Private Scholarships Offer Micronesians Access to Opportunity

(Colonia, Yap) A dozen Micronesian students are headed to prestigious private schools this fall, thanks to Habele K-12 tuition scholarships. These students will attend the independent school of their family’s choosing.

Described as “an investment in human capital,” these grants are funded by donations from former Peace Corps Volunteers, tourists, and other Americans with a personal connection to Micronesia.

Break down barriers for FAS migrants, revamp aid to Micronesia - HI Think tank

US aid programs for Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands are deeply flawed, and Micronesians who come to the US seeking a better life often face major challenges as well.

That's the conclusion of a new report published by the Hawaiian-based Grassroot Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The Institute's new Returning Power to Micronesians in Hawaii report explains how decades of poorly designed and badly managed bilateral aid has stunted economic growth in these three strategically situated Pacific islands nations, collectively known as the Freely Associated States (FAS).

Lack of domestic opportunity, combined with special rights of entry and indefinite residency in the United States, have driven large numbers of Micronesians from the FAS to Guam, Hawaii, and the US mainland in the recent years.

The Returning Power report examines how FAS migrants who come to Hawaii face a second set of challenges in the form of artificial barriers to affordable housing and economic mobility.

Read the full report at GrassrootInstitute.org.

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Top Grades for Micronesia's Habele Scholars

Habele scholarship recipients in three Micronesian States are reporting their first quarter grades and have much to be proud of!

The students attend private primary and secondary schools in the FSM capitols through k-12 tuition scholarships awarded by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund.

"This is an exciting time and the hard work of these ambitious students is a source of great pride," explained Stephen Replogle, a Habele Director. "Investments in human capital are essential to growth and prosperity in Micronesia, a strategic US ally spanning the Western Pacific."

Editorial: Interior Department bungling making COFA mess worse

Opinon column published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday, May 31, 2016.

Communities on Hawaii and Guam are suffering. The flood of migrants from Freely Associated States (FAS) strains taxpayer-funded education, health, public safety and social services.

Every year, Hawaii taxpayers shoulder $100 million in costs for programs guaranteed under the terms of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). On Guam, the cost is over $50 million. The amount sent from Washington to offset these expenses? Just 16 cents for every dollar spent.

Nearly half of FAS migrants in Hawaii draw public food assistance. On Guam, the number is 58 percent. In Hawaii, nearly a third also receive supplemental welfare payments. A third of FAS migrants on Guam reside in public housing, and the number in Hawaii is presumed even higher. About 5 percent of migrants on Guam and 12 percent in Hawaii, are homeless. Only small numbers maintain health insurance and participate in preventative care. The result is costly emergency room visits.

This could have been avoided. Since 1951, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has spent hundreds of millions in American tax dollars to advance social, political and economic development in Micronesia and the Marshalls.

The failure is startling. Leaving stagnant, semi-cash, local economies for better lives on Guam or Hawaii is no longer just a rational choice for many FAS migrants; it is virtually axiomatic.

In recent years, Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has reacted to its own blunders by further micromanaging the hundreds of millions in aid that it is obligated to provide.