2015年10月2日金曜日 - 
Ron: A trip to THE MARSHALL ISLANDS part 1
The Marshall Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are a country, with a seat
in the United Nations. I went there for a holiday in March, 2015. This trip
could be called an “Adventure Travel” holiday. It was not an ordinary tourist
trip because I went to an atoll with no
hotels or other services for tourists. I went to
Namorik to visit my niece who was teaching English on a one-year contract at the local elementary school as
a volunteer with a US-based organization called WorldTeach.org.
An atoll is the coral reef rim of an extinct volcano. They are very low-lying and usually have more than one island on
them. The height of the islands on these coral reefs is usually not more than
three meters.
The atoll I went to is
called Namorik Atoll. It is also written “Namdrik” Atoll but the “d” is
pronounced as an “r” in the Marshallese language, so it would sound something
like ”Namrik” Atoll.
Only about four hundred people live on Namorik
Atoll. Their main occupations are fishing and making coconut oil. Through a
development project they have also begun a pearl
farming venture. In about two years, if everything is successful,
they should have their first harvest of pearls.
The people of Namorik use very simple boats
called outrigger canoes to catch fish.
They fish close to the atoll. They say that in recent years the fish near
Namorik have decreased in number and in size. One theory is that commercial
fishing fleets are taking more fish than
is good to maintain sustainable fishing.
As for coconuts, the people
gather them, then separate out the husks
from the coconut meat (called copra). When the husks are dried they are used as
fuel to cook food in simple outdoor ovens. The copra is stored, and three times
a year a ship comes to pick it up and take it to the capital of the Marshall
Islands, Majuro, for processing. In
return, the people of the
island receive cash payments when the ship arrives.
Pigs, chickens, dogs, rats
and a few cats are the animals on Namorik. In addition, there are many kinds of
crabs, snails and birds.
the Pacific Ocean：太平洋
atoll：鑑賞
the coral reef rim：珊瑚礁の縁
extinct volcano：死火山
low-lying：低地
a pearl farming venture：真珠養殖のベンチャー
outrigger canoes：転覆防止用の舷外材付きのカヌー
fleets：艦隊
sustainable：持続可能
husks：殻
processing：加工