on the far, far end of the main island that is not accessible by a vehicle and the other was to a remote island sail about
1 1/2 hours each way. This is the rural chapel on the outer island.

After the training session, we were served lunch by the wives of the priesthood leaders. Be sure to notice the lobster! When was the last time you were served lobster at church! Right next to the lobster is the usual dish of canned corned beef with rice and crackers. The most odd item served, I thought, was the hot chocolate (in the kettle). Seriously, it was so hot outside and they served hot chocolate? Not too sure about that one!

There was a missionary house next door to the chapel and this was the "welcome to this area" information that some previous missionaries had left hanging on the wall. I'm not sure if you can read it. It is very eye opening! It begins with: Rats, Rats, Rats!!!! Yuck!!!

Here is our destination as seen from the boat as we drove to the shore of the outer island. What a beautiful sight!!!

Here was our welcoming committee! Just another day on the beach for these kids!

On the trip over, one of the men decided to throw out a fish line. Notice he didn't exactly need a fishing pole. He just held on to the fishing line. I was disappointed I didn't get to see him pull in a big one!

When we arrived at our destination on our 2nd boat outing, the tide was out so the water level was very shallow and the boat had to be pushed in as far as it could go. We still ended up having to wade ashore about 100 yards. The water was clear and warm and it was actually really enjoyable.

Here are Elder & Sister Phippen. They are one of the 4 senior couples that serve their mission in Tarawa, Kiribati. They came along on the boat outing so they could check out the missionary house (the one with the above instructions on the wall). We so admire this couple. We were in the MTC with them last August and were so excited to get to run into them again. They are in their 70's and serving their 3rd mission: 1st in Brazil; 2nd in Conneticut and now in Kiribati! They are happy and dedicated and just love and serve the young missionaries. They also took such good care of us!