(July 31, 2007, Columbia, South Carolina) The Habele Outer Island Education Fund announced today that it is awarding over $3,500 in high school scholarships to students from a remote and underdeveloped Pacific Atoll in Micronesia.

Habele, a South Carolina based nonprofit, is comprised of former Peace Corps Volunteers and other education-minded Americans with an interest in Micronesia, a Federation of islands in the central Pacific formerly administered by the United States Department of the Interior.

The recipients are two girls aged 17 and 18 from the islands of Falalop and Asor on Ulithi Atoll in Yap State. They will be attending classes at the all-girls Bethania High School in the Republic of Palau.

One of the awards, the Oceanic Society Sea Turtle Scholarship, is being granted through the support of the Oceanic Society in recognition of the community’s ongoing support for a local sea turtle research and conservation program. The Society is a US based non-profit marine conservation group involved in environmental expeditions and education in Micronesia and around the world. Like Habele, the Oceanic Society recognizes the unique difficulties faced by students in the Outer Islands.

Neil Mellen, Habele’s founder explained,

“These isolated atolls in Micronesia face a gamut of social, political, and economic challenges. Their remoteness and limited natural resources leave them dependent on government foreign aid which encourages the expansion of an inefficient public-sector-based economy. The Secretariat of the Pacific reports that fewer than a fifth of these islanders have access to acceptable sanitation and that infant mortality rates are five times higher than those the United States.

“Expanding academic opportunity and promoting educational accomplishment is an essential first step in promoting individual, island, and national sovereignty. Through scholarships to private schools and material donations to public schools, Habele is working with the Outer Island Communities to meet this goal.”

Mario Suulbech, a Habele volunteer who lives on the Island of Falalop, echoed Mellen’s optimism.

“These girls are the future of our islands. Sadly, some people here are still skeptical about the value of education and the role of women in our changing traditions. These particular girls are working hard to prove them wrong, to build a brighter future for their families, and our island community.”

The scholarship winners will travel to and from the school with money raised by their families, and have signed a strict performance contract that ties their scholarships to academic targets.

Habele consists of donors and volunteers from throughout the United States and the Pacific. The Fund has no paid employees and is still seeking support for its ongoing public school book drives. Visit www.habele.org to learn more.
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As part of our ongoing effort to keep Habele volunteers and donors informed about cultural and political developments in Micronesia’s remote Outer Islands we have compiled this brief overview of national indicators. It is important to keep in mind that these figures reflect either federal averages or the data gathered in district centers, and that the situation in the Outer Islands tends to be significantly less developed.

The Asian Development Bank’s four-page 2007 Fact Sheet on Micronesia is a great place to start. The Bank notes The FSM economy is dominated by a public sector funded by sector grants under the Compact II assistance arrangement with the United States (US). Despite significant levels of development assistance, the FSM economy averaged annual growth of only 1.8% during Compact I (1987–2003). It contracted 0.7% in 2006.

The 2007 Infant Mortality Rate for Micronesia is reported at 42 per 1000 (close to the Pacific/ East Asia average, but compared to just 8 per 1000 in the United States) and the Per Capita Gross National Income is US $2,300 - about 1/20th of that in the US.

The International Monetary Fund’s Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix for the Federated States of Micronesia is forty-five page compilation of facts and figures. The IMF explains that since 2001, private sector growth has stagnated. During 2001–05, private sector GDP grew by 0.9 percent on average, compared with 2.2 percent for the public sector. As a result, the private sector’s share in GDP fell to 29 percent in 2005, compared to 40 percent for the public sector. During this period, employment in manufacturing, construction, and tourism fell sharply, while in services, mainly retail, it expanded.

The Fund is also cautious about the future, and fears that this stagnation will worsen in coming years. Analysis shows that the barriers to conducting business make Micronesia an unlikely candidate for growth. There is evidence within the region suggesting a link between the business climate and private sector growth. A simple plot of average growth rates during 2000–06 and the World Bank’s Doing Business in 2007: How to Reform rankings show that Pacific Island Countries (PICs) with lower costs of doing business featured faster average growth rates. With Micronesia ranking near the bottom among PICs in both the business environment and growth performance, improving the regulatory regime could yield significant economic benefits. Overall, Micronesia ranked 106th among the 175 participating counties and at the bottom among Pacific Island Countries in the ease of doing business.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Statistics Unit is another great resource. The Secretariat reports that only 23.5 percent of the Micronesian population has access to “improved sanitation,” though 92.8 percent enjoy access to improved drinking water.”

Also worth a look is the United Nations Population Fund’s Indicators, and the World Bank’s guide to doing business in Micronesia.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote islands and atolls of Micronesia’s Outer Islands. Through scholarships to private schools and material support to public schools we work to provide a firm basis for personal, island, and national growth in Micronesia.