Christmas Greetings!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season, and a joyous 2026!

This is our first year in over 3 decades that we have not sent a Christmas message by post – as posting anything from the Marshall Islands other than to the USA, can take months, if it arrives at all. Still, we are thinking fondly of our family and friends at this time and are looking forward to catching up in person (or by post!) when we return to Australia after 12 months’ absence, towards the end of February 2026.

We have had a wonderful time in the Marshall Islands on assignments with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australian Volunteers Program. Diana has been volunteering with the Public School System – working on developing, training teachers on, and rolling-out, educational IT support across the country, as well as providing hands-on support to a small community elementary school on Ejit (another island in the Majuro lagoon). Wayne has been volunteering with the Office of the Chief Secretary, providing advice and developing tools on national policy development and assessment.

Kindergarten to Grade 2 at the end of year breakup party.

We have made a lot of new Marshallese and ex-pat friends, which has been as enriching as it was nearly 40 years ago when we were working here. Many of the friends we made back then remain lifelong friends today. We have also been delighted to reconnect with a surprising number of people we knew in Majuro in the 1980s, including former colleagues of Wayne, and former students of Diana.

We had a few breaks from Majuro Atoll – one to an outer atoll called Wotje (for a week’s holiday, and Diana stayed on for an extra week to work in the local High School).

Wotje School excursion island style!

Leaving beautiful Wotje

More recently, to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) for two weeks (a week in Pohnpei to catchup with the 3 other volunteers working across the Northern Pacific, and a week’s holiday in Kosrae).

Diana also spent a few days working with the schools on Ebeye Island in Kwajalein Atoll. All those trips were wonderful. We joined local community events in Wotje and explored Japanese war relics.

Japanese buildings are still standing - this is a lookout. The Wotje campus of the College of the Marshall Islands is housed in a renovated Japanese bunker.

In Pohnpei, we walked up hills for the first time in nine months. We also went snorkeling with manta rays.

Both Pohnpei and Kosrae offered 1,000-year-old ruins to visit.

The mysterious ruins of Nan Madol - Pohnpei

And similarly mysterious ruins - Lelu, Kosrae

In Kosrae, we explored caves filled with nesting sea birds, travelled by boat through mangroves and walked in a forest of endangered trees.

We went to a night market and sampled a traditional Kosraean dish FahFah Erah - taro and banana - prepared with a Tok. It is then covered in fresh coconut milk, absolutely delicious!

Above all else, this year has been about re-visiting the wonderful culture and friendship of the Marshallese people.

We feel very privileged to have both been asked to continue our volunteer work remotely from Australia, and to come back to the Marshall Islands for 2 months in 2026 (July and August) – which we are very much looking forward to.

Our daughters and their families are all doing well, and we are very excited to reconnect in person rather than through on-line video calls!