A special note of thanks to the Nunn family whose long-term commitment to education and personal empowerment continues to manifest itself through their support and encouragement. Thanks! -Habele.

Sirow. It is with the greatest of reverence and humility that Habele extends our sympathies to the family and friends of Glen Nery, who passed from our presence late last week. His energy and ambition are sorely missed.

FSM Mourns Death of Soldiers

It’s official! On September 19th, 2006 the Habele Outer Island Education Fund received notification from the IRS that it has been granted exemption from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information on what this means we suggest you look at
this wikipedia article, as well as this IRS page.

Simply put, we are now fully “charitable” (as of September 13, 2006 – the processing date) and all donations are deductible, including gifts back to May 4, 2006 (our initial date of incorporation).

Habele would like to extend its gratitude to the numerous legal, policy, and tax experts who selflessly donated their time and talent to help us reach this point. We look forward to continuing our efforts, now as a full 501c3, and working towards expanding educational opportunities for Outer Island children in the impoverished former colony of Micronesia.

Habele is proud to announce that two full-tuition scholarships have been awarded to Outer Island students for the 2006-07 school year. Both awardees will be attending an all-girls private secondary school in the Republic of Palau. In accordance with the Habele scholarship contract these pupils will need to maintain a minimum GPA, as well as a spotless disciplinary record. Transportation costs to and from Palau will be paid for by the students' families.

The winners were selected on account of their exceptional primary school performance, their dedicated involvement in cultural and community activities, as well as the fact that both lost a parent at an early age.

Habele would like to extend its gratitude to the wide range of private donors who have made these scholarships possible. US and Micronesian citizens alike, as well as members of the Habele Board have worked hard to approach our fundraising goals. We are still compiling the money for the spring semester tuition. As the school year begins we look forward to supporting our award winners, as well as working with teachers and volunteers in the Outer Islands to support the community schools there. More information about our ongoing projects here.

According to The Economist, first world governments spent over $100 billion on development assistance in 2005. An additional $11.1 billion came from private charities. Estimates of total expenditures on foreign aid over that last five decades top $2.3 trillion.

William Easterly, NYU professor and formerly of the World Bank, laments that

...this is really the scandal of our generation, that all this money has been spent on foreign aid and yet, in any meaningful sense, this money never reached the desperate poor.

In a recent lecture published by the Heritage Foundation, Easterly outlines a vision for more responsive and responsible foreign aid providers. He uses the acronym “CIAO” and calls for

Customer feedback
Incentives
Accountability
Outcomes

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund aims to be such an organization. We have no paid employees. All board members are fluent in native Micronesian languages, and have lived and taught in the islands. We work closely with community leaders and awardees to pursue local goals. Our scholarships empower students to attend and complete school, laying the framework for truly sustainable and long term development. We review each award at the end of every grading period. For more information, and to learn how you can help in our summer tuition drive, please visit habele.org.

Habele has received its first financial donation from a Micronesian citizen this week.

Tom Lutte, the fund’s Treasurer explained “This is really amazing. We have received great support from the Outer Island community, so much time and talent, so much ownership, but we never expected financial inputs as well!” The donor, a Ulithian who is living and working in the United States, asked to remain anonymous. He simply noted:

I have been lucky, and landed some unique opportunities here in the US. Sadly this was the result of exceptional circumstance. Most Outer Islanders have no way to move out or up. Education can change that – now tell those kids to study!

The Habele Outer Island Education has announced two scholarships for 2006-07, awarded to girls attending Bethania High School in Palau, and will be mailing checks to the school later this month.

Today’s mail brought a notice from the IRS announcing that a recent fee hike (implemented ten days prior to the mailing of our Exemption Application) will require Habele to provide the Federal Government with an additional $150 to process our packet. It is interesting that the increase is termed an schedule update by the government.

On the brighter side Habele has just received, and is carefully reviewing, a new scholarship application from a female student on Falalop Ulithi, looking to attend High School off-island. Lets hope we can match her initiative and desire to learn with the money needed to get her enrolled.

With just a few weeks before the start of school we ask supporters to keep posting links and continue encouraging friends to donate. If you get a chance take a look at the revised website here.

Leaders from the Pacific are meeting to renew their efforts against Tuberculosis in Oceania. Sadly it seems there is much work to be done.

… Dr Rodgers highlighted a disturbing trend in TB rates among central Pacific Island countries with a 33% rise in all types of TB between 2000 and 2005. The largest percentage increases in annual rates were observed in Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati and Solomon Islands. The rate for all types of TB among women has gone up by 32% in the last 6 years, mostly in women of reproductive age. Women made up almost half of all infectious TB cases reported between 2000 and 2005; 30% of them were in the 15–24 age group.

More info here.

Supporters of Habele, and its drive to promote academic accomplishment among the impoverished Outer Islanders of Micronesia, should note that researchers continue to identify correlations between educational attainment and decreased levels of infection.

The belief that tuberculosis is incurable engenders a sense of fatalism, which deters discussion and treatment-seeking. A low educational attainment is associated with delayed treatment seeking for tuberculosis and failure to complete treatment. Conversely, maternal literacy is associated with better rates of case notification of tuberculosis and early treatment-seeking.

Ownership of family lands is of prime concern to Outer Islanders, and works through a complicated matrilineal system, but this understanding of property differs from Western ideas about private property in several important ways. Land usually belongs to a family (extended or nuclear) rather than an individual and is not regulated by a formal code, but rather consensus. This view of ownership is even less rigid when it comes to things other than land. Property, like so much of Outer Island life and society, is centered on the family rather than the individual.

This extended family is most significantly defined through the mother’s lineage, and it is through the woman’s line of descent that most property and title inheritance occur. This is not strict a matriarchy (in which the eldest mother in the group holds control of the family or community) because men fill the role of village and island chiefs. There are however important roles for women on the Outer Islands, both in positions through the formal women’s organizations, as well as their place of authority in a society that places high esteem on the elderly.

An interesting example of communal ownership is found in the use of adjectives. In the Ulithian language there are three classes of words that serve to qualifying a noun through the definition of a relationship. They are almost as common as the English “the” but also denote ownership (mine, hers, etc...). Understanding this helps to appreciate the Outer Island conceptualization of ownership, and how it has begun to change in recent times

The stem ya- is used for common items; yai botoaw my basket, yamw kahool your box. The stem la- or lu- is usually reserved for living things; lai yaelweech my kid, lomw pabiiy your pig. Wa- which means canoe when it is said alone, is the stem for vehicles; waal his canoe, wamw barko your ship. With the arrival of expensive Western goods, radios and televisions for example, the la- stem has come to cover more and more inanimate objects. These include radios and now televisions. Most objects retain their common ownership in speech. Generally Outer Islanders still make use of the first person plural, asking where is our basket, or our knife, even when speakers and listeners are not related.

Habele is proud to report that, as of mid July, we have reached one third of our summer fundraising goal! We are seeking the funds to award two girls scholarships to the prestigious Bethania Boarding School, located in the Republic of Palau. This will require a total of US$2,810, which is a HUGE sum by Micronesian standards, but something we are working to reach through a multitude of $20 to $200 individual donations.

More details about the scholarships here, and more background on the outer islands here. Easy to use Paypal and Amazon donation links on the right-hand side bar. Thanks, and keep getting the word out!