Early in October, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Peter A. Prahar to be the US Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.

The United States Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment on November 20th.

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an island nation in the central Pacific with close historical and economic ties to the United States. The FSM was established in 1979 after five decades of direct US-control through a region-wide United Nation overseen Trust Territory.

Prior to the confirmation, Prahar was serving as the transnational crime officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. Before that assignment, he served in the Office of Asian, African and European Programs in the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Other previous assignments included tours in China, Japan, Albania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Rwanda.

In 1983, the US and FSM governments entered into a status of Free Association. The ongoing agreement provides Micronesia with significant financial assistance in exchange for US defense rights in the region. It also allows for open and reciprocal travel rights for both countries' citizens, as well as access for Micronesian nationals to US social services and entitlements.

Despite its close relationship with the United State, Micronesia is challenged by high rates of poverty and low levels of K12 and secondary educational attainment.

Addressing the Foreign Relations Committee, Peter Prahar explained:

"Under the Compact, the United States provides more than $90 million in annual assistance to the FSM through Fiscal Year 2023. Last year, total U.S. assistance to the country, including all federal services, programs, and grants, exceeded $130 million…This assistance is intended to be an economic springboard as the FSM improves its business climate, fiscal policies, and capacity to govern, while reducing its dependence on recurrent, public sector expenditures supported by foreign assistance.

"If we are to meet these development goals by 2023 – which, in development terms, is very soon – we must ensure that programs in which we invest have clearly stated goals and objectives, agreed-upon benchmarks and performance indicators, and formal monitoring and evaluation plans that provide feedback on what is working and what is not, and how deficient areas can be improved.

"At the same time, while insisting on reasonable safeguards for U.S. taxpayer money, we must be careful to avoid the impression that the most powerful country in the world is dictating to one of the smallest. We need to reaffirm that we seek the same results from the Compact’s investments to the FSM: a good educational system, improved public health, effective governmental services, an open business climate, and protection of the FSM’s unique and lovely environment.

Read Prahar's full statement to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations here.

Habele is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that promotes educational access and accomplishments in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia.

A mere 10 percent of Micronesians who enroll in the nation's community college system actually graduate.

The figure was released in the "IPEDS Data Feedback Report," complied by the College of Micronesia (COM) for the United States based National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It measures the number of full-time, first-time, degree seeking undergraduates who obtain a degree within 150% of the time normally required. It also accounts for students who transferred out to other schools, usually in Guam and Hawaii, in order to continue their studies elsewhere.

More troubling, additional figures from NCES indicate a massive disparity in graduation rates along gender lines. Female students (comprising 53% of the COM student body) have a 15 percent graduate rate while their male peers (47% of students) graduate at a rate of just 4 percent.

The College of Micronesia has a national campus on the island of Pohnpei and state campuses in Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap. It offers 2-year degrees as well as 4-year certificates and has an open admissions policy.

In 2008, there were 2,457 students enrolled in the COM system. Just over 2,000 of those students (or 83%) received tuition assistance from the United States government in the form of Pell Grants, totaling $4,050,092 in US aid.

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an island nation in the central Pacific with close historical and economic ties to the United States. The FSM was established in 1979 after five decades of direct US-control through a region-wide United Nation overseen Trust Territory.

In 1983, the US and FSM governments entered into a status of Free Association. The ongoing agreement provides Micronesia with significant financial assistance in exchange for US defense rights in the region. It also allows for open and reciprocal travel rights for both countries' citizens, as well as access for Micronesian nationals to US social services and entitlements.

The majority of FSM K-12 and Higher Educational funding is provided by the United States through this Compact.

Read more about the COM college system here and the public K-12 school system here.

Habele is an all-volunteer nonprofit working to expand educational access and accomplishment in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands. Habele awards K-12 scholarships to low-income students attending prestigious private schools in order to improve their chances of entering into, and succeeding at, higher education.

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Amelia Weiss sits with boxes of donated books headed for the Outer Islands of Micronesia.

Amelia, now a freshman at Cal Berkeley, began to gather materials for under-resourced schools in the Central Pacific after a visit to the Islands of Palau and Yap. She teamed up with other students at Chaminade Prep High School to collect text and reference books for Micronesian students attending Outer Island High School (OIHS) on the atoll of Ulithi, 100 miles east of Yap.

These boxes are just the latest shipment in the massive donation from the high school robotics team at Chaminade College Prep in West Hills, California. The team is participating in the annual Habele book drive, which began in the fall. Donations have also been sent to the Atoll of Woleai.

Across Micronesia, an isolated former US dependency, families struggle with poverty and students lack access to quality classroom instruction.

The problems are particularly acute in the picturesque Outer Islands, located far from the more developed, more densely populated, state capitals. Despite development elsewhere in Oceania, most of the Outer Islands remain subsistence based economies.

Special thanks are also due to Deborah L. Weiss, Amelia's mother, who help to coordinate the collections and delivered the many boxes to the post office.

To learn more about the Outer Islands of Micronesia, and how you can help expand educational access and accomplishment in this remote region, visit www.habele.org.

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Last Thursday, the Habele Blog reported on the tragic death of Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott, a Seventh-day Adventist student missionary in Micronesia.

Wolcott, a 20 year-old college student from Southern Adventist University (SAU), was serving as a teacher at the SDA school which several Outer Island children attend through Habele tuition scholarships.

Early accounts indicated that Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott "had reportedly gone jogging by herself before morning classes and did not return."

Now, new details are beginning to slowly emerge from Yap, one of four States in the Federated States of Micronesa (FSM).

A Sabbath Blog is reporting that "According to the [SA] University, the FBI has made an arrest in connection to the murder."

Sources on Yap also indicate the deceased was found on the dirt road between Tom's store and SDA school by her students, whom the principal sent out to look for her in the morning. Kirsten, and avid runner, was often seen jogging and people on the small island knew her well because of this.

In 1983, the US and FSM governments entered into a status of Free Association. The ongoing agreement provides Micronesia with significant financial assistance in exchange for US defense rights in the region. It also allows for open and reciprocal travel rights for both countries' citizens, as well as access for Micronesian nationals to US social services and entitlements.

Under these terms, the Seventh-day Adventists, and other Christian missionaries, have expanded their presence in the islands, primarily through the construction of parochial K-12 schools.

It remains unclear how this agreement governs US law enforcement's involvement in domestic Micronesian crimes.

The Micronesian Seminar, an FSM based research and community development organization, has established an online forum for discussion of the incident here.

Habele's facebook page also has many comments and wall postings about the tragic death.

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"Habele" is an all-volunteer, US-based charity, promoting educational access and accomplishment in Micronesia.

The main focus of Habele's work is providing low-income Outer Island students with scholarships to attend private K-12 schools in the Federated States of Micronesia's (FSM) four state capitals.

Maia Leta Lesarof, a second grade student at Saint Mary's School on Yap Proper, is one of the 17 students who earned a Habele tuition scholarship for the 2009-10 school year. Her home is Woleai, an isolated and underdeveloped coral atoll due west of Ifaluk and southeast of Ulithi. She is attending the school along with three other Outer Island students who received full tuition support from Habele.

Her sponsor on Yap Proper, Marcellino Yang, recently wrote to Habele asking if we might consider also sponsoring Maia's sister, Myla Faith Lemaipiye:



If you are interested in helping to send Myla to join her sister Maia at Saint Mary's then please consider donating to Habele. If you do, you may be eligible for a tax deduction, in accordance with Habele's IRS granted tax exemption status.

You can also read about Habele scholars attending Saramen Chuuk and Berea High Schools in Chuuk and those enrolled at the SDA School on Yap.

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Multiple media outlets are reporting that Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott, a Seventh-day Adventist student missionary, has been murdered on the island of Yap, in the central Pacific island nation of Micronesia.

The Adventist News Network (ANN) cites unnamed SDA church leaders who explained, "Kirsten, a native of Virginia, had reportedly gone jogging by herself before morning classes and did not return."

Miss Wolcott, 20, was a 2007 graduate of Richmond Academy. She had taken a year off of school at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. Kirsten was participating in the Adventist Volunteer Service program, and was one of 780+ student missionaries serving worldwide in that group.

Yap is one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), an island nation in the central Pacific with close historical and economic ties to the United States. The FSM was established in 1979 after five decades of direct US-control through a region-wide United Nation overseen Trust Territory.

In 1983, the US and FSM governments entered into a status of Free Association. The ongoing agreement provides Micronesia with significant financial assistance in exchange for US defense rights in the region. It also allows for open and reciprocal travel rights for both countries' citizens, as well as access for Micronesian nationals to US social services and entitlements.

Under these terms, the Seventh-day Adventists, and other Christian missionaries, have expanded their presence in the islands, primarily through the construction of parochial K-12 schools.

The Yap SDA School opened in 1987 as an elementary school and subsequently expanded to a kindergarten through 12th-grade school.  The school is run mostly by Adventist college students volunteering as teachers. About 10 student missionaries are now serving there. The church also has a school on the Micronesian capital of Pohnpei. Both schools are widely seen as among the best in the developing island nation.

Habele, a charity serving Outer Island students across Micronesia, has been partnering with the SDA School on Yap since 2007. The US- based nonprofit works with school leaders to identify low-income Outer Island student whose families are unable to afford the modest $550 a year tuition fees. Habele issued six full tuition scholarships to students attending the Yap SDA School this 2009-10 academic year.

The last known death of a Christian Missionary killed by local islanders in Micronesia occurred in 1731. Father Contova and a group of Spanish solders were murdered on the Atoll of Ulithi, 100 miles east of Yap. Another six Spanish Jesuits died in Micronesia during World War Two, presumably at the hands of the occupying Japanese.

The US State Department had advised American travelers of crime in the neighboring state of Chuuk -long seen as more violent than other areas of Oceania- but has not issued personal alerts for visitors to Yap State.

Yap and its Outer Islands have a reputation for non-confrontationalism and traditional consensus-based dispute resolution. Nationwide, Micronesia has an incarceration rate of only 89 prisoners per 100,000 citizens.



Photo: Annaliza Laitilpiy, a 2nd grade student from the Atoll of Woleai, stands outside the SDA School on Yap. 

UPDATE: Informal reports from Yap indicate that a suspect is now in custody. These sources explain that the deceased was found on the dirt road between Tom's store and SDA school by her students, whom the principal sent out to look for her in the morning. Kirsten, and avid runner, was often seen jogging and people on the small island knew her well because of this.

Second Quarter (April through June 2009) inflation across Micronesia was 9.6 percent – more than double the rate for the same quarter in 2008.

The jump in inflation was primarily driven by a 21.1 percent growth in the cost of food.

By state, the annual inflation rate for the 2nd quarter of 2009 was 5.8% in Kosrae, 11.2% in Pohnpei, 8.8% in Chuuk, and 8.9% in Yap.

Households falling below the The Basic Needs Poverty Line (BNPL) had increased between 1998 and 2005.

In 2005, about 22.4% of households fell below the BNPL.

About 29.9% of the population was below the Basic Needs Poverty Line.

Habele, the all-volunteer charity serving students in Micronesia, has just received an update from Michael Gall, a US Peace Corps Volunteer living on Chuuk.

Mr. Gall visited Habele tuition scholarship recipients who are attending Berea Christian High School and Saramen Chuuk Academy.

This school year, Habele awarded full tuition scholarships to 5 students living on Chuuk, as well as a further 13 on Yap Proper and Pohnpei. Habele also supports public schools in these islands through donations of books and school supplies.

Meeting personally with the students and their teachers, Michael took these great photographs of the Chuukese Habele Scholars:


These and other pictures can also be found at the Habele Fund Picasa Album. Visit habele.org to learn more, and find out how you can help!

Pictured: the high school robotics team at Chaminade College Prep in West Hills, California stands with donated books for students in the Central Pacific.

The Charminade students have gathered text and reference books which they will be sending to impoverished public schools in Yap and Chuuk States, part of the tiny island nation of Micronesia.

The Federated States of Microensia (or FSM) is a remote and under-resourced nation of hundred of small islands that span thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean. The region is roughly northwest of Melanesia and due west of Polynesia. The FSM, and its neighbors in Palau, the Marianas, and the Marshalls, were formerly administered by the United States government and still enjoy close relations with America.

The Charminade Robotics Team book drive was intiated by Amelia Weiss last school year. Amelia has since graduated  and is now attending the University of California at Berkley. She visited Micronesia during the summer and saw first hand the need for basic educational materials in the Pacific.

The team has completed similar service projects for the Massai, New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico and Baku. This year a small group from the teams is travelling to japan for a robotics event.

The students are working with Habele, a charity that promotes educational opportunities in Micronesia's Outer Islands. Habele donors have committed to pay for the books gathered by team members to be mailed directly to students in the Pacific.

Learn more about Habele coordinated book drives and consider making a donation to help this important work!

A South Carolina based charity is sending boxes packed with supplies to public school classrooms in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia.

"Habele," an all-volunteer nonprofit in Columbia, has been supporting students and educators in the Central Pacific island nation of Micronesia since 2006. Founded by returned Peace Corps Volunteers, the group targets it's donations to the most remote islands and atolls in the Micronesian states of Chuuk and Yap.

"These materials -just the most basic supplies for instruction and classroom activities- are sorely needed by students and teachers," explained Habele President Neil Mellen who served as a teacher in Yap State for three school years. "We are grateful that so many generous donors in the United States have committed to investing in the educational aspirations of Pacific Island students."

The boxes, filled with over $600.00 in pens, pencils, markers, whiteboards and note cards, are headed to public schools on the islands of Falalop and Mogmog on the Ulithi Atoll as well as Falalop and Falalus ( or "Falilus") on the Woleai Atoll. These islands are situated slightly above the equator, south and southeast of the American Territory of Guam.

Materials are being sent to both elementary and high schools.  Peace Corps volunteers who live and work on these remote islands will distribute the supplies.

Habele also provides tuition scholarships to students from these and other islands who attend private K-12 schools in state capitals. This school year Habele issued 17 full tuition scholarships to low-income Outer Island students attending prestigious independent schools on Yap Proper, Weno, Chuuk, and in the Micronesian national capital of Pohnpei.

Those interested in supporting Habele can visit www.habele.org to learn more.

Students and teachers in Micronesia are in desperate need of basic school supplies.

Particularly in the remote Outer Islands, public educators struggle with a lack of basic instructional materials. Library shelves are often bare.

Habele, an all-volunteer charity based in the United States, is looking to help.

The group is now organizing it's annual donation drive for classroom supplies and books.

In the recent years, Habele has provided much-needed materials to schools on Eauripik, Ulithi, Woleai, Kuttu, and Moch.

Those interested in helping out can:

1. Collect books and materials for students in grades K-12 or for community colleges;

2. Contact Habele for mailing addresses and to request reimbursement for postage fees; or

3. Make a tax-deductible financial donation to Habele to pay for postage or to purchase additional supplies.

Of course, we will also want photos and stories about your efforts!

You can see lots of photos from previous donations here.

Learn more about public school donations, as well as Habele's tuition scholarship and local language programs at www.habele.org.

Habele, a charity serving Micronesian students, has awarded it's 17th tuition scholarship for the 2009-10 school year.

Parky Mwarkie, from Kuttu in Chuuk, is enrolled at Saramen Chuuk High School as a Junior. Habele has committed to pay Partky's full tuition and fees for the remainder of the school year.

The national government of Micronesia estimates that public high schools in Chuuk State graduate only 41 percent of students.

Research conducted by the Micronesian Seminar indicates that student achievement at Outer Island public schools is "well below" the performance of public school students on Chuuk and Yap Proper, as measured by statewide 8th exit exams.

The author of that report, Francis X. Hezel, S.J., also found that private school students in the FSM consistently outperformed their public school peers on exit exams and college entrance tests. The independent schools charge tuition fees ranging from 40 to 60% of public per-pupil school spending.

Most families in Micronesia lack the resources to enroll their children at these higher-performing private schools. Habele's aim is to expand access to quality educational choices and to raise community expectations of schools through increased competition.

The remote Outer Islands of Yap, located in the Federated States of Micronesia, have been featured in the October 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

The article, focusing on the Ulithi Atoll, is titled "Way Out and Warmhearted." It characterizes the four inhabited Ulithian islands (Falalop, Asor, Mogmog, and Federai) as "strong[ly] traditional," and home to "clear waters rife with life."

Traveler's profile of the the Outer Islands of Yap is part of that magazine's 25 anniversary feature "50 Places of a Lifetime."

Neil Mellen, the author, explains:

Life on this paradise has its inequities and struggles, but people are warmhearted and friendly, and they willingly share their natural bounty. Sitting communally as the sun set, passing a cup of tuba and contributing my own stories, I realized that around this drinking circle the kindness of the Outer Island people shines the brightest.

Mellen, a former Peace Corps Volunteer who served on Falalop and Asor, Ulithi, is a Director of the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a charity serving students in Micronesia.

The Fall Semester 2009 updated enrollment data for the College of Micronesia is now online.

According to the President's latest announcment "The enrollment at all campuses are much higher this Fall Semester than Fall Semester 2008, as of 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2009.  This is the first semester that enrollment at the National Campus has exceeded 1000."

The headcounts for Fall Semester 2009 are as follows:

Campus	Students Enrolled
Chuuk	580
Kosrae	217
National	1,001
Pohnpei	730
Yap	207
Total	2,735

Read about K-12 public school enrollment in Micronesia here.

Habele is an all-volunteer US-based nonprofit organization striving to expand access to quality instruction for students of Micronesia's remote Outer Island community.

This brief overview of data, taken from 2007 state and federal sources in Micronesia, provides a general glimpse of public school characteristics in the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Total K-12 Public School Enrollment

Chuuk 14,271
Kosrae 2,382
Pohnpei 10,825
Yap  3,125

Number of Public Schools

Chuuk 155
Kosrae 10
Pohnpei 34
Yap 60

Number of Public School Classroom Teachers (and % with 4-year college degrees)

Chuuk 948 (10%)
Kosrae 201 (15%)
Pohnpei 731 (21%
Yap 375 (5%)

Estimated High School Graduation Rate (the % of 8th completers who finished high school)

Chuuk 41%
Kosrae 84%
Pohnpei 68%
Yap 82%

Per-Student Spending in Micronesian Public Schools

Chuuk $565
Kosrae $2,051
Pohnpei $1,120
Yap $1,899

Nationwide enrollment in higher education (2-year community college system): 2,700 pupils

In 2009, Habele provided full tuition scholarships to 16 Outer Island students attending private elementary and high schools on Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei. The average tuition was just under $500.00.

Research conducted by the Micronesian Seminar indicates that student achievement at Outer Island public schools is "well below" the performance of public school students on Yap Proper, as measured by statewide 8th exit exams.

The author of that report, Francis X. Hezel, S.J., also found that private school students in the FSM consistently outperformed their public school peers on exit exams and college entrance tests. The independent schools charge tuition fees ranging from 40 to 60% of public per-pupil school spending.

Not many people in South Carolina are familiar with Micronesia, a group of isolated islands in the Pacific once called the “Carolines.”

Students there face many challenges, but a small South Carolina charity is working to help.

Per-capita income in the islands is under $3,500. Limited natural resources and extreme isolation hamper economic development. The landmass of the islands totals just 300 square miles, but the chain spans over 1,800 miles of open ocean.

Public schools in Micronesia, which receive large sums of aid from the United States, remain under-resourced and rarely employ teachers with a full four-year degree. Only a small number of families can afford the modest tuition charged by the handful of missionary and nonprofit private schools operating in the islands.

The financial and logistical obstacles are particularly high for students who live in the isolated “outer islands” located far beyond the reef of the state capitals.

Many of these low-lying coral Atolls are thousands of miles away from a major port of call. They all lack regular power and indoor plumbing. Most of the islanders there still engage in subsistence farming and fishing. For parents in the outer islands, sending their children to a nationally competitive independent school is just a dream.

That’s where Columbia- based “Habele” enters the picture.


The word Habele is Ulithian term meaning to wish for and realize a future. It is a compound of the words “to be” and “to make.”

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that works to promote academic attainment and opportunities for outer islands students.

Habele works with local educators and traditional leaders to build libraries, provide school supplies, and issue tuition scholarships for deserving students to attend prestigious private schools on the more populated “high islands” that serve as Micronesia’s state capitals.

This year Habele has awarded over $7,500.00 in scholarships, paying the major part of tuition for sixteen of the outer island’s most ambitious young scholars.

Senator Glenn McConnell of Charleston, President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate, has praised the work. "The ‘Habele’ organization is a great example of South Carolinians opening their hearts and wallets for students in need and who seek opportunities to learn.”

Senator Robert Ford, another Charleston Senator seated on the other side of the political aisle, echoed McConnell’s sentiments. “Education is the key. People know that, and they are willing to give when money goes straight to the student.”

Tuition scholarships were awarded to students from the islands of Kutu, Ta, and Lekinioch in Chuuk State, and from Ulithi, Woleai, Ifaluk, Eauripik, Satawal, and Fais in Yap State. Parents of the students have committed to paying transportation and other fees, as well as to provide Habele with report cards and progress reports. Checks were mailed directly to schools in Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei.

The average Habele scholarship for 2009-10 was just under $500.00. The awards were funded by the gifts of seventeen individual donors and two corporations, representing states from across the United States.

Habele is an IRS recognized, not-for-profit corporation, headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. South Carolina has a special connection with Micronesia thanks to the work of Palmetto State native Jim Boykin, who spearheaded the establishment of an outer island school district during the 1960s.

For more information about how you can support a student or provide school materials to outer island Micronesian classrooms visit www.habele.org.
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The Guam-based Pacific Daily News is reporting on Habele's 2009-10 tuition scholarships.



Sixteen young scholars from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) have been awarded educational aid to attend private K-12 primary and high schools.

Included in the article is a comment from Louis J. Rama, a senior consul at the Federated States of Micronesia Consulate on Guam

"They've been helping a lot of kids from the Micronesian Islands. They're helping kids whose parents are not able to send them off to better schools. It's a pretty good program."

Kind words for Habele from an official of the FSM Government who is an Outer Islander himself.

Sixteen students in the Central Pacific Island nation of Micronesia will be enrolling in prestigious independent schools this fall, thanks to more than $7,500.00 in scholarships awarded by a South Carolina based charity.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is an all-volunteer, US-based, nonprofit organization that works to promote academic attainment and opportunities for outer islands students.

Habele works with local educators and traditional leaders to stock libraries, provide school supplies, and issue tuition scholarships for deserving students to attend prestigious private schools on the more populated “high islands” that serve as Micronesia’s state capitals.

Need-based tuition scholarships were awarded to students from the islands of Kutu, Ta, and Lekinioch in Chuuk State, and from Ulithi, Woleai, Ifaluk, Eauripik, Satawal, and Fais in Yap State.

Parents of the students have committed to paying transportation and other fees, as well as to provide Habele with report cards and progress reports. Checks were mailed directly to schools in Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei.

David Reside, a former US Peace Corps official in Micronesia, has praised the work of Habele, noting that “it is particularly important that there be opportunities for those students who show great promise but are at a great disadvantage in accessing continued education.”


The average Habele scholarship for 2009-10 was just under $500.00. The awards were funded by the gifts of seventeen individual donors and two corporations, representing cities from across the United States.

The full press release about the scholarships can be found at the College of Micronesia's website.

Learn more about Habele at www.habele.org and check out photos of Habele students and the schools it supports at the HabeleFund Picasa picture gallery.

The Habele Outer Island Education is again sending school supplies to students at the public school on Asor Island.

Asor is one of four permanently inhabited islands on the Atoll of Ultithi in Yap State, Micronesia.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is an all-volunteer, US-based, nonprofit organization that works to promote academic attainment and opportunities for outer islands students.

Habele works with local educators and traditional leaders to build libraries, provide school supplies, and issue tuition scholarships for deserving students to attend prestigious private schools on the more populated “high islands” that serve as Micronesia’s state capitals.

Habele, a US-based nonprofit serving the Outer Islands of Micronesia, has posted new photos from the Atoll of Eauripik on it's Picasso Web Album.

The photo set includes pictures of books and school supplies donated to the school and library by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund. There are also photos of community fishing and children playing.

The Habele Outer Island is preparing to announce the winners of it's 2009-10 school year tuition scholarships.

We hope to provide tuition assistance to K-12 students throughout Yap and Chuuk States seeking to attend independent schools on the main islands of Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei.

In the meantime, you can read about our 2006, 2007 and 2008 scholarships.

To date over $10,000 in tuition and fees have been issued to deserving students from the tiny islands of the Central Pacific.

Habele is an all-volunteer, IRS-recognized, nonprofit serving the educational needs of Micronesia's remote outer islands.

Habele donors are again sending basic supplies to under-resourced public schools in the Central Pacific.

This box of materials is headed for the Island of Kuttu, of the Mortlock group, in Chuuk State Micronesia.

Basic materials are essential to effective classroom instruction but many schools in the lagoon and outer islands lack them. The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is an all-volunteer group that gathers such supplies and sends them to educators in Micronesia.

Last year Habele made similar donations to schools and libraries in Ulithi, Eauripik, Wooleai, and Moch. The all-volunteer Fund also provides student scholarships to Outer Island children attending private and independent schools in the region. Habele is currently sponsoring Jodie Sam of Kuttu, who is attending the prestigious Berea High School in Weno.

Learn more at www.habele.org.

Shania and her cousin Glimmer horse around beside the Yapese Cargo Ship Hapilmogol. Both are attending Yap SDA School with scholarships from Habele.

Shania Marpa, a bright eyed and friendly fourth grader, is a committed student.

"I know school is the key to my future," she says.

Shania is an Outer Island Micronesian, living on the Pacific Island of Yap with her grandparents Gregoria and Moses Marpa. While Micronesia is a remote and impoverished country, with few of the amenities most Americans take for granted, education is a priority.

Still, the public schools on Yap, and particularly in the Outer Islands that surround it, struggle with limited resources, high student-to-teacher-ratios, and a limited pool of qualified teachers.

A growing number of independent and private schools have been established in recent years, often with foreign national teachers in the form of Peace Corps and missionary volunteers. This has importantly expanded options for students and raised community expectations about student accomplishment. Existence of these schools has also allowed for the limited resources in the public system to be more effectively focused on a smaller student population.

The modest tuition charged by these schools, often less than a thousand US dollars per year, limits the ability of some students to attend. This is particularly true in the case of families from the Outer Islands, where the western-style cash economy is far less developed.

A group of Americans is working to help. Through "Habele," a non-profit scholarship granting organization, they are expanding access to quality private education. In the last four years they have issued over $10,000.oo in tuition assistance to students including Shania and her cousin Glimmer. They've also provided hundreds of dollars in school supplies to support the public schools.

Parochial schools, like Yap SDA, provide assistance to these low-income, low-caste students, and work with charities such as Habele to supplement the families' tuition payments.

"We know that success in grades K through 12 will be the key to getting into and succeeding in higher education," explains Moses, "Habele is helping is toward that important goal."


The scholarships are working. Shania's grades (see photo) are excellent and she is on-track to build on her success in the classroom. Moses and Gregoria are very proud. So is Shania.

To learn more, and to make a tax deductible contribution to Habele, visit www.habele.org.

Eager attitudes, engaged parents and committed qualified teachers are all essential for learning.

Public school students on the remote Island of Fais have all these, but they often lack basic materials that students in more developed countries take for granted.

Habele, an all-volunteer charity that serves Micronesian students, is working to help. This week Habele mailed a box packed full of pens, pencils, markers and other basic classroom materials to teachers on Fais.


"Habele is committed to supporting under-resourced and isolated classrooms," explained Regina Raglmar Raigeta, a member of Habele's Board of Directors. "It is part of our larger effort to expand educational access and promote academic accomplishment in the Outer Islands of Micronesia that span from Yap in the west to Chuuk Lagoon in the east."

Last year Habele made similar donations to schools and libraries in Ulithi, Eauripik, Wooleai, and Moch. The all-volunteer Fund also provides student scholarships to Outer Island children attending private and independent schools in the region. Learn more at www.habele.org.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is already receiving applications for its 2009-10 tuition scholarships. Here is a letter that recently arrived:

February 6, 2009

Dear Sir,

Enclosed here in is my grand daughter's application for the Habele scholarship Fund. My grand-daughter Marciana Lagielig is currently enrolling in the first grade at St. Mary School here in Colonia Yap. Her total tuition cost for one school year is $225 and a monthly payment of $25 a month is a must for everyone. If a student is late in paying the monthly tuition, he/she stops from coming to school until such payment is made. This, I find it difficult to do and so that's why I'm applying for assistance through the Habele Outer Islands Education Fund.

St. Mary School is a private Catholic institution operated by the Jesuit Missionaries in conjunction with the local communities and their board of Director. The school is from grade 1 to 8 and is one of the best school in the state as compare with the public elementary schools and other private schools in the state of yap.

Along with the application itself, I'm also enclosing some other supporting documents such as a recent Report Card for Marciana, messages from both the school principal and the first grade teachers. I hope they can be of any help to you in your deliberation on the matter and in making a favorable decision.

Should there be any further clarification and or questions, please feel free to write or call me at telephone 350- 2151. Thank you for your time and efforts and I will certainly look forward to your reply.

Signed, Martin Yangirelman

You can help Marciana Lagielig attend school on Yap by making a donation to Habele here.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund has been featured on Nonprofit Awareness, a blog that highlights outstanding charities and provides hints on best practices in philanthropy.

"Our objective is to help individuals find causes they are passionate about supporting," said Nonprofit Awareness founder and CEO Courtney Brickman, "Toward this end we provide profiles of nonprofit organizations, spotlights on philanthropist, and interviews with nonprofit leaders."

To learn more about Habele, and its educational development work in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia, visit the article at Nonprofit Awareness or go to www.habele.org.

You can also read more about Habele's library donations and scholarships in Yap and Chuuk States on this blog.

As part of Habele's oversight and accountability mechanisms, scholarship recipients provide the Fund with grade and progress reports each semester.

This progress report from Parky Mwarike, a Freshman, from Moch, Chuuk who attends Saramen Chuuk Academy, is a great example. The Habele donors and directors are very proud of her academic progress.

Learn more about the Habele Outer Island Education -and how you can support academic opportunities in the remote islands of Yap and Chuuk in Micronesia- by visting www.habele.org.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund will be releasing its 2008 Annual Report later this week. Board members are in the process of reviewing the final draft and hope to distribute copies to donors and volunteers later this week.

Highlights of Habele's 2008 accomplishments have already been posted to the habele.org website. Among the accomplishments detailed in the report:

Tuition Assistance – SEVEN SCHOLARSHIPS

• Bethania High School, Republic of Palau
  • Joeann Malchemar, Junior from Falalop, Ulithi
• SDA School, Yap
  • Shania Marpa, Fourth Grade from Mogmog, Ulithi
  • Gilmmer Marpa, Second Grade from Mogmog, Ulithi
• Saramen Chuuk Academy, Chuuk, Micronesia
  • Parky Mwarike, Freshman from Moch, Chuuk
• Berea High School, Chuuk, Micronesia
  • Mavrick Hellmas, Freshman from Ta, Chuuk
  • Jodie Sam, Freshman from Kuttu, Chuuk
  • Bradley Rubin, Junior from LeKinioch, Chuuk

Public School and Library Support – EIGHT MAILINGS

• Purchased School Supplies – Mailed to Eauripik
  • 20 Boxes, Eauripik Community School, 02/25/2008
• Purchased School Supplies – Mailed to Eauripik
  • 2 Boxes, Eauripik Community School, 03/16/2008
• Purchased School Supplies – Mailed to Ulithi, Yap
  • 4 Boxes, Asor and Falalop Elementary School, 03/16/2008
• Purchased School Supplies – Mailed to Weno, Chuuk
  • 4 Boxes, Moch Elementary School, 06/17/2008
• Donated Shirts – Mailed to Ulithi
  • 4 Boxes, Outer Island Elementary School, 07/01/2008
• Purchased Library Supplies – Mailed to Eauripik
  • 2 Boxes, Eauripik Community School, 10/12/2008
• Purchased School Supplies
  • 2 Boxes, Fais and Wooleai Elementary Schools, 11/12/2008
• Donated School Supplies – Mailed to Yap
  • 2 boxes, Students attending SDA School, 12/10/2008

Habele is an all-volunteer IRS-recognized charity, committed to expanding educational options and promoting educational accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia. Since its foundation in 2006 over $10,000 in tutition scholarships have been awarded to K-12 students in the states of Yap and Chuuk. Learn more at www.habele.org

Two of Habele's directors just returned from a three week trip to Yap and the Yap State Outer Islands to promote awareness of the Habele scholarship and book donation programs.

Photos of the trip can be found here.

In addition to meeting with Habele scholarship recipients, the Directors visited with independent school headmasters, public education officials and local community members. Directors also provided an interview to radio hosts at the local station serving Yap State.

"It was great to renew, expand, and intiate new relationships on Yap and in the Outer Islands," said Marc McNamara of the Habele Outer Island Education Fund. "Based on our meetings and planning sessions with public and independent educators we hope to again expand the scope of our efforts in the next school year."

Habele donors will be pleased to hear that all costs associated with the trip, including airfare and lodging, were paid for by the Directors themselves in the form of in-kind donations.

Learn more about the role of Habele in expanding educational access and accomplishment in the Outer Islands of Yap and Chuuk state at www.habele.org.