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.

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