Habele has just received the 2007-08 tuition schedule from Bethania High School in Palau. Citing rising costs in utilities, teacher cost of living adjustments and basic school supplies the school announced a 16 percent increase in tuition. The school also has added a range of fees (including standardized testing costs) to the 12th grade tuition rate.

To date, Habele donors have responded generously to the needs of our scholarship students. We hope to gather the funds to cover this unanticipated fee hike by the end of summer when we will award our 2007-08 scholarships!

In broader regional news:

Matson Increases Container Rates To Palau, FSM, Marshalls.

FSM Administration Moves To Help Financially Troubled States

Micronesian HESA confirms Zika virus, says quarantine unnecessary for Yap.

US GAO says trust funds not complete answer to US funding in Compact Territories.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based nonprofit promoting educational opportunities and accomplishment in Micronesia’s remote Outer Islands. Please consider a donation of time, school supplies, or money today!

The South Carolina Secretary of State has reported that Habele devoted 82.8 percent of its total expenses to program services during the 2006 fiscal year.

Tom Lutte, the Fund’s Treasurer, noted that Habele is able to maintain such an efficient organization by not having a single paid employee. Unlike most development organizations, Habele is organized and administered exclusively by volunteers – both US and Micronesia based.

Looking further into the numbers reported by the SC Secretary of State, Mr. Lutte noted that the remaining 17.2 percent of expenses were broken down in the Fund’s financial report as:

0.95 percent for “occupancy, rent, utilities and maintenance"
4.47 percent for “printing, publications, postage and shipping”
11.85 percent for “other”

The largest portion, “other” consisted of fees paid by Habele to the US Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the State of South Carolina during the process of formal incorporation and tax exemption. Habele donors will be pleased to hear that these are primarily one-time expenses. The “postage” expenditures include the parcel costs of sending Habele’s shipments of donated school supplies to public schools in the Outer Islands.

Further details of the Fund’s expenditures can be found in its annual report.

To help Habele in its work promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia please consider donating today.

California volunteers are sending more toys for Head Start centers on the Atoll of Ulithi. Please contact Habele if you are interested in helping with this warm-hearted project. In regional news:

Trust Funds May Not Provide Sustainable Income for FSM
The new report, "Compacts of Free Association: Trust Fund for Micronesia and the Marshall Islands May Not Provide Sustainable Income," issued June 15, 2007, is the fifth in a series since July of 2005. The GAO has found accountability problems, sustainability challenges, and limited development prospects facing the two Pacific nations. Market volatility, in addition to the investment strategies chosen, may lead to a wide range of trust fund balances at the close of grant funding in 2023, states the GAO.

The faces of Micronesia's fallen
Since the war on terror began in 2001, Guam and its Pacific island neighbors have seen hundreds of their sons and daughters deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. To date, 22 sons of Micronesia are among those who have been killed, including more than 3,500 Americans killed in Iraq. This year has been the deadliest with eight casualties.

Habele is a US-based nonprofit working to promote educational opportunity and accomplishment in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands.

A quick review of news from the Outer Islands of Yap and around Micronesia.

Authors of a new paper in the Journal of Public Health Nutrition found that the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has "suffered a great loss in production and consumption of local foods. Inconsistent external and internal government policies and food aid programmes have contributed to the problem."

Conservation Volunteers from Beautify CMNI recently discussed the idea of collaboration between the turtle protection programs on Ulithi and similar efforts proposed in the Marianas Islands.

The FSM Justice Department has filed charges against that nation’s former Ambassador to the US Jessie Marehalau.

United States Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne visited the Federated States of Micronesia, and spoke of the strong historical ties between the two nations. During the Trust Territory period the Department of the Interior oversaw the governance of the four states that now constitute the Federated States of Micronesia. While the FSM is now a sovereign self-governing nation, Kemthorne described the country as “an important part of the portfolio of the Department of the Interior.” This seemingly imprudent comment may be a function of the role played by his Department in the Compact of Free Association between the two countries.


The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is nonprofit organization serving the educational needs of communities and students in the Outer Islands of Micronesia. Habele grants scholarships to children attending private schools and supports public schools through material donations. Visit Habele.org for more details.

Habele is proud to announce that we, with the help of generous donors across the US, are within $200 of reaching our summer fundraising goal! Habele will be officially awarding its scholarships to Micronesian Outer Island students at summer’s end.

New photos of Habele scholars during the 2006-07 school year are now online at Habele’s Flickr photo page.

In broader Micronesian news:

Word Press reports on the role of lump sum government foreign aid in the Pacific. There is no ideology involved; the entire situation is due to the "culture of dependence" governments in Oceania, which are only interested in dollar terms. Both China and Taiwan are playing "check-book diplomacy." The one who can offer more can gain a new bedfellow as well as a valuable United Nations vote.

The Associated Press considers theories about, and the impact of, rising sea levels in Oceania. Island people disagree on whether it is global warming, but they know there is less sand and the trees are falling into the ocean. The question for some islands is, will there be anyone left to hear them fall?

Radio Australia covers the US calls for an audit of the Republic of Palau’s finances.

Habele is a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in Micronesia’s remote Outer Islands. We have no paid employees and do not accept government support. If you believe in the value of education and the power of grass roots change please consider donating today.

Habele volunteers in California have been gathering donated stuffed animals this week for the Head Start center on Falalop Ulithi.

Overseen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start is public pre-kindergarten program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of enrolled children.

Head Start began as a domestic US program for poverty reduction in President Johnson’s Great Society reforms, but Head Start services and support have been extended to Pacific Island nations in Free Association with the United States.

This volunteer-organized donation drive is an excellent example of how Habele works year round to fulfill its mission of supporting public schools in the Outer Islands of Micronesia. For more information on how you can support this project, or to learn about our private school scholarships, visit www.habele.org.