A kids book to celebrate the history and journey of nuclear justice in the Marshall Islands was launched this week in Suva to mark World Ocean Day.
Marshall Islands author Brooke Takala wrote the book Elimoñdik, her first in a new series of children’s books. The story is about two young boys, Ahti and Aapo, living in exile on Majuro because they cannot return to their island home of Enjebi due to the effects of nuclear testing during the height of World War 2.
It is a story told to the two young boys of their brave great grandfather, Iroijlaplap Lañiñi, the Paramount Chief of Enjebi, who was in pursuit to free his people from the ravages of war including the impacts of the nuclear testing. Elimoñdik was the name of Lañiñi’s canoe while living in exile on Ujelang during the nuclear bomb tests. The story also conveys the boys’ hopes to return to a nuclear-free Enjebi, reflecting the sentiments of other Pacific islanders still reeling from the impact of more than 300 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons were detonated in the Pacific, from illnesses to contamination to forced displacement.
“Nuclear submarines cruise our oceans, and nuclear waste is shipped between continents and often dumped at sea. Our oceans hold stories of great tragedy but also hope. In the words of young Ahti, “the Ocean means life. The aim of this book is to share a history forgotten by many, to connect the children of the Marshall Islands with the whole of Oceania and beyond, and be a learning tool in achieving a nuclear free and independent Pacific.”
Youngsolwara
Elimoñdik is the first publication by Youngsolwara, a movement of Pacific youth for Pacific self-determination of which Ahti and Aapo are the youngest members. Youngsolwara artist, Hefrani Barnes did the illustrations for the book.
