Habele is proud to announce a forthcoming collaboration with the Oceanic Society, a nonprofit conservation organization based in San Francisco, to expand our high school scholarships for Outer Island students in Yap State.

The Oceanic Society aims to protect marine wildlife worldwide through an integrated program of scientific research, environmental education and volunteerism. Toward that end, the society has been involved in a small scale ecotourism project in Yap State, with a special emphasis on turtle tagging and tracking project begun by former Peace Corps volunteer Jennifer Johnson on the Ulithi Atoll.

The partnership will enable Habele to offer an additional scholarship in the 2007-08 school year. Habele, a nonprofit founded by a group of young Americans with teaching experience in the Outer Islands, works to promote educational opportunity and accomplishment in the most isolated areas of Micronesia. Visit www.habele.org for more details.

The Economist recently published an excellent piece on the power of educational vouchers. The article argues that greater parental choice in K-12 education correlates with improved student performance, and not merely from the so-called "skimming" of smart students or "self-selection" by ambitious parents.

Harry Patrinos, an education economist at the World Bank, cites a Colombian programme to broaden access to secondary schooling, known as PACES, a 1990s initiative that provided over 125,000 poor children with vouchers worth around half the cost of private secondary school. Crucially, there were more applicants than vouchers. The programme, which selected children by lottery, provided researchers with an almost perfect experiment, akin to the "pill-placebo" studies used to judge the efficacy of new medicines. The subsequent results show that the children who received vouchers were 15-20% more likely to finish secondary education, five percentage points less likely to repeat a grade, scored a bit better on scholastic tests and were much more likely to take college entrance exams.

Habele's donor-financed scholarships are another type of voucher; a privately funded one. Currently, we are in the midst of our annual summer fundraising drive. Special thanks to recent donors Valerie, Jay, Ana, Charlotte, and Josh. We hope to continue this drive and complete our goal of two full scholarships by summer's end.

We at Habele see this type of merit-based privately-financed scholarship as an excellent tool for promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the the remote outer islands of Micronesia's Yap State. To learn more about the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, visit our website www.habele.org.

American Blogger and Yap State resident R. K. Ledgerwood posted about the FSM Justice Department's search and seizure of documents belonging to former FSM Ambassador to the US Jesse B. Marehalau. The "raid" occurred on the Atoll of Ulithi. There are numerous posting about the incident at the Micronesian Seminar’s online discussion forum.

The United States Postal Service has announced the re-adoption of a range of postal services to Pacific Islands associated with the United States, including the Federated States of Micronesia. Postal support from the US has long been an important part of the US-FSM Compact.

Pacific Island leaders announced a desire to build partnerships with the US, rather than merely remain consumers of the superpower’s aid. Meanwhile Taiwan (ROC) has pledged over $1 million in development aid for projects throughout the Pacific.

Habele is a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in the Outer Islands of Micronesia.

A group of graduating seniors from the University of South Carolina have been working with Habele to send their lightly used clothing to students at the Outer Island High School on the Atoll of Ulithi.

"This is a great chance for us to clear out our dorms as we graduate and help out the Islanders in the process" explained Megan Cott, a business and economics major who spearheaded the drive. Habele donors from throughout the US have been sending in financial support as part of an ongoing summer fundraising drive. This money will help pay for the shipment of the donated clothing, as well for the awarding of Habele’s annual scholarships.

"We have all been busy with finals, projects, graduation plans, and job seeking" said Lauren Johnson, an advertising and public relations major, "but this has been a great chance to support needy students in the Outer Islands!"

To learn more about Habele’s role in supporting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the isolated Outer Islands of Micronesia visit www.habele.org

Habele has begun it’s fundraising drive for the 2007-08 school year. The Fund, an IRS recognized nonprofit organization, is looking to raise $3,000 in order to pay for two scholarships for Outer Island students attending boarding schools in Micronesian district centers. More details in the coming weeks. Check out our new promotional brochure designed by a Habele volunteer in Kentucky.

Habele is also working with students from the University of South Carolina who are compiling donations of clothing for Outer Island students. If you are interested in helping, please let us know!

In regional news…

Former Governor of Yap State John Mangefel died at age 75. In addition to serving as the state’s first Chief Executive, Mangefel played a major role in the US-run TTPI administration of the district, and he served in both chambers of the FSM’s National Legislature. Mangel was a staunch advocate of a formal Palau-Yap Union.

Island leaders concluded the PIJAAG summit on HIV in Pohnpei. Initial discussions focused on regional initiatives, with particular emphasis on increasing the support of agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control for the Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV.

The Federated States of Micronesia reiterated its concern about global climate change at the United Nations. The discussion was part of a Security Council debate on the topic.

Guam’s Pacific Daily News published an article about Chuukese-born Micronesians who are living in Guam. The author notes that transition difficulties [can] occur when Chuukese cultural mannerisms clash with those of Western society. The paper also points out that the population of Chuukese is the fastest growth segment on Guam.

Green Valley News in Arizona reported on local resident Dr. Lee Vensel’s Navy experiences in the Pacific, including time spent on Ulithi.

Visit habele.org to learn more about the Outer Islands of Micronesia and how YOU can help foster educational oppurtunity and accomplishment there.

Last week we noted that Miriam K. Hughes was nominated by the White House to serve as Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

The Federated States, or simply “Micronesia,” is a collection of four island groupings in the Central Pacific. The islands were once administered by the United States Department of Interior as part of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific. The FSM now enjoys a position of "Free Association" with the US. The reliance of the FSM on US economic assistance results in a complicated relationship between the two nations.

You can read a brief bio of Miriam K. Hughes on the original White House Personnel Announcement dated April 4, 2007. She is listed in the third paragraph. Hughes is characterized as a career civil servant.

In her position as head of the economic and social development section of the US mission to the UN Hughes she issued a wide range of statements on US foreign policy and international affairs.

In November of 2006 she criticized the newly formed but contentious UN Human Rights Council as "a disappointment". Her statement reaffirmed the position adopted by the US in March of 2006 of not seeking a seat on the Council because of concerns about the narrow focus and limited credibility of that body.

In her work at the UN she has also:

- called for stronger humanitarian responses to the crises in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Uganda;

- defended the importance of a strong private sector , a positive investment climate, the rule of law, and property rights in pursuing international development goals;

- and quoted First lady Laura Bush who has advocated for increased emphasis on gender in development. Hughes further described education as a birthright, and vital to the attainment of political power and economic strength.


The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia. We provide scholarships to students attending private schools and book donations for public schools. Toward this end we also work to keep US based donors informed about events in Micronesia. To learn how you can help, visit Habele.org!

A short reading list of works that have inspired the vision of Habele. Special thanks to Valerie Tarico for her thought provoking questions and extended commitment to Habele. These books represent a range of social and intellectual traditions, but all aim to answer fundamental questions about what education is for, what is the appropriate role of the state, and what can and should be taught.


10. Plato’s Republic is a utopian city state envisioned through the lectures and discussions of Socrates. Toward this end, Plato sets forth a vision of education as a coercive instrument for drawing out individual capacity and socializing citizens into the state.

9. & 8. John Locke’s Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Of the Conduct of the Understanding are based on the Enlightenment notion that all men are born free and equal. In order to support his accompanying political and economic vision of limited government Locke saw education as the primary tool for developing individual autonomy among citizens. This autonomy, born of maturity and reason, was the foundation for claims to personal freedom and informed self-definition.

7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile places greater emphasis on the common good, or “will” than Locke but also treats education as instrumental for developing a world view and the capacity for critical thinking.

6. John Henry Newman’s The Idea of a University is a defense of universality in curriculum content. Newman also contends that formal instruction should expand individual habit of thought as well as the capacity for social and civic interaction.

5. John Dewey’s Democracy and Education embraces the instrumentality of education and wants to put the method of science into practice. Education for Dewey was ongoing and practical. He argued that democratic ideals are fundamental to a truly liberal vision of education and that such an educational system was bound to sustain and expand democratic freedoms.

4. Amy Gutmann’s Democratic Education is an argument for education as a tool for developing individual autonomy. Such autonomy, Gutmann holds, will allow all persons the ability to critically examine, reject, and/or embrace competing notions of the good. She also holds that education for autonomy inevitably promotes tolerance, pluralism, and civic responsibility.

3. Stephen Macedo’s Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Society is more cautious. Macedo worries that schooling for broad social ends inevitably results in ideological hegemony and intellectual homogeneity. He points to parents as the best arbiters of children’s educational interests, and sees public education as a minimal tool for developing respectful and cooperative self governing citizens.

2. Meira Levinson’s The Demands of Liberal Education is a deeply pluralistic defense of education for autonomy. Levinson argues that radically detached schooling ought to foster autonomy as an end in itself.

1. Harry Brighouse’s School Choice and Social Justice is an argument for greater parental control in education. Brighouse balances education for autonomy and education as a tool of equality in opportunity in laying the framework for a child-centered claim to education. Within this framework he holds that expansion of accesses and greater parental flexibility promote justice more effectively than government dominance.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia, a former US Trust Territory in the Central Pacific. Visit Habele.org to learn more!

Habele is proud to announce that scholarship winner Joeann Malchelmar has earned a place on the 10th grade honor roll at Bethania High School in Palau for the 3rd quarter.

In broader regional news, The Pacific Daily News has reported on an innovative Outreach Program at George Washington High School which helps Micronesian and other Pacific Islanders make the adjustment to attending US public schools.

The United States has placed Palau on its ”Countries of Concern” watchlist. This list, created by the US International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, is considered a way to “exert pressure on countries to strengthen their money laundering laws.” The Federated States of Micronesia earned a marginally better “Country to be Watched” ranking.

A new Ambassador, Miriam K. Hughes, is being nominated by the Bush White House to serve in the Federated States of Micronesia. The press release describes Hughes as “a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, [who] currently serves as United States Deputy Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United States Mission to the United Nations. Prior to this, she served as Director of the Office of Policy, Public and Congressional Affairs in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the Department of State. Earlier in her career, she served as Chief of the Consular Section in Mexico City.”

Finally, it has been reported that Tosiwo Nakayama, the first President of the Federated States of Micronesia died last Tuesday. Prior to his service as President of the FSM he had worked as bureaucrat in the US Administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in Micronesia's remote outer islands. Visit www.habele.org for more details.

Young women weaving in women's house, circa 1920, TTPI photo archive.

The women’s house on small “outer” islands and atolls of the Caroline Islands (present day Micronesia and Palau) was a special place of refuge and meeting. Visits were primarily dictated by the menstrual cycle - and the accompanying cultural limits the cycle placed on women’s activities - but the house also served as a proverbial “village pump” for camaraderie and communication among the island’s women.

The Spanish priests of the Japanese period worked to expand the participation of women in masses and daily prayers, and to this end convinced the chiefs to greatly loosen the rules regulating segregation during menstruation. Traditionally, women could not go out to gatherings or work in the community (during menstruation) and this ensured that the women’s house was an isolated locale for regular periods of rest and retreat. Men were never allowed entrance, and the house was built at a 90-degree angle to all other buildings on the island. It was common for women, married or not, to sleep there on a semi-regular basis. The house was also used as a place of seclusion (from men) during child birth.

The community work of re-thatching a traditional women's house

Presently, the women’s house on Falalop Ulithi is only unlocked and open for the Women’s Association’s formal monthly meetings and school board conferences. The women’s houses on Asor, Mogmog, and Federai Ulithi remain open (and often occupied) all the time, though probably not to the extent they once were. Rarely does a married woman spend the night there, even when she is menstruating. It remains common for younger unmarried women to spend the night, and for women visiting from other islands to sleep there if they do not have close female relatives to co-habit with. Contemporary use of the women’s house is more wide-spread on islands and atolls further to the east of Ulithi, such as Wooleai, Ifaluk, and Eauripik.

To learn more about the role about Women’s Houses you may want to check out the works of Francis Hezel and William Alkire (see our 10 Great Books About Micronesia Posting). Also there is page on the Pacific Worlds site with more photos.

For more information on the Outer Islands of Micronesia, and to learn how YOU can help promote an expansion of educational opportunity and accomplishment there, visit www.habele.org.

NEWS AND LINKS
Mid-March saw the completion of a traditional canoe voyage from Polynesia to Micronesia. The journey began in the islands of Hawaii and worked it way through the Marshalls to the Island of Satawal, an Outer Island of Yap State in Micronesia. Members of the expedition also helped to build a medical clinic on the Atoll of Ulithi. In other health news, new findings reinforce concerns about the alrming levels of obesity in the Pacific.

Lacee Martinez of the Pacific Daily News editorialized on the need for greater support and assimilation of Micronesians on the US-governed Island of Guam, and Pacific leaders talked more about the perils of trawling during their ongoing regional summit.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting educational oppurtunity and accomplishment in the remote islands and atolls of Micronesia. Visit www.habele.org for more details.