Habele’s “LEAD,” or Leadership, Exchange, and Academic Development, is an intensive summer program for Habele scholars with strong potential for future leadership.

Based on the traditional host family model, this program fosters cultural, social and intellectual exchanges between Micronesian students and their American peers. The multilateral approach to developing mutual understanding and cooperation imbues participating scholars with increased perspective and capacity to drive sustainable regional development in Micronesia.

Bertha Hathomar, the 2016 LEAD scholar, is a native to a remote, underserved community in the Outer Islands of Yap State, Micronesia. Following the destruction wrought by Super Typhoon Maysak in 2015, the educationally displaced student received a Habele Tuition Scholarship to attend a prestigious private school in the district capital of Yap. While living with a Yapese host family, Bertha demonstrated tremendous academic focus and ability, earning high marks in all courses of study.

That Habele Tuition Scholarship provided an initial springboard for Bertha’s pursuit of greater social and academic horizons. Then, through LEAD, she further accessed studies and cultural exchanges rarely available to socially vulnerable Outer Island women, spending two months living in the American State of South Carolina.

Formal instruction included courses in filmmaking and cooking and nutrition at the Honors College of the University of South Carolina. Further academic enterprises included preparation for college entrance exams, and visits to local colleges and universities.

Additionally, Bertha enrolled in a variety of arts and crafts workshops provided by the Columbia Museum of Art. While maintaining a full schedule of classes, Bertha made time for guitar lessons, karate classes, and even a dog-training course.

Artistic and cultural exchange played a prominent role in the experience, with the Habele scholar attending a variety of musical concerts, community theater productions, and visiting some of the nation’s premiere museums. These opportunities were complemented by regular participation in the day-to-day lives and social activities of a diverse group of American families.

Leadership development was a consistent theme of the LEAD program. Bertha interacted with local and national leaders, including Katrina Shealy, an accomplished female State Senator from South Carolina who consistently advocates for vulnerable communities.

She also met Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, American Samoa’s delegate to the United States Congress, and a voice for the international development of democratic institutions. During a trip to Washington, DC, Bertha visited the Federated States of Micronesia’s Embassy, meeting with officials from her national government.

Established by former Peace Corps volunteers, Habele is a US based nonprofit, advancing educational access and accomplishment in Micronesian communities since 2006. In addition to tuition scholarships and exchange programs, Habele provides targeted support for schools, libraries and innovative extracurricular programs.

Share

A young Micronesian student from a tiny island outside of Yap visited America’s Capital, meeting with FSM officials and taking in the historic sights.

Habele’s “LEAD,” or Leadership, Exchange, and Academic Development, is an intensive summer program for top students who’ve earned Habele tuition scholarships to attend private high schools within Micronesia. It is a host family based program enriching person-to-person, and family-to-family relations between Americans and Micronesians.


This year’s LEAD Scholar is an educationally displaced student, whose school and home were devastated by Super Typhoon Maysak in March 2015. Habele donors provided a scholarship for her to attend Yap SDA School. Habele also paired her with a generous local host family on Yap, who houses and supports her throughout the school year.

Her DC trip included guided tours of the National Gallery of Art, Museum of Natural History, as well as the Washington, Lincoln and World War Two monuments. She also visited the Embassy of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) receiving a briefing from the Embassy’s First Secretary.


The LEAD scholar compliments their academic year with time in the US taking summer classes, enhancing their English and cross-cultural skills, as well as networking with educational, civic and public leaders.


Following her time in the District, Habele's LEAD Scholar travelled south through the picturesque Shenandoah Valley, inspecting a limestone cavern.


Habele is an all-volunteer South Carolina based nonprofit advancing educational access and accomplishment throughout Micronesian communities since 2006.

Share