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.