Skateboards in Ebeye
words and photos by Nathan fitch.
After getting my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps in Micronesia twenty years ago, I had to consult google to figure out where in the world it was.
I learned that for the next few years I would be living and working on a small Pacific Island many thousands of miles away from New York, where I had been living at the time. On the list of recommended items to take were ample supplies of medicine, sunscreen, literature and snorkeling fins. Perhaps unintuitively, I also decided to pack my skateboard, an Enjoy 8.0 with thunder trucks if memory serves me right. While there were a limited number of skate spots on Kosrae, the island I ended up living on for two years, it was certainly helpful to be able to skate around as I adjusted to a bewildering and beautiful new environment. And the kids on the island were certainly stoked to learn what a kickflip was.
Kickflip on Kosrae island, 2006.
Since my time in the Peace Corps, I’ve continued to travel back to Micronesia in the years since to work on documentary projects. Most recently, I’ve been filming in the Marshall Islands for the last several years for a project called Essential Islanders. Many people from the Marshall Islands have migrated away from the islands due to a number of factors including the long term consequences of the US nuclear bombing in the 1940-50’s, which obliterated entire islands and displaced communities.
Nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, sometime in the 1940-50’s.
Today many Marshallese Islanders live and work legally in the United States, with an especially large community in Northwest Arkansas (approximately 15,000 people). While the Marshallese are allowed to live and work in the US under an agreement, they are also a community that is vulnerable in the US immigration system. Over the last several years the number of Marshallese being deported has greatly increased as ICE has ramped up its efforts. Last summer when I was filming on the Island of Ebeye, I met a deportee named Junior Emmius. Junior had been living in Hawaii for the last thirty years, and after a brush with the law and a stint in jail, he had begun working in outreach supporting marginalized communities on Oahu. When we met, Junior was thinking about how he could support the youth on Ebeye, a very densely populated island where 50% of the people are under the age of eighteen years old.
Junior Emmius with his nephews on Ebeye.
After my trip to the islands in 2025, it occurred to me that bringing skateboards to Ebeye Island might be an ideal project for Junior, who was familiar with skateboarding from his time in Hawaii. I also reached out to Abon Arelon at KALGOV, the local government on Ebeye, who was enthusiastic about the idea. Some months later at a conference, I connected with the professional skater Nestor Judkins, who had founded the non-profit Salad Days of Skateboarding. Salad Days and Tum Yeto came onboard and donated complete skateboards for the project. In July 2026 I loaded up a tote bag with skateboards and merch, and boarded a flight that would take me 46 hours to deliver the skateboards to the island of Ebeye.
Ebeye island.
Exhausted but excited, I pulled out the skateboards once I had settled in on Ebeye, and so began the controlled chaos of skateboard sessions.
Setting up skateboards.
Kids sharing skateboards.
Learning to carve.
Relay races were very competitive!
In addition to giving the young people in general something positive to put their energy into, I have been thinking about the situation for the children whose parents are deported. After growing up with all the amenities of the United States, it must be a huge shift to suddenly have your life uprooted and need to adjust to a different way of life on an island such as Ebeye. I thought maybe skateboards could be especially helpful for these young people as they try to adjust to their new circumstances and living situations.
Isile Bolkeim, whose father was deported in 2024.
A group of young folks during a session.
Makeshift drop in.
Makeshift drop in.
A young ripper!
Toy Machine merch was a big hit!
A basketball court becomes a de facto skatepark for a few hours.
While chaotic, the skate sessions we had while I was on Ebeye were extremely fun, and the plan is for Junior Emmius to continue providing the skateboards to young people, in collaboration with the KALGOV youth and recreation department. Hopefully, with the support of the community on Ebeye, it will be possible to establish a small skatepark where young people can refine their skills. The need for a skatepark was reinforced because while I was on Ebeye in July, a small boy was run over by a taxi while he was playing in the street (not skateboarding!), resulting in a broken collarbone and other injuries. The establishment of a skate park would provide young people with a safe location to learn new tricks! And, while it might seem counter intuitive to bring skateboards to a small island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, I can personally attest to the benefits it can confer from my own experience living in islands in Micronesia over the years.
If you would like to support this project, feel free to reach out to me directly at fitch.nathan@gmail.com
