b. take part in discussions and answering questions whenever they want to do so and thereby develop an atmosphere of trust. c. develop and presentan educational program on radiation, what it is, what it can do and finally what it means to them as they continue to live on an island which has residual radioactivity. The education program was basically presented under three headings, there were: a. radiation and effects of radiation b. environmental monitoring, and c. medical programs Very early in the program, it was recognized that the village meetings would be the best forum for presenting the lecture on radiation and the informal discussions should be encouraged whenever possible. The fact that the senior author lived for a while on the island with them lent itself to the*latter method quite easily. need to encourage them to ask questions was always emphasized. Also the This procedure per- mitted informal discussions to be made among the people and the scientist (educator). “These discussions provided the forum for seeking the right way to present the right answer to their questions. It also helped to ensure true communication as one trans- dates back and forth between English and Marshallese. In discussing radiation and its effects, it was also recognized that the Marshallese language is not equipped to explain radioactivity, the radioactive element, the types of radiation and other concepts of the interaction of radiation with matter. It was felt that a lot would be gained by addressing their basic fears about living on an island which received radioactive fallout and continued to be radioactive today. This basic fear seems to be built around the fact that the adopted Marshallese word for radioactivity was the English word "poison" and like their experience with poison, it was capable of injuring and even killing. By the use of radiation detection instru- ments, we were able to demonstrate that unlike poison, radiation could be detected without touching or tasting it, and that unlike poison, it decreases with time. This latter concept was demonstrated very effectively by using a square paper and sequentially tearing into half. It was emphasized that the reduction in activity with time