Be Thankful for What You Have

Today was boat license day. Another firefighter and I had appointments to go on our "boat orientaion" trip to finally get our license to rent boats for fishing and diving. While we were waiting, the opportunity came up to head over to 3rd Island, Enniburr, where the Marshallese workers live. It was sobering to say the least.

Enniburr is an island roughly the size of a football field that has about 1,000 residents, 50% of who are under the age of 16.

Here is an article descibing the conditions:
On Enniburr, a sparsely shaded island the size of a football field, where about 1,000 people have relocated, there is no electricity, no running water and no stores. A few of the residents make the five-minute motorboat ride to Roi-Namur, at the northern tip of the atoll, to work on the American base there.

The others, though, mostly sit around all day, dreaming of another life. Asked what people there use for toilets, one man in his 30's who gave his name only as Simon, answered: "That's a good question. I guess we mostly use the reef, or that big bunker over there left by the Japanese. Maybe the Americans could take that away for us one day, and give us some electricity."

Five times a day a 1,000 gallon vat of fresh water is brought to the island for drinking & bathing. It isn't enough. 100+ 5-gallon buckets are brought by individuals to supplement their families needs.

I'm going to do more on this. Since I wasn't planning on going to 3rd Island, I didn't have my camera. I plan on going back next week to shoot some photographic proof of how good we have it.