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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Donations Enroute: Woven Hand Fans of Micronesia

Habele is proud to be sending copies of Barbara B. Wavell's newest book, Woven Hand Fans of Micronesia, to libraries in Palau, FSM and the Marshall Islands.

Woven hand fans are an integral part of life in the far flung islands of Micronesia where the use of plant fibers to produce woven products constitutes a major cultural and economic resource.

Wavell’s work documents styles of hand fans from some of the world's most remote islands including Chuuk, Kiribati, Kosrae, Pohnpei and the Marshall Islands. While each island likely had their own unique fan styles, new techniques developed and spread in the historic context of the 20th century where successive occupations by the Germans, Japanese and Americans influenced the production of woven fans.

Accompanied by over 60 illustrations mostly in color, this work is useful guide to anyone who has an interest in the rich and varied creativity of these exotic islands.