helped us on the island; our dental nurses and assistants, Meshai and Wase; and our medical officer Kiona and his wife Tinar were truly heroes. Though the health assistants on the outer islands had only received a few weeks of training, a box of medicine, and a single side band radio, they were the ones who cared for their communities’ health needs day in and day out. We were in awe. At the end of every trip, I felt so blessed to work with the people in Micronesia. I am so lucky that God to guided me here. As Canvasback’s reputation grew, we were approached by the iroij and first president of the Marshall Islands, Amata Kabua, who was feeling the effects of type 2 diabetes. Jamie and 7 | Fall 2016 I arranged for him to attend the NEWSTART Lifestyle Program at the Weimar Institute in California. When he returned, he asked Jamie and me to help develop a similar program for his country. This was a daunting task. When we first started working in the Marshall Islands, we were told not to test the people for diabetes because, quite frankly, Health Services had their hands full providing primary health care and did not have the means to address the country’s increasing rate of diabetes. Medication was scarce and the foods available on island were imported, processed goods that created a recipe for diabetes. We took this challenge seriously Canvasback Missions
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