Habele is proud to announce a forthcoming collaboration with the Oceanic Society, a nonprofit conservation organization based in San Francisco, to expand our high school scholarships for Outer Island students in Yap State.

The Oceanic Society aims to protect marine wildlife worldwide through an integrated program of scientific research, environmental education and volunteerism. Toward that end, the society has been involved in a small scale ecotourism project in Yap State, with a special emphasis on turtle tagging and tracking project begun by former Peace Corps volunteer Jennifer Johnson on the Ulithi Atoll.

The partnership will enable Habele to offer an additional scholarship in the 2007-08 school year. Habele, a nonprofit founded by a group of young Americans with teaching experience in the Outer Islands, works to promote educational opportunity and accomplishment in the most isolated areas of Micronesia. Visit www.habele.org for more details.

The Economist recently published an excellent piece on the power of educational vouchers. The article argues that greater parental choice in K-12 education correlates with improved student performance, and not merely from the so-called "skimming" of smart students or "self-selection" by ambitious parents.

Harry Patrinos, an education economist at the World Bank, cites a Colombian programme to broaden access to secondary schooling, known as PACES, a 1990s initiative that provided over 125,000 poor children with vouchers worth around half the cost of private secondary school. Crucially, there were more applicants than vouchers. The programme, which selected children by lottery, provided researchers with an almost perfect experiment, akin to the "pill-placebo" studies used to judge the efficacy of new medicines. The subsequent results show that the children who received vouchers were 15-20% more likely to finish secondary education, five percentage points less likely to repeat a grade, scored a bit better on scholastic tests and were much more likely to take college entrance exams.

Habele's donor-financed scholarships are another type of voucher; a privately funded one. Currently, we are in the midst of our annual summer fundraising drive. Special thanks to recent donors Valerie, Jay, Ana, Charlotte, and Josh. We hope to continue this drive and complete our goal of two full scholarships by summer's end.

We at Habele see this type of merit-based privately-financed scholarship as an excellent tool for promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the the remote outer islands of Micronesia's Yap State. To learn more about the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, visit our website www.habele.org.

American Blogger and Yap State resident R. K. Ledgerwood posted about the FSM Justice Department's search and seizure of documents belonging to former FSM Ambassador to the US Jesse B. Marehalau. The "raid" occurred on the Atoll of Ulithi. There are numerous posting about the incident at the Micronesian Seminar’s online discussion forum.

The United States Postal Service has announced the re-adoption of a range of postal services to Pacific Islands associated with the United States, including the Federated States of Micronesia. Postal support from the US has long been an important part of the US-FSM Compact.

Pacific Island leaders announced a desire to build partnerships with the US, rather than merely remain consumers of the superpower’s aid. Meanwhile Taiwan (ROC) has pledged over $1 million in development aid for projects throughout the Pacific.

Habele is a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in the Outer Islands of Micronesia.

A group of graduating seniors from the University of South Carolina have been working with Habele to send their lightly used clothing to students at the Outer Island High School on the Atoll of Ulithi.

"This is a great chance for us to clear out our dorms as we graduate and help out the Islanders in the process" explained Megan Cott, a business and economics major who spearheaded the drive. Habele donors from throughout the US have been sending in financial support as part of an ongoing summer fundraising drive. This money will help pay for the shipment of the donated clothing, as well for the awarding of Habele’s annual scholarships.

"We have all been busy with finals, projects, graduation plans, and job seeking" said Lauren Johnson, an advertising and public relations major, "but this has been a great chance to support needy students in the Outer Islands!"

To learn more about Habele’s role in supporting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the isolated Outer Islands of Micronesia visit www.habele.org