habele School Support

US-Yapese Partnership on Display at Schools Across Yap

US Marines painting a school in Gagil, Yap.

The school year on is well underway, and for some students on Yap it’s a bit brighter than they may have expected upon return to campus. Over the summer a small group of Marines and Sailors were busy sprucing up their schools.

Koa Moana

U.S. Marines and Sailors of Combat Logistics Battalion 13, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group worked on Yap this summer as part of “Moana 24.” Across the FSM and Palau, teams undertook a range of engineering projects. These included renovation of schools, facilities, and historical memorials. Their efforts extended to community engagement activities such as sporting events, school interactions, and cultural immersion, and explosive ordnance disposal.

Arriving on Yap in June, the Koa Moana team was led by Lieutenant Mikellides and Gunnery Sergeant Laws. Lt. Mikellides worked to carefully, and respectfully, to initiate relations with traditional and political leaders, as well as many in the community eager to get things done. His Marines identified and completed much-needed projects. They did so in ways that engaged Marines with Yapese and Outer Islanders throughout. From construction and painting at schools to reading with children and signing them up for book donations, Mikellides’ Marines made a big, positive impact.

Marines of Koa Moana ’24 working with concrete at Saint Mary’s School in Colonia, Yap

Locally Stated Needs

Liliana Gootinag, Princpal of Gagil Elementary School, was among those who were eager to partner with the Marines. She sought to revamp the school’s buildings’ exteriors, “aiming to create a more conducive and uplifting learning environment for the students. The project would not only enhance the school’s appearance but also contribute to the overall well-being of the educational community.” US nonprofit Habele provided funds and the materials were purchased. Then the Marines and Sailors got to work.

Similarly, Mae Lynn E. Tiningidow, Principal of Dalipebinaw Community School, had a vision for a more beautiful learning environment. Again, Habele donated money to purchase supplies. The Marines painted the 2-story classroom building, refurbished the rails, and replaced window screens on all classroom windows.

At Saint Mary’s Catholic School, the need was for concrete benches, on which students could gather to share meals, collaborate on work, or watch their peers play sports on the adjacent court. Principal Rufino Xavier (himself a Marine Veteran) reached out to Lieutenant Mikellides for the labor and engineering, and to Habele for money for the materials. At Yap Catholic High School, the Marines extended a school’s internet network -originally donated by Habele in 2021– across three buildings to enhance learning connectivity.

Marines and Sailors of Combat Logistics Battalion 13, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group reading with children on Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Focus on Literacy

In addition to the Marines’s very visible accomplishments at the schools, the troops also took the time to engage directly with students, and those still too young to be attending. With books donated by Habele, the Marines read to groups of children and provide sign-up sheets to mothers whose children under five years are eligible to participate in “Young Island Readers.” This Habele book-a-month program sends over 600 books each month directly to children throughout Yap State.

Collaboration

A big part of the success was collaboration. Officials at the State Department of Education, down to individual school principals as well as classroom teachers, were eager to present and move on good ideas. American citizens living on Yap, as well as Yapese and Outer Islanders volunteering for Habele, worked to streamline the process, identifying, requesting and delivering the funds so the Marines could quickly get to work, bypassing the time and complexity of seeking funds from Washington.

“The decades-long partnership between Yap and the US is based on a shared history, mutual respect, and a common commitment to do the right things,” explained Neil Mellen, a former Peace Corps Volunteer and Director of Habele. “These projects, requested by local Yapese, funded by an American nonprofit, and completed by US Marines, provide further evidence of how the US and Yap can, and do, pool public and private talents and resources to get the job done for the People of Yap State.”

 

Habele Literacy

Young Island Readers Advancing Youth Literacy into Yap’s Remote Outer Islands

More than 500 children across Yap State, from birth to age five, are receiving a book each month from Young Island Readers The program, a partnership between US nonprofit Habele and the Imagination Library, aims to foster a lifelong love of learning and literacy but introducing small children to the joys of reading in their own homes.

This week boxes of donated YIR books were packed aboard the Yap State field trip ship, starting the long journey to Yap’s remote Outer Islands, including Woleai, Ifaluk, Lamotrek and Satawal.

Young Island Readers” is a book-a-month donation program that provides children in Yap State from birth to age five a new age appropriate each and every month. In mid-October the 3,000th booked reach the Post Office box of a family on Yap. By the spring, over 550 children across Yap State had signed up to participate.

The heart of Young Island Readers is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL). The Imagination Library was founded and created by songwriter, musician, actress, author and business-woman, Dolly Parton, in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee in 1996. She envisioned a community-based program providing children with free, home-delivered books from birth to their 5th birthday.

Habele is the “local affiliate” or on-the-ground partner for DPIL in Micronesia. Established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele is a US nonprofit, invested in the future and potential of Micronesian students since 2006. Though the program is both effective and efficient, there are still ongoing costs borne by Habele and these are generously provided by the individual Americans who support Habele.

On Yap Proper, generous logistical support has been provided by the Yap State Hospital and the Yap Community Health Centers, which raise awareness of the program and collect sign up forms. Families living on Yap have their children’s book delivered directly to their own Post Office boxes. Children in the remote Outer Islands receive their books through support of the Yap State Department of Education’s Neighboring Island Coordinator’s office, as well as the in-kind donation of cargo space aboard airplanes of the Pacific Missionary Airline, which serves those Outer Islands that have paved runways.

Babyor ko btir rom u Habele!

Habele ea bayi pii ko bitir rom bake babyor ni yu puul, nge mada’ ko ngiyal’ nike gamane lal eduw rok’ ni dariy pulwon. Gamad be a thapeg ni ra ilal ma baadag e bieg babyor. Kugoged ni be’eg babyor ko bitir, ma gubine bitir ni baye duuw rok’ ngatanggine laal, mara yog ninge sign faun ngay.

Ba’ba form ni bay ni pii ngom ningam fill nag mag fulweg ko chaan nike piingom, fa min moen’ ngalangin ere box ni baaray ko “Young Island Readers Dropbox.” Fa gara yan kore website ne baaray www.habele.org/read mag yiloy fidingam u online. Faan ra gamaa paru dakan e nam nu Waab, ma Habele ea bayi pii yuke babyor ngom ni yu puul u P.O. Box. Faan ra gamaa paru Ulithi, Fais fa Woleai, ma ra yibe yuke babyor nem ngomu sikokiy ko PMA. Faan ra gama paru yugrebe donguchen yu Waab, ma ra I yib e yuke babyor nem ngom nikan tay nga mail bag u barkow.

Yal titi babior mirel Habele!

Pangal meram nge Habele yebe fange seew buuku ngali laum saari gasiyee yela gola lago mena galimouwal yaal birthday. Yetoar paluwel iye book kale. Sitipeli be saari laum yebe mesaigeti gare geshangi geragireg iga yebe fefetaltag. Si faseongiu be “Young Island Readers.” Ye tai tiwegil semaliu saari ye chiil ragil faal limou raagi nge yebe mewl tabeye gare fateofato itale.

Gemaneo shagiu babiyor yeel nge gosa gatefali ngali yaremate la ye ganooge, gare iselilong lani Habele Young Island Readers kagool. Gare golago woal www.habele.org/read be gobe siine longo iyange. Gare go kasog woal Yap, nge yebe seew meram nge Habele yebe fange buuk reel yaamu PO Box. Gare golog woal Ulithi, Fais, Woleai nge PMA yebe gasine tage. Gare golog woal meratag, nge rebe fange tag shiul waafaliuw lani tutul mail.

Habele History of Micronesia, Literacy

Habele Matching Donations to Reopen MicSem Library

Over four decades, Micronesian Seminar (MicSem) built an internationally recognized library with 24,000 print titles, 82,000 historical photos, more than 800 videos, and 22,000 audio tracks. When MicSem operations ended in 2012, its library was stored at Xavier High School in Chuuk, and recently moved to Yap.

Relocation has saved the physical assets of the MicSem collection, but the tremendous value of this resource can only come from broad public access to an actively maintained–and expanding–collection that continues to document Micronesia’s living history. To fully reopen, MicSem needs operational resources beyond what can be provided by the library’s new host, Yap Catholic High School.

Father Hezel, in partnership with Yap Catholic’s Father Rich McAuliff, has developed a detailed plan to reopen the MicSem Library, based on a budget of $32,000. Habele, a US 501c3 nonprofit that serves students in Micronesia, has committed a 2-to-1 match from its own endowment for any individual donations contributed toward reopening MicSem.

Habele will award all raised and matched funds to Yap Catholic H.S. in the form of a MicSem-specific grant for implementation of the preservation plan authored by Fathers Hezel and McAuliff. Please donate today to help fully reestablish this important regional institution and resource, preserving and recognizing Father Hezel’s legacy of service and scholarship.

Visit www.habele.org/MicSem to learn more and donate.

Habele Scholarships

Scholarship established to honor legacy of Jim Stovall


Habele, a US nonprofit established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, has announced the establishment of a memorial scholarship that honors the life and legacy of the late Jim Stovall.

James T. Stovall, III provided the people of Micronesia with expert legal counsel for more than 50 years, beginning his service before the establishment of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and then serving that new nation’s National Government tirelessly.

Jim, as he was called by friends in the Islands, served the Micronesian Committee on Future Political Status and Transition (CFPST) in the early 1970s, and then as legal adviser for negotiations on the original Compact of Free Association agreement concluded in 1986, the Amended Compact concluded in 2003, and through to refinement of US-FSM partnership in 2023. Mr. Stovall was instrumental in securing the FSM’s membership in the United Nations in 1991 and was a key member of the FSM delegation to the UN and affiliated conferences and negotiations.

Mr. Stovall was a steadfast advocate for climate justice and served as representative of the FSM to, and co-chair of, the working group on adaptation of the International Negotiating Committee for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change prior to its signature in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Mr. Stovall continued to provide climate-related advice and counsel to the FSM on climate issues ever since.

Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1937, Mr. Stovall earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Alabama. He served in the U.S. military in Korea and Germany as member of the JAG Corps (Judge Advocate General’s Corps). After his service he joined the influential Washington, DC law firm of Clifford & Warnke. He was designated by the firm to provide legal advice to the Micronesian Status Negotiations beginning in 1972 through signing of the Compact in 1986. Mr. Stovall continued to serve as chief legal advisor to the FSM during negotiations on the Amended Compact, which concluded in 2003, and continued as an adviser to the JCRP in its current discussions with the United States on extension of expiring provisions of the Compact beyond 2023. Mr. Stovall also served as trusted adviser to all nine FSM Presidents, from first FSM President Tosiwo Nakayama in 1979 through President David Panuelo until 2023.

“Jim touched the lives of people of Micronesia through his unwavering dedication to helping FSM gain recognition on the world stage. He earned the respect and trust of leaders of my country through his more than 50 years of professional counseling,” explained senior Micronesian diplomat Asterio Takesy. “Mr. Stovall walked away from a Washington, DC-based prestigious law firm to help a tiny newborn state, the Federated States of Micronesia, grow into what it is today; he cared deeply for the people and fell in love with Micronesia.”

Without exception, those who knew Mr. Stovall often found him to be the epitome of the stereotypical southern gentleman lawyer. He could be thorny in his defense of the FSM and its positions, when needed, but most will remember him as a kind, gentle man whose heartfelt love for his family and friends, the FSM, the Micronesian people, and the planet never wavered.

The Stovall Memorial Scholarship will provide tuition assistance to a young woman in either elementary or high school high school attending an independent school in anywhere within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

“I am particularly grateful to Mrs. LouAnn Stovall, who along with her two daughters, has extended the family’s support for the establishing this memorial scholarship,” explained Neil Mellen, Executive Director of Habele. “In my own dealings with Jim, I was consistently amazed at his brilliant mind, sharp memory for details, and the way in which he retained both a sense of optimism as well as practical sense for working through tough details. His love for the FSM and its peoples was palpable, and his decades of service speak to that.”

Habele Literacy

3,000th book mailed to Yap so far in 2023

“Young Island Readers” is a book-a-month donation program that provides children in Yap State from birth to age five a new age appropriate each and every month. In mid-October the 3,000th book this year will reach the Post Office box of a family on Yap.

The heart of Young Island Readers is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL). The Imagination Library was founded and created by songwriter, musician, actress, author and business-woman, Dolly Parton, in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee in 1996. She envisioned a community-based program providing children with free, home-delivered books from birth to their 5th birthday.
Habele is the “local affilate” or on-the-ground partner for DPIL in Micronesia. Established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele is a US nonprofit, invested in the future and potential of Micronesian students since 2006. Though the program is both effective and efficient, there are still ongoing costs borne by Habele and these are generously provided by the individual Americans who support Habele.

 

Babyor ko btir rom u Habele!

Habele ea bayi pii ko bitir rom bake babyor ni yu puul, nge mada’ ko ngiyal’ nike gamane lal eduw rok’ ni dariy pulwon. Gamad be a thapeg ni ra ilal ma baadag e bieg babyor. Kugoged ni be’eg babyor ko bitir, ma gubine bitir ni baye duuw rok’ ngatanggine laal, mara yog ninge sign faun ngay.

Ba’ba form ni bay ni pii ngom ningam fill nag mag fulweg ko chaan nike piingom, fa min moen’ ngalangin ere box ni baaray ko “Young Island Readers Dropbox.”

Fa gara yan kore website ne baaray www.habele.org/read mag yiloy fidingam u online. Faan ra gamaa paru dakan e nam nu Waab, ma Habele ea bayi pii yuke babyor ngom ni yu puul u P.O. Box. Faan ra gamaa paru Ulithi, Fais fa Woleai, ma ra yibe yuke babyor nem ngomu sikokiy ko PMA. Faan ra gama paru yugrebe donguchen yu Waab, ma ra I yib e yuke babyor nem ngom nikan tay nga mail bag u barkow.

Yal titi babior mirel Habele!

Pangal meram nge Habele yebe fange seew buuku ngali laum saari gasiyee yela gola lago mena galimouwal yaal birthday. Yetoar paluwel iye book kale. Sitipeli be saari laum yebe mesaigeti gare geshangi geragireg iga yebe fefetaltag. Si faseongiu be “Young Island Readers.” Ye tai tiwegil semaliu saari ye chiil ragil faal limou raagi nge yebe mewl tabeye gare fateofato itale.

Gemaneo shagiu babiyor yeel nge gosa gatefali ngali yaremate la ye ganooge, gare iselilong lani Habele Young Island Readers kagool. Gare golago woal www.habele.org/read be gobe siine longo iyange. Gare go kasog woal Yap, nge yebe seew meram nge Habele yebe fange buuk reel yaamu PO Box. Gare golog woal Ulithi, Fais, Woleai nge PMA yebe gasine tage. Gare golog woal meratag, nge rebe fange tag shiul waafaliuw lani tutul mail.

Habele Scholarships

125 Micronesian Students Awarded Habele Tuition Scholarships

A US nonprofit, established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, is awarding tuition scholarships to 125 students across the Federated States of Micronesia. Funded entirely by the annual donations of individual Americans, the scholarships help cover tuition costs at independent elementary and high schools within the FSM.

Habele’s tuition scholarships ensure bright, hardworking students have access to the best elementary and secondary education possible. Based on need and merit, each Habele tuition scholarships is set at a level that maintains family ownership in student achievement while lightening the financial burden.

The scholarships cover between 50 and 75 percent of tuition and fees. Students must maintain and report high levels of academic achievement every term, applying each year for continued support.

Since 2006, more than 230 students in Micronesia have benefited from the program, which started with a single student seventeen years ago.

Of the 125 Habele Scholars for 2023-24, roughly 60 percent are female; two thirds are in elementary school, and three-in-five are from neighboring islands. Among the incumbents the average student is entering their third year as a scholarship recipient. Of the 56 students awarded scholarship last year, 52 were awarded renewals for 2023-24, one migrated to the US, two graduated high school and departed for higher education, and only one failed to report or reapply.

“Everyone -parents, teachers, and community members- want young people who are prepared to meet the challenges of the future” explained Neil Mellen, Habele’s Founder. “These targeted scholarships provide support to engaged families who are making sacrifices to provide educational opportunities for their children. Habele wants to help ensure these ambitious hardworking students are prepared to sustain and improve quality of life for their islands.

Habele Robotics

Habele will spinoff Robo League, aims for full localization of funding and operations

High school-based robotics in Micronesia has always been student centered and student driven. Now Habele, the US nonprofit that initiated the Robo League, looks to make that local ownership official. The NGO is sunsetting its role as steward of the Robo League after more than a decade.

Habele’s introduced high school robotics to the FSM in 2012 when the charity initiated a two-school pilot project in Yap, funded entirely by private individual donations. From 2017 through 2023 the Robo League expanded across the all four FSM states through the generous support of an Insular Affairs technical assistance grant, growing into a scalable demonstration project, serving students at two dozen public and private high schools throughout Micronesia.

 

The basic unit of the Robo League has been school-based clubs at the high schools. Students worked to design, build, test and refine simple robots capable of navigating obstacles and accomplishing tasks.

With training and benchmarks along the way, the students worked over the course of the school years toward multi-school, annual statewide robotics exhibitions. Schools’ robots were pitted against one another in friendly competition. Habele provided equipment, in-person and online instructional opportunities, and facilitated organization of schools to make it possible. The real work was done by the eager and ambitious Micronesian high schoolers themselves.

This model, evolved and refined over a decade with state specific adaptations, was educationally effective and economically efficient. Because students learned and mastered skills through hands-on problem solving themselves, the Robo League did not require costly spending on new buildings, the hiring or retraining of additional school staff, or a particularly large outlay on equipment and supplies.

With each passing year the role of the school staff, and more significantly the student themselves, in overseeing instructional and administrative aspects grew. Through a “peer-to-peer” model, experienced students and staff provided instruction and support to new league members. Robo League teams also represented the Micronesian nation in international robotics competitions in 2017 and 2022. A group of “robo ambassadors” even flew to the Marshall Islands in 2019 to introduce robotics to students on Kwajalein.

“A decade ago, we set about to see if Micronesian students could be excited and educated about Science Math Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in effective ways that didn’t rely heavily on existing personnel, equipment and infrastructure,” explained Neil Mellen, Habele’s Founder and Executive Director. “At the time I could not have imagined it would grow to involve two dozen schools across Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae States.”

“If Micronesia’s state and national leaders see value in what was done and learned, they may choose to sustain and further evolve the Robo League through localization of the funding and operation of the league. It would be exciting -to see this moved from practice to policy- but certainly that is their choice to make, not mine,” continued Mellen. “Either way, I’m tremendously proud of what so many students and educators have accomplished over the last decade through the course of this endeavor.”

Though winding down its role in the Robo League, Habele will continue to offer tuition scholarships to students attending private elementary and high schools in the FSM, donations to schools and libraries, direct monthly book deliveries to children under the age of five (“Young Island Readers”), and donations of tools to traditional carvers and weavers. Learn more at www.habele.org

habele Robotics

Hands On STEM Brings Micronesian Students Together

This May, students from public and private schools across Pohnpei gathered at the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School gymnasium for the 5th Annual Pohnpei Robo Day. This yearly exhibition of applied Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) allows students to demonstrate their creative problem-solving skills in friendly competition with peers.

Five teams went head-to-head with the robots constructed by each robotics club, maneuvering the machines through a series of timed challenges for points, with the final match determining the Robo Day Champion and runner up.

Pohnpei Island Central School’s team (PICS) entered the 2023 competition with the momentum of having recently competed internationally at the FIRST Global International Robotics Challenge in Switzerland. In 2022, the PICS team represented the entire FSM at the challenge, placing highly among the other small nations competing. This year, however, home field advantage carried the day, and Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School kept the Champion’s trophy.

The team placements were:

First – Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School
Second – Pohnpei Island Central School
Third – Pohnpei Catholic School
Fourth – Nanpei Memorial High School
Fifth – Calvary Christian Academy

A new challenge is already in the works for next year’s Robo Day, requiring all robotics clubs to start from scratch in designing a robot to compete.

The Robo League is uniquely student-driven, allowing students to explore and experiment with complex technologies and concepts in a hands on way. Robo Day challenges give all participants the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills to tough problems, and come up with creative and effective solutions. Even students who might not see themselves as “math and science types” can be drawn in to engage a lifelong love of STEM.

“The young people at Robo Day will grow up to help lead the FSM,” says Matt Coleman, Habele’s Director of Operations. “The Robo League is helping them develop the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in a world driven by STEM innovation.”

The Robo League was introduced to Pohnpei in 2018 by Habele, a US nonprofit founded by former Peace Corps volunteers who taught in Micronesia. Habele first introduced robotics to Micronesia in 2011, and has trained and supported participating high schools across all four FSM states through a technical assistance partnership with the Office of Insular Affairs.

habele Literacy

Per request: books for young readers in Maap, Yap

Eager young readers at the Maap Early Childhood Education Center in the northeast of Yap have received the first of three boxes of books donated by Habele.

A US nonprofit, Habele was established by former Peace Corps Volunteers who served -many of them as library volunteers- in Micronesia. Habele provides donations of books, as well as tuition scholarships, tools for traditional craftsmen, and equipment for high school-based robotics across the Federated States.

In February, Leah Torwan, an early childhood teacher in Maap reached out to Habele.

Torwan explained that her own two-year old daughter was signed up for Young Island Readers, Habele’s direct book-a-month program for children birth through five years of age. She had been bringing those books, sent for her daughter’s use at home, to the center owing to the lack of books.

“I’m not sure about the other ECEs but our center lacks books,” relayed Torwan. “We have under 15 books; old and mostly damaged. The children who’ve enrolled since previous years are getting tired of the same stories being read over and over.”

At that time Habele sent three boxes, totaling 77 lbs of age-appropriate books for the children to read at the Maap ECE center. Owing to the complications mail service to Micronesia has recently endured, the first of the three boxes only reached Yap this week.

Year to date, Habele has provided 25 boxes of books to school-based libraries and early child education centers across Micronesia. In the same period, Habele’s Young Island Readers has provided a further 1,346 books directly to children under the age of five years. Last year 81 boxes for schools and centers, as well as a further 2,222 individual books sent directly to young children, were donated.

“As individual Americans with personal ties to Micronesia, we who volunteer, donate, and organize the work of Habele are eager to help,” explained Neil Mellen, Habele’s Executive Director. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support hard working parents and educators such as Leah Torwan, who are themselves the ones expanding children’s horizons through reading.”

habele Literacy

Matson, Habele keep books flowing to Yap’s Youngest Readers

“Young Island Readers” is a book-a-month donation program that provides children from birth to age five a new age appropriate each and every month.

A generous investment from the Matson Foundation will cover the cost of providing over 400 such books to children across Yap State this coming January and February.

The Young Island Readers process is simple. When a child is born in Yap State, the mother is provided a sign-up form at the hospital. She writes the child’s name and the post office mailing box their family uses. If she lives in the Outer Islands she indicates on which Atoll or Island they reside.

Sign up forms are offered again when a child is baptized or inoculated, ensuring newborns don’t slip through the cracks. These sign-up forms are collected by students at Yap Catholic High School, where the details are entered into a book ordering system. Mothers or other family members may also obtain forms directly from the Yap Catholic High School as well as submit completed forms there. They can also sign up online at www.habele.org/yir.

Monthly, each enrolled child is sent a new book. The specific title is based on their age and phase of development. The books, sent at USPS media mail rates, arrive individually wrapped and addressed to the child. Those going to children in the Outer Islands are received by the Neighboring Island Coordinators at the Yap State Department of Education. The books headed to children in the Outer Islands make the last leg of the journey on either the state field trip vessel or aboard a Pacific Missionary Airline flight.

The backbone of Young Island Readers is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL). The Imagination Library was founded and created by songwriter, musician, actress, author and business-woman, Dolly Parton, in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee in 1996. She envisioned a community-based program providing children with free, home-delivered books from birth to their 5th birthday.

Habele is the “local champion” or on-the-ground partner for DPIL in Micronesia. Established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele is a US nonprofit, invested in the future and potential of Micronesian students since 2006. Though the program is both effective and efficient, there are still ongoing costs borne by Habele. A generous donation from the Matson Foundation in late 2022 will help with that.

“Matson’s generous donation to Habele will cover all the costs for Young Island Reader books mailed in January and February of 2023,” explained Neil Mellen, founder of Habele. “We are grateful for Matson’s continued support of our -and others’- work in Micronesia and across the Pacific in addressing community needs.”