Today Habele mailed a set of 2004 Worldbook encyclopedias to Moch Elementary and Junior High School on the island of Weno in Chuuk State.

The books were sent following a request from Principal Akapio Raymond who had heard of the positive impact that Habele book donations made in schools and libraries in neighboring Yap State.

Chuuk is the most populous of the four island groups comprising the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a all-volunteer non profit organization dedicated to serving the educational needs of Micronesia's most remote communities.

To learn more about Habele's work in Micronesia, a collection of Central Pacific Islands formerly administered by the United States, visit www.habele.org.

Donations for Habele's 2008-09 high school scholarships continue to pour in. In early June the Fund received a check for $600 from a California couple who recently vacationed in Micronesia.

"We are excited to help provide support for the full tuition cost of a student in Chuuk." explained the donors. Micronesia is beautiful but isolated, and we see broader access to adequate formal education as essential to improving the quality of life in this developing island nation."

This donation came just days before word from Ulithi that two additional students in Yap State will also be applying for tuition scholarships this fall. The young women, from Asor and Mogmog Island on the Ulithi Atoll, are looking to attend the prestigious Bethania High School on Palau. Habele sponsored two students at Bethania this last school year.

"This is an exciting time for Habele," said Neil Mellen, President of the Habele Board of Directors. "We have raised funds for one scholarship to Bethania and three for students in Chuuk who will attend Xavier High School and Saramen Chuuk Academy. We recently received thank-you letters from public schools on Eauripik and Ulithi that received donations of books made earlier this year. Now we are working hard to answer requests for encyclopedias from Chuuk public schools and raise money for the two additional scholarships to Bethania."

Habele is an all-volunteer non-profit organization founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers. By supporting public school libraries and providing exceptional students scholarships to private schools, Habele is working hard to promote educational excellence in Micronesia, a former United States Trust Territory in the Central Pacific. Habele works in close conjunction with Peace Corps Volunteers, other nonprofits (including the Oceanic Society), and public school educators in Micronesia, as well as traditional community leaders.

Please consider making a gift of scholarship money or school supplies today. To learn more visit Habele.org

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund has just received a packet of letters from Moch public schools on Weno, in Chuuk State. In addition to a note from Principal Akapio Raymond (above) there were nine hand written letters from middle school students expressing their need for Encyclopedias and other reference materials.

Habele looks forward to raising the funds and purchasing these supplies. To learn how you can help, and about about Habele's scholarships, visit www.habele.org.

Habele's recent donation of school supplies to the Atoll of Ulithi has arrived at Falalop Ulithi Elementary School (FUES) and Asor Community Elementary School (ACES), where students are making good use of the paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, folders, crayons and texts.

"These materials will be a big help for our kids." explained Lucy Nery, teacher at FUES on Falalop. "We try to be very resourceful and use our materials wisely, but classroom instruction can be a huge challenge when we lack the basis supplies. We are grateful for all that Habele's volunteers have done to help."

Regular donations to public schools and community libraries on the Outer Islands of Yap are one of the ways the Habele Outer Island Education Fund works to promote academic opportunity and access in one of the most remote corners of Micronesia. Habele also provides scholarships for students to attend independent and private schools in the district capitols.

For more information on the all-volunteer nonprofit Habele, please visit www.habele.org.

Habele donors from around the nation are responding to the Fund's request for assistance in awarding high school scholarships to children in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia.

"We have been very lucky so far," explained Marc McNamara, of the Board of Directors. "In just the first week we have received commitments of more than $1,200 in addition to the $1,500 promised by board members."
Habele is an all-volunteer non-profit founded in 2006. It works to promote educational access and accomplishment among communities in the central pacific islands known as "Micronesia." The Fund awards scholarships to exceptional students and provides community schools and libraries with books and instructional materials.

Joeann Malchelmar (pictured above) is a Habele scholar attending Bethania High School in Palau. Joeann is a native of Falalop, Ulithi, She first received support from Habele in 2006 and looks to complete her studies as a senior during the 2008-09 school year. Despite growing up on an island with just 400 people, Joeann has adapted well to the rigors of formal education in Palau and regularly receives awards for academic achievement at Bethania.

Joeann, as well as islanders from throughout Chuuk and Yap states, know that education is the key to social and economic development in Micronesia. Habele is committed to helping as many of these students attend school as possible. While Fund directors set a fund raising goal of $3,800, more money would mean more scholarships. Please visit habele.org right now and consider making a donation!

So far this year Habele has made book donations to public school libraries on the Atolls of Ulithi and Eauripik, and the Island of Fais. Dedicated volunteers have sent over three-dozen boxes of textbooks and school supplies to Eauripik alone. Now we are looking to raise support for our 2008-09 scholarships.

In 2008, Habele awarded two scholarships. Both Joeann Malchelmar from Falalop, Ulithi and Beverly Yagdoh from Asor, Ulithi received full scholarships to attend Bethania High School. These girls made the difficult transition from life on a remote atoll to the academically challenging classrooms of Bethania in the neighboring Republic of Palau. While Beverly has completed her studies, Joeann hopes to return to Bethania next year as a senior. To do this we need your help!

Habele is also partnering with Peace Corps volunteers in the Outer Islands of Chuuk State. These eager young English teachers have identified three of their most intelligent and ambitious students and helped them study for the rigorous entrance exams at Xiaver High School and Saramen Chuuk Academy. While all three students have been accepted, none of their families have the resources to pay the required tuition. If Habele is able to raise the funds, we hope to expand this opportunity to these and other worthy island students as well.

The estimated cost for Joeann is $2,000 and the Chukese students will need only $600 each for the school year. Habele board members have already pledged $1,500 of this $3,800 sum. We are hoping that our dedicated Habele donors can match this effort.

All four young scholars are exceptional learners with a strong drive to improve themselves and their community. Their challenge is frustrated by strict traditional restrictions on gender and caste in the Outer Islands, but through formal schooling they have a chance to break free from many of those limits.

Habele is committed to education in the Outer Islands of Micronesia. While the complications of western development in this remote former US territory are numerous, the benefits of formal schooling are profound. Education promotes critical thinking, civic participation, pluralism, individual self-worth, and provides the basic vocational tools for economic advancement. Through our public school donations and private school scholarships, Habele is working toward those noble aims. We ask for your continued support.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is an all-volunteer non-profit organization recognized as a 501(c)3 charity by the IRS. All donations are tax-deductible.

Habele has just sent four boxes of materials to Asor Community Elementary School (ACES) and Falalop Ulithi Elementary School (FUES) on the remote Atoll of Ulithi. The supplies, including pens, pencils, notebooks and calculators, are part of Habele's ongoing public school support project. Public schools on Ulithi, and other Outer Island of Micronesia, are among the most isolated and under-resourced in the Pacific.

Habele, the educational nonprofit serving Micronesia's remote Outer Islands, has just received a packet of scholarship applications from students living on atolls of Chuuk State.

The eager young scholars are finishing eighth grade at public schools staffed by Peace Corps volunteers on the islands of Ta, Oneop, Lekinioch and Moch in the Lower Mortlocks. They have taken placement tests to attend the prestigious Xavier High School and Saramen Chuuk Academy, but lack the funds to pay the (respective) $120 and $60 monthly tuitions.

Habele is an all-volunteer scholarship granting organization dedicated to promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote islands of Micronesia. In recent years donors have provided over $6,000 of scholarships to students from Yap State attending boarding schools on Palau. We look forwarding to reviewing the applications and hope that our dedicated base of volunteers and donors will contribute to the future of these bright young students.

As part of Habele’s ongoing Eauripik Public School Library Development Project, the fund will be mailing more books to the Atoll this week.

In addition to textbooks for students in middle school, the shipment also includes a range of books that deal specifically with regional issues of development, gender, culture and diplomacy in Micronesia.



The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to the expansion of educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote outer islands of Micronesia, a former US Trust Territory in the Central Pacific.

The Fund has created a new Facebook group. Donors and volunteers who have Facebook accounts can join here.

In old media news, both the Saipan Tribune and the Marianas Variety have printed articles about the recent donation of text books and school supplies to the Atoll of Eauripik.