Habele has just received letters of thanks and photographs from the isolated Atoll of Eauripik in Yap State, Micronesia.

Habele has been sending regular shipments of donated books and school supplies to Eauripik in order to provide the students and community members with a library.

Special thanks to dedicated donors C.C. Guy and Lillian Woo who spearheaded the project.





Habele is also partnering with the Northern California Peace Corps Association to provide the growing library with solar-powered indoor lighting for after-school and evening reading.

Learn more about the Habele Outer Island Education Fund at habele.org, where you can read about the tuition scholarships and book donations that help to expand educational access and opportunities in the remote Outer Island of Micronesia.

Habele is donating solar-powered lighting units to the public library on Eauripik Atoll.

The lights were purchased with generous support from the Northern California Peace Corps Association and will enable students and community members to read books in the late afternoon and evening.

Habele's commitment to the library on Eauripik began in 2006 with several shipments of textbooks and school supplies. In 2007 Habele organized a large library book drive in coordination with educators on Eauripik and the State Capital of Yap.

The lights will allow for classroom instruction and library reading inside the school building during the over-cast rainy season and during daily community reading hours in the evening.

One of the major factors limiting after-school reading among both students and community members is the lack of electricity on the island. The situation of the school inside a solid block concrete building with small pane glass windows results in very little light entering the rooms in the afternoon hours of the overcast rainy season.

Habele, the Outer Island Education Fund, is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has been issuing tuition scholarships and providing school supplies to Micronesia since 2006. Visit www.habele.org to learn more.

Habele, the scholarship granting organization serving Micronesia's Outer Island students, has been in the news this month, receiving positive press attention for it's 2008-09 tuition scholarships. Among this highlights:

Pacific Magazine: "Six Outer Islanders received scholarships from US Fund" link (9/3)

Sapian Tribune: "Remote Pacific Islanders awarded scholarships" link (9/6)

Hawaii's Tribune-Hearld: "Remote Pacific Islanders awarded Habele Fund Scholarship" link (9/10)

Scholarship winner Joeann M. from Falalop Ulithi, entering her senior year at Bethania High School in Palau.

Six decades ago, the remote Pacific Islands of Micronesia were the site of intense battles between American GIs and entrenched Japanese defenders. Now the region is better known for hosting the reality television show “Survivor” and its picturesque palm-lined beaches.

The reality behind the television show is less glamorous. Literacy and life expectancy are low, even by developing world standards, and the isolation of the tiny islands poses a major barrier to economic development.

A small group of former Peace Corps Volunteers and American teachers is working to help.

Their charity, the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, has awarded over $5,000.00 in tuition scholarships to island students who will attend private schools in the Pacific this fall. The scholarships are issued to children in grades kindergarten through high school as part of an effort to promote educational opportunity throughout Micronesia.

Neil Mellen, a Habele board member explains: “The Secretariat of the Pacific reports that fewer than a fifth of these islanders have access to acceptable sanitation and that infant mortality rates are five times higher than those in the United States. At Habele, our hope is that greater access to education will provide these students with the tools to help their communities address the problems.”

The six scholarship winners from throughout Chuuk and Yap States will travel to and from their schools with money raised by their families, and all of the recipients have signed performance contracts that tie their scholarships to strict academic targets.

Albert Fong, a native of Woleai who teaches at a public school on Ulithi, reiterated Mellen’s optimism: “Micronesians are proud of their long and close relationship with the United States. The role of charities like Habele is powerful. As a nation we recognize that continued improvements in K-12 education are vital. Working with local community leaders and traditional chiefs, Habele has a big impact on the lives of our youth.”

Habele has also sent more than $2,000.00 in books and school supplies to community libraries this year. The charity works in conjunction with Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the islands and members of the non-profit Oceanic Society. David Reside, Country Director for the US Peace Corps in Micronesia said of the scholarships “it is particularly important that there be opportunities for those students who show great promise but are great disadvantage to accessing continued education. Habele is addressing this issue by providing modest educational grants to students from the more remote outer islands, students who might not otherwise be able to pursue these educational opportunities.”

Habele consists of donors and volunteers from across the United States and the Pacific. The Fund operates on a strictly volunteer basis with no paid employees and is still seeking support for its ongoing public school book drives. Visit www.habele.org to learn more.

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Habele would like to thank our friends at the Palmetto Scoop and Sunlit Uplands for helping gather t-shirts for public school students in the Outer Islands of Micronesia.

Today Habele mailed four brimming boxes of shirts to staff at the high school on Falalop, Ulithi, which serves the Islands of Asor, Mogmog, Federai, Falalop and Fais.

Donations of clothing are supplemental to the work of Habele in awarding tuition scholarships and providing materials for schools and community libraries.

To learn more about Habele's all-volunteer commitment to educational opportunity in Micronesia visit habele.org

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!