Projects
Waan Aelõñ In Majel (Canoes
of the Marshall Islands) or WAM is a non-profit organization. The WAM program
is a vocational training program using traditional Marshallese skills for men and women
— such as canoe building, traditional and contemporary boat building,
sail-races and navigation, woodworking and weaving — as a medium to transfer needed
life skills and capacity building to the youth of the Marshall Islands . The Waan Aelõñ
In Majel (WAM program links with the Ministry of Education (MOE), College of the Marshall
Islands (CMI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other organizations and agencies in
order to maximize skills training and capacity building for these youth at risk.
Overview
Canoe Building and Training
In January 2000 the program began
the first training with a Master canoe Builder and 4 young men while building a
traditional Tipñõl (mid-size) canoe from local materials. In May, to show comparison of
the two building techniques, our advisor began construction of a 23.5’ United Nations
FAO designed canoe using contemporary materials and techniques |
Trainees chopping away on the Jouj Log
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Canoe Sailing, Repair & Maintenance Training
All the trainees are
getting experience in sailing canoes. Some have even gotten so good at sailing the small
kõrkõr canoe they’ve begun more advanced training on the mid-sized tipñõl and
now, some of these young men are participating in the races around the lagoon and even
placing in the top five prize winning categories. |
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Model Making
Started as a pilot project
accomplished in the mid-nineties WAM sees the popularity of an accurate and very high
quality scale model canoes. Canoe models are sold all over the world to museums, schools
and individual collectors. |
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Outreach
An ongoing element in
the training is the exposure and experience the trainees get with visitors coming to the
training program. These visitors include tourists and the general public, but the largest
numbers are students from all of the primary and secondary schools. |
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