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.
