Wonderful email from Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Winston, working with educators and families in Pohnpei:

Dear Habele team!
Thank you so much for sending those amazing books to the library, words cannot adequately express how thankful my students and community are for your generous contribution.  

Please see the attached photo of some students and community members, and expect something in the mail (snail mail) soon! 

Thanks again, Sarah

Habele is proud to be a small part of the success achieved by the educators and engaged families at the Temwen School, located in the Madolenihmw municipality of Pohnpei.


Habele is an all volunteer, US-based, IRS-recognized nonprofit. Help us answer the call!

or send check or money order to  Habele, 701 Gervais St, STE 150-244, Columbia, SC 29201.
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COLONIA, Yap — On Tuesday, May 24th, Yap Catholic High School (YCHS) hosted the annual “Yap Robo-Day” thanks to donations from the Habele Foundation.

“Yap Robo-Day” was held at the Community Center from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Despite the torrential downpour, the twenty-five students in the club still carried on with their robotics demonstrations for more than 100 visitors to the event. The students made repairs and improvements to their robots and even taught some visitors how to drive and operate the different robots. The event was made possible in part by the generosity of Matson, who has invested in this cutting-edge technology program.

The Robotics Club had started working on their robots in January of this year under the guidance of their faculty moderators, Mr. Michael Wiencek and Ms. Devi Gopal. This year, two senior students, Armhel Pigao and Kobe Sacres, served in the leadership roles of project contractors for the club.

YCHS produced a record number of four different robots, as well as a few side projects as well including a miniature race car and an electric guitar made out of Legos. This STEM oriented activity gives students the opportunity to explore their interest in possible science and engineering related careers in the future, while also developing their collaboration and leadership skills.

The Yap Catholic High School community also raised $390 through their fundraising food and drink sale at the event.

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Kind words from Satowan in the Mortlocks of Chuuk State, Micronesia.

Thank you so much for the box of goodies! It was such a lovely surprise to receive them a few weeks ago. My students were so excited for the books that I had a hard time getting them to focus on the lesson. All they wanted to do was read the new books. We appreciate everything that you sent. 

Photo and message sent from Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Feigelson.

She and the public school educators at Satowan Elementary contacted Habele in March of 2016, seeking age-appropriate texts for classroom and library use.

Habele is an all-volunteer nonprofit expanding educational access and accomplishment in the Caroline Islands (Micronesia). It supplies targeted, on-demand donations to educators and extracurricular programs, as well as needs-based scholarships to individual students.

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Waa'gey sending adze blades to their fellow carvers on Moch, in Chuuk, Micronesia.

Special thanks to Peace Corps Kaylin Dilbeck for cordinating!



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Opinon column published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday, May 31, 2016.

Communities on Hawaii and Guam are suffering. The flood of migrants from Freely Associated States (FAS) strains taxpayer-funded education, health, public safety and social services.

Every year, Hawaii taxpayers shoulder $100 million in costs for programs guaranteed under the terms of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). On Guam, the cost is over $50 million. The amount sent from Washington to offset these expenses? Just 16 cents for every dollar spent.

Nearly half of FAS migrants in Hawaii draw public food assistance. On Guam, the number is 58 percent. In Hawaii, nearly a third also receive supplemental welfare payments. A third of FAS migrants on Guam reside in public housing, and the number in Hawaii is presumed even higher. About 5 percent of migrants on Guam and 12 percent in Hawaii, are homeless. Only small numbers maintain health insurance and participate in preventative care. The result is costly emergency room visits.

This could have been avoided. Since 1951, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has spent hundreds of millions in American tax dollars to advance social, political and economic development in Micronesia and the Marshalls.

The failure is startling. Leaving stagnant, semi-cash, local economies for better lives on Guam or Hawaii is no longer just a rational choice for many FAS migrants; it is virtually axiomatic.

In recent years, Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has reacted to its own blunders by further micromanaging the hundreds of millions in aid that it is obligated to provide.

In some cases, OIA has simply withheld the money. Predictably, this has fueled the exodus.

Rather than deal with the underlying problems it helped create, OIA is now training migrants to maximize their dependency on taxpayer-funded services in Guam and Hawaii. This disastrous policy includes awarding grants to so-called “One-Stop Centers.”

Caseworkers at these centers are trained to immediately sign up migrants for entitlements, equipping them to aggressively cash in on the vast number of benefits available.

One DOI-funded group goes further, organizing migrants to advocate for changing what they term “unjust laws and practices that affect Micronesians in areas of health care, housing, labor, and education services.”

Taxpayer money for these groups was cannibalized from a Technical Assistance fund intended to promote accountability, financial management and economic development within the FAS itself.

Bizarrely, OIA rejected a counterproposal to educate and train would-be migrants before they left the FAS. This alternative sought to reduce migration rates through peer-to-peer education, and cut down on taxpayer costs incurred by those who did choose to leave. It emphasized integration through cross-cultural training and civic engagement, mirroring training U.S. Peace Corps volunteers receive when headed to live in the FAS.

That proposal also included third-party evaluation and cost-benefit analysis, accountability evidently lacking in the One Stop Centers DOI chose to fund instead.

America has a long-term strategic interest in a friendly, functional and prosperous Micronesia (FSM) and Marshall Islands (RMI). Hawaii and Guam bear a disproportionate and uncompensated burden from this national responsibility. OIA is undermining its — and our nation’s — own goals.

Like a physician who ignores the underlying illness, OIA is prescribing costly, ineffective treatments, worsening both symptoms and the root causes.

FAS and American citizens alike deserve better. America needs to correct its important relationship with the FAS.

That requires expertise in development as well as foreign relations. Replacing bureaucrats from the Office of Insular Affairs with the seasoned and professional diplomats of the U.S. Department of State would be a smart first step.

Neil Mellen was a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia (Yap, 2002-05) and leads Habele, an all-volunteer nonprofit based in South Carolina, serving low-income and rural K-12 students within Micronesia.

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(Hagåtña Harbor, Guam) This week, three hand-carved sailing canoes landed on Guam, completing a five-day voyage across the open ocean from Yap State. This arduous five day trek highlights the ongoing success of Waa’gey, a Yap-based mentorship program that trains island youth in traditional canoe carving and navigation. The voyage between Yap State and Guam served to bridge both time and cultures.

“Waa’gey students are trained to see the value in the traditions of our ancestors,” said Larry Raigetal of Lamotrek Atoll, the group’s Program Director. “They learned to build a large sailing canoe with their own two hands, and put traditional navigation into practice on a real voyage. The old ways still work.”

The canoes used were “Carolina Proas,” complex all wood outriggers designed, perfected, and made famous by Micronesians over centuries. Larry oversaw the project, captaining one of the sleek vessels that early Spanish missionaries called, “flying proas.” Designing, building and navigating traditional canoes requires tremendous expertise.

The Lucky Star, one of the three canoes from Lamotrek, used a completely hand woven pandanus sail. This is the only fully traditional sail employed by any canoe on the voyage, or even attending the  Festival of Pacific Arts, the Pacific-wide event which drew the sailors to Guam.

Historically, Outer Islanders traded woven skirts and mats for canoes built on Yap Proper. This was part of a complex trade network spanning hundreds of miles across the Caroline Islands, Guam, and even the Marianas.

Today, the promise of healthcare, education and employment has drawn Outer Islanders to the larger, more developed islands in Micronesia. Many Micronesians have taken the further step of migrating to Guam or Hawaii, an option afforded them through the Compact of Free Association between the US and Micronesia.


For a decade now, Waa’gey has used mentored canoe building to help tackle contemporary social and environmental challenges across Yap State. This mission is driven by the belief that traditional values and skills have an ongoing role in teaching young people to confront modern challenges. The young men who arrived in Hagåtña are a testament to Waa’gey’s success.

"For thousands of years, our people have been healthy and happy on tiny island atolls,” explained Raigetal. “Traditional practices taught us to use natural resources, and also protect them. Our cultures have withstood a lot of change over the centuries, but we’re dealing with more outside influences than ever. We’re also aware of the threat rising sea levels pose to low-lying islands. It’s not a theory. It’s real to us. This voyage to Guam is something the boys are quite proud of, but it’s just one symbol of the hard work and challenges they face in navigating Micronesia's -and their own- future.”

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For a decade, we've served ambitious students from the most remote Micronesian Islands.

This past year presented new challenges to Habele. Super Typhoon Maysak uprooted many of the communities and schools we support. A new category of educationally-displaced students emerged.

Outer Island schools remain in disarray. Most families lack the resources for alternatives. Habele continues to receive scholarship applications from these displaced students, as well as families across Micronesia seeking the best classroom for their child. As in years past, demand greatly exceeds our limited resources.

For under $600, Habele can place ambitious students in top schools in the state capitals for an entire school year. Our goal is to award twenty, K12 student scholarships in 2016. With your help we can make it happen.

In addition to funding scholarships, money raised now sustains the only high school robotics league in the Central Pacific, a vibrant traditional skills mentorship program, and direct-to-schools library donations.

This yearly plea is the only time Habele raises money. As an all-volunteer nonprofit, we channel contributions to our locally-defined programs, not aggressive fundraising efforts. By contributing, and urging friends and family to get involved, you empower ambitious Micronesian students to define and pursue their own futures.

Please make a donation to Habele today. We are an IRS-recognized nonprofit, so you may be eligible for a tax deduction.

Thank you for your continued support!

or send check or money order to  Habele, 701 Gervais St, STE 150-244, Columbia, SC 29201.

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In July of 2015, Habele sounded the call. An eager Peace Corps Volunteer, working with local educators and families, sought to restore a school based library in Pohnpei, Micronesia.

Temwen School is a small and rural Elementary school in the Madolenihmw municipality of Pohnpei. Temwen School has a small staff of seven teachers and one Peace Corps Volunteer; the Principal Elcid Joseph is a teaching principal.

The library had to be built from scratch. Staff members of Temwen Elementary School worked tirelessly to salvage books from all different areas of the school grounds. Then they renovated an older structure of the campus.



In her request for help, Librarian and Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Winston conveyed a severe need and genuine local ownership in the plan to address it. We implored Habele's donors and volunteers, explaining "Book donations are vital for this project to succeed."


Habele is proud to report our generous donors and volunteers helped do just that!

As Sarah reports on her blog, "For months, almost a year, I have worked with my fellow teachers to create the Temwen Community Library. Many people living in America helped make the library a success by donating books, so thank you, your kindness has made this space a reality. To date we have approximately 1,300 books!"

Habele was proud to also provide the hardworking educators at Temwen with t-shirts as small token of our support for their great work!


Habele continues to collect donations of books -and money to pay for their delivery- to Temwen. We are also working to support similar efforts in Tomil on Yap and Eauripik in the Outer Islands of Yap. We have outstanding -and unmet- requests from school based libraries in North Fanif (Yap) and Satowan (Chuuk) as well.

Habele is an all volunteer, US-based, IRS-recognized nonprofit. Help us answer the call!

or send check or money order to  Habele, 701 Gervais St, STE 150-244, Columbia, SC 29201.

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Larry Raigetal - www.waagey.org from Douglas on Vimeo.

Children's books and art supplies from Habele have reached the Atoll of Eauripik, one of the most remote and picturesque islands of Micronesia.

The shipment of supplies reached the coral atoll when a Yap State owned vessel visited Eauripik on its semi annual field trip voyage. The final stages of delivery were coordinated by Juan Hagilmwaal, Director of Outer Islands Monitor & Support at the Yap State Department of Education.


Eauripik is a tiny atoll in the Caroline Islands, hundreds of miles from the partially developed district centers of Yap Proper and Chuuk Lagoon. The inhabitants are primarily subsistence fisherman and gardeners. Solar cells provided limited access to electricity and the economy is primarily non-cash.


Habele is a non-profit organization promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia’s Yap State. Habele volunteers and donors began regularly sending boxes of books, paper, pencils and other basic school supplies to the isolated Atoll of Eauripik in 2003.

In its most recent shipment, Habele fund included a disposable camera, which was used by staff at the community to document receipt of the supplies.

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