The Habele Outer Island Education Fund just received an elaborate hand woven lava lava from the students and staff of Eauripik Atoll’s Community School.
Habele is a non-profit organization promoting educational opportunity and accomplishment in the remote Outer Islands of Micronesia’s Yap State. The 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.
This lava-lava, a woven skirt unique to the Outer Island, was addressed to the Habele President and reads “This is a token of appreciation to you for keeping us in your heart. We are grateful for all your kindness, generosity, and knowing that our kids is [sic] our future. We all want to thank you personally for the instructional materials that you have provided us in those days. We are confident that you see our needs for we don’t have much to use at our school and we are now making use of those that you have send us. We are deeply sorry for we don’t have much to offer you but we hope this locally made handicraft will be a remembrance of our school to you, and be a token of all your great supports. God bless you and wish you all the best. Sincerely, Students & Staff, Eauripik Community School
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. There is neither electricity nor plumbing and no cash economy. For information about how you can help out the students on Eauripik, as well as those throughout the Outer Islands, visit www.habele.org.
