Habele’s volunteers and donors are working to stock a school-based library in Pohnpei, answering the request of local educators on that
Micronesian Island.
Temwen School is a small and rural Elementary school in the
Madolenihmw municipality of Pohnpei. Temwen School has a small staff of seven
teachers and one Peace Corps Volunteer; the Principal Elcid Joseph is a
teaching principal.
In earlier times, Temwen was the governmental and power
center of the island; in recent years that has shifted to other parts of the
island more focused on FSM government issues. This has limited the community’s,
and school’s, access to educational resources.
Sadly, students at Temwen School have never been
exposed to reading for pleasure and reading levels are low across the board. In
all of Temwen there has never been a library; no place for the community
members to research a topic or enjoy a book on a sunny day. The new community
library at Temwen Elementary School will not only benefit the students of
Temwen Elementary School – it will benefit all of Temwen!
The library is being built from scratch. Staff members of
Temwen Elementary School have worked tirelessly to salvage books from all
different areas of the school grounds. Recently, there has been a renovation of
an older structure of the campus and this is where the new library will be
held.
Book donations are vital for this project to succeed, with that being said
it would be great to get roughly half fiction, and half non-fiction books that
could serve US reading levels Kindergarten through eighth grade. Reference
books, and recent magazines are also welcomed, as they could serve the wider
community and create a more welcoming space for people of all ages.
