Habele fundraising t-shirts now for sale!

In 2006 a group of former Peace Corps Volunteers established a US-based nonprofit to advance educational opportunity and access across Micronesia.

Since that time Habele has provided book donations, awarded tuition scholarships, supported cultural mentors and created a Micronesia wide high school robotics league.

For a decade and a half, Habele’s unique and distinctive t-shirts have been sent to, and worn by, students, teachers and volunteers throughout Micronesia. They raise awareness and celebrate the work of our partners. They showcase designs, patterns and forms distinctive to the Federated States.

Now select Habele shirts can be purchased online with all proceeds benefiting the work of Habele!

Pohnpei Science Fair Highlights Robotics Learning

In May, students from high schools and elementary schools across Pohnpei gathered for the 2021 Science Fair at Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS). The PICS booth showcased the achievements of the school’s Robo Club, including a full scale competition game board for visitors to try their hand at directing robots through various challenges.

In addition to opportunities for hands-on interaction with robotics, PICS displayed their state-of-the-art 3D printer, one of the few to be found in the islands. The printer will be used to fabricate custom parts for robotics builds and competitions, while growing student knowledge of a rapidly evolving technology. PICS was one of four high schools across the Federated States of Micronesia to be awarded a 3D printer, after having robotics instructors and students successfully complete a virtual robotics certification course.

PICS has been a member of the Habele Robo League since 2018, and is one of 23 participating high schools across the FSM.

 

Soldiers, Students team to Donate Books to Micronesia

Books headed to students in Kosrae, Island of the Sleeping Lady

A group of off-duty US Army soldiers in Hawaii have teamed up with a public school on Oahu, students in the school’s Junior Naval ROTC unit, and a nonprofit founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers to send books to a school-based library in Kosrae.

Diverse in culture and language, the far-flung picturesque islands of Micronesia are strategically situated. The Federated States of Micronesia are the geopolitical crossroads of the Pacific. The islands’ dramatic role in centuries of global politics obscures persistent challenges of isolation, dispersion, and limited resources.

Once part of a US administered Trust Territory, today Micronesia’s far-reaching alliance with the US is cemented through a Compact of Free Association, or COFA, that defines defense and development ties between the nations.

The eastern most state of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kosrae, is home to fewer than seven thousand islanders, living on forty square miles of land, with an average household income of just $15,000. The isolated island is more than three hundred miles from neighboring Pohnpei, home to the national capital. From offshore, the distinctive shape of the Kosrae, densely covered with vegetation atop steep mountains, resembles the female form, earning the nickname “the sleeping lady.”

Schools across Micronesia need books for their school-based libraries, which serve both students and members of the community at large. Staff at James Campbell High School and a group of Army Reservists resolved to help, enlisting the support of students at the high school’s Navy JROTC detachment.

“We were thrilled to collaborate with Campbell High School and Habele to get used library books to deserving people in the COFA States,” explained John Yoshimori of Aiea. “In my opinion we are providing reading opportunities to students in the American Affiliated Pacific and hopefully showing the general public that soldiers are human beings capable of planning and executing humanitarian activities also as well as combat operations!”

Over the last six months more than seventy boxes of books, totaling over two thousand pounds, have been gathered by these and other Habele volunteers for public schools across Micronesia. The nonprofit receives requests from Micronesian schools in Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, then matches them with offers from American schools and individuals looking to donate.

“Child development is the foundation for community and economic development” explained Neil Mellen of Habele, a US nonprofit established by former Peace Corps Volunteers that works with students across Micronesia. “All facets of human capital are formed by abilities developed early in life and we always have more book requests from our partner schools than we can meet.”

Habele in 90 Seconds

Habele serves students and schools across Micronesia.
A nonprofit created by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele supports island students by:

Scholarships. Habele awards needs-based scholarships to students at Micronesia’s top rated private elementary and high schools.

Books. Habele donates books to school libraries across the Federated States, and mails books directly to children before they enter Kindergarten.

Robotics. Habele equips, trains and organizes robotics teams at high schools in all four Micronesian states.

Traditional Skills. Habele provides carvers, weavers and other traditional craftsmen with specialty tools, supporting these mentors as they preserve cultural skills.

Habele is a network of Americans and Micronesians who share the belief that each island child –no matter how isolated– deserves the chance to reach their full potential. These locally-driven programs prepare Micronesian children to thrive in their villages and beyond the reef.

If you believe in the potential of children in the remote islands of the western Pacific, join us!