Blog

Health Connection Day in Hawaii

November 2, 2015 By Fanapi Center

The Fanapi Foundation teamed up with several organizations in Hawaii to co-sponsor Health Connection Days for citizens of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations (namely, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of Palau (ROP), and Republic of the Marshalls (RMI)) in Hawaii.

The goal of the Health Connect Day is to sign up COFA citizens for affordable health insurance through the Hawaii Health Connector. We are grateful for all the partners in this effort including We Are Oceania, COFA Community Advocacy Network, Health Connector, Micronesians United – Big Island, Pacific Islander Student Center at UH Hilo, Micronesian Health Advisory Council, St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church, Partners in Development Foundtion, Kaiser Permanente, etc.

Health Connect Days

Honolulu, HI

St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church (9 – 4:30, Mon & Wed)
KPT Building A (9 – 4:30, Mon)
KPT Building B (9 – 4:30, Mon – Thur)
Palolo Learning CTR (9 – 4:30 pm, Wed & Fri)
Safe Haven (10 – 2 pm, Wed & Fri)
Next Step Shelter (3 – 9 pm, Tue & Thur)

Hilo, HI

Pacific Islander Student Center, UH Hilo (8:00 – 4:30, Wed)
Pacific Islander Student Center, UH Hilo (Sat., November 14, 2015, 9 – 3:00 pm)

Pollap Communities Convene 1st Ttirhoun Fanatopw Conference

August 10, 2014 By Fanapi Center

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The 1st Ttirhoun Pollap-Fanatopw Conference was successfully convened on the weekend of July 3 – 4, 2014 at the Puerto Rican Association Hall in Honolulu, Hawaii. In attendance were leaders and other officers of the various Pollap communities within the FSM, Hawaii, Guam, and the US Mainland; thus the Conference participants descended unto Honolulu from Chuuk, Pohnpei, Saipan, Guam, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Washington DC,. Among those seated at the leadership table were traditional leaders, representatives from the Chuuk State Legislature, church leaders, and resource persons and guest speakers. [Read more…]

Leaders unite over educational reform

July 9, 2012 By Fanapi Center

On July 2-7, 2012, leaders from throughout the Northwest regions of Pattiw, Namonweito, and Pafeng converged at Weipat High School on Onoun island to participate in the first Northwest Educators Summit. Their goal: to explore ways to improve the quality of education for students of their region through the Chuuk State Educational Reform Plan. Instead the leaders took the plan further by adopting to take the decentralization goal a step further in building their own reform plan through the creation of a non-governmental organization to be called Fanapi Center. [Read more…]

Fanapi + Future

March 28, 2017 By Fanapi Center

Dear Friends,

These past three years have been particularly difficult to lead the Fanapi Foundation. In 2014 I was accepted into the Doctor of Education (Ed.D) for Professional Educational Practice program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. In 2016 I transitioned from serving as director of the Pacific Islander Student Center at UH Hilo to coordinate two federally funded STEM-focused grants at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in Hawaii and the Pacific region. My summer months have also been dedicated to my summer classes. This year, 2017, is dedicated to the difficult and time-consuming phase of the doctoral studies, i.e., writing the dissertation.

My #1 priority is to graduate with a doctorate as an investment in my capacity to lead the Fanapi Foundation and all my other Pacific-focused social enterprises. Today, I have informed our fiscal sponsor, United Charitable, that effectively immediately, we are suspending all activities of the Fanapi Foundation until further notice. I believe this is the right decision to support the effective leadership of Fanapi Foundation.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. Stay tuned.

Gratefully yours,

Vid Raatior
Founder & Program Manager
vid@fanapi.org

Goodbye to Larry Gabriel

February 28, 2016 By Fanapi Center

Yesterday, Saturday, February 27, 2016 was a sad day for the Fanapi islanders in Corsicana, Texas and around the US. We buried two of our brothers, leaders in our community: Likichy “Nick” Paulis (56) and Lorenzo “Larry” Gabriel (55) who passed away tragically from natural causes 6 days apart. Larry served on the Advisory Board for the Fanapi Foundation representing the community in Texas. Vid Raatior, founder of the Fanapi Foundation, delivered the following eulogy for Larry while Nick’s best friend Ruben Manuere did the eulogy for Nick.

Photos by Nairaan Sablan Bernard

Eulogy for My Brother / Mentor Lorenzo “Larry” Gabriel
By Vidalino Raatior
Griffin-Roughton Funeral Chapel
Corsicana, Texas
February 27, 2016

We gather today to say GOODBYE to Larry, our brother, uncle, friend, papa, role model, leader and mentor to many of us.

But I know that Larry would not want us to mourn him but rather to CELEBRATE and continue his LEGACY and the VALUES that he tried to live by all these years he was with us.

Larry would want us to remember him for his POSITIVE SPIRIT (apwapwa). None of us can ever imagine the pain and suffering he endured with his illness since the 80’s. But all of us know that he always had that ever ready smile, the charm, the great sense of humor that was always part of his humanity. People were drawn to him for he always made others around him happier, more joyful even as he privately struggled with the physical pains of being confined to a wheelchair, the weekly dialysis.

Larry would want us to remember his respect for our CULTURE (oreni). He never forgot the foundational wisdom passed down from our fathers and uncles; he retained more than anyone I know the lineage taught to us by our mothers and aunties. He always encouraged us especially the young people to know our relatives, respect our indigenous knowledge and cultural practices, and the best that our culture taught us on how to treat each other with kindness, generosity, and self-lessness.

Larry would want us to remember him for his incessant search for WISDOM (mirit). He was among the few islanders who left the comfort of our island Tamatam, left the perks of a chiefly clan, and became a scholar while retaining the humility of a navigator. He taught English at a college in the US, authored articles. He wanted our young people to strive for an education as a way out of poverty and into their own destiny. Larry served with me on the board of the Fanapi Foundation to advocate for our people in the US; being a leader meant for him to be of service.

Larry would want us to remember him for the love he has for his extended FAMILY (aterenges). All of us here today and those back home from Texas to Tamatam, Tennessee to Onoun, from North Carolina to Lepukos, Hawaii to Guam, from Missouri to Oregon, from Chicago to California. Larry loved us very much. He was the voice of our elders from home who have preceded him to Weilang. His love bounded us together.

Larry would want us to remember him for his love of the HOMELAND (tongen lepopwun). The last time he stepped foot on the shores and reef of our island Tamatam was in the 90’s. Yet he always carried the love of that small island in his heart. For those of us who have traveled far away from our homelands, Larry role modeled for us the courage and attitude of a master navigator (paluwlap), always doing the right thing for the crew in his canoe.

Lastly, I agree with my nephew Andrew Elias when he posted a few days ago on FB that this song, “My Homeland” by Daniel Rae Costello, one of Larry’s favorite will never be the same. As we move on with our lives, let us try to carry on Larry’s memories through our own lives of positive spirit, respect for our culture, search for wisdom, the love for each other, and to be good ambassadors of our homeland…wherever homeland is to you.

Oule kemwarhukami rewe mwaan kaan nge oute kan likitikemamlo. Loren rewe you are and will always be my inspiration, my homeland.

Congressional Scholarship for Fanapi Islanders

August 19, 2014 By Fanapi Center

The Fanapi Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of an application form for outer islanders from the Northwest Region of Pattiw, Pafeng, and Namwonweito to access a $20,000 scholarship from the FSM Congress. While the Foundation has no direct access or control over the funds, we have developed the application for students to apply for this fund. The scholarship, selection criteria, amount, disbursement process are fully controlled by Senator Tony Otto, the current congressional representative for the Northwest region in the FSM Congress. But the application enables college students from those fanapi islands to apply for it. We encourage all students from 2-year or 4-year accredited institutions to apply for the scholarship.

Apply Now!

FSM Congressional Scholarship Application Form (PDF version)
FSM Congressional Scholarship Application Form (Word version)

Also read…

Vid’s recommendation to Senator Otto for transparency, clear, and fair selection process

Aloha from Fanapi Foundation

January 1, 2014 By Fanapi Center

“There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ~C.S. Lewis~

On behalf of Fanapi Foundation’s all-volunteer Advisory Board , our partners and sponsors, we bid Aloha to all of our supporters and all the outer islanders. As we celebrate the beginning of Year II of our organization, we are mindful of the immense needs around the world including those found in the geographically remote outer islands of Micronesia. We renew our focus to raise funds to support our programs and services and provide the technical assistance to empower the under-served people from the geographically remote locations in Micronesia. [Read more…]

Former Peace Corps Returns to Lend a Hand

October 3, 2013 By Fanapi Center

Steve Hayden, a Peace Corps Volunteer on Onoun Island from 1967 to 1969 returned to Onoun to visit his sponsor family and ended up lending a helping hand to Northwest High School. Steve has revisited his former stomping ground on numerous occasions in 2002, 2005, and 2010. On this trip he brought his wife Diane and together they put their varied skills to the multitude of needs at Northwest High School. [Read more…]

Northwest Educators Set 10 Regional Priorities

August 10, 2013 By Fanapi Center

Xavier High School in Chuuk, the premiere college preparatory in the North Pacific, became the site of the historic Northwest Educators Summer Training (NEST) for over 70 public school teachers and principals and leaders from the poor and geographically remote Northwest Unified Schools. While the NEST was funded largely by the Chuuk State Department of Education (CDOE), this first-ever community led regional training was the first in Chuuk that was wholly planned and implemented by a Northwest local planning team with their consulting team rather than by the CDOE. [Read more…]

Teacher Training 2013 Funded

July 6, 2013 By Fanapi Center

The Fanapi Foundation is pleased to announce the full funding of the Northwest Educators Summer Training (NEST) at Xavier High School on July 29 – August 2, 2013. The funding in the amount of $42,000 was committed by the Chuuk State Department of Education with $2,500 donated by the Matson Foundation will pay for the training facilities, room & board, support staff, training supplies, transportation expenses for the participants who will be traveling to Weno on chartered ships from the outer islands. [Read more…]

Who We Are

February 3, 2013 By Fanapi Center

Fanapi Foundation is a US-based entity whose mission is to raise funds and provide technical assistance to support the underserved indigenous people living in the geographically isolated outer islands (fanapi) in the Northwest region of Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. Founded by Vid Raatior and an all-volunteer Advisory Board, the Fanapi Foundation is a sponsored project of the United Charitable Programs (UCP) – a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, tax ID #20-4286082, headquartered near Washington, DC., whose mission is to develop and support charitable programs with a local, national, or global focus.

The Fanapi Foundation’s mission and vision is grounded on the core belief that our role is to empower the local indigenous solutions of the Fanapi islanders with global resources. We focus our efforts in the areas identified by the local leaders as the top priorities for their people; namely, educational reform, community development, preventative healthcare, and economic empowerment.

Our Name

Fanapi, [fan-ah-pee], literally translated ”islands of the sand” is the Chuukese name for all the low-lying sandy outer islands located in the Northwest region of Chuuk State comprising of Pattiw atolls, Pafeng atolls, and Namonweito atolls. These isolated islands are arguably the most under-served region in the country of Micronesia.

Our Beginning

The inspiration for the Fanapi Foundation came from the local leaders of those fanapi islands (see photo). On July 2-7, 2012, over 60 leaders (school teachers, principals, mayors, municipal council presidents, religious leaders, traditional chiefs, political leaders, and representatives of concerned parents) from throughout the Northwest regions of Pattiw, Namonweito, and Pafeng converged at Northwest High School (formerly Weipat) on Onoun island to participate in the first Northwest Education Leadership Institute sponsored by the Chuuk State School System (CSSS). The goal of that historic gathering was to explore ways to improve the quality of education for students of the Northwest region and to build community support for the Chuuk Educational Reform Plan (CERP).

What transpired at this historic meeting was beyond the usual expectations for the outer islanders; the participants elected to support and expand on the challenge to engage in educational reform by adopting to formulate key steps in building community-based support and ownership of “our own schools” and solving “our own needs.” The delegates unanimously formulated the Northwest Resolution expressing their dissatisfaction with the State’s lack of educational improvement, the need to unify all the public schools into the Northwest Unified Schools (NUS), and the creation of a non-governmental organization called Fanapi Center to be located on the main island of Weno to support educational reform, facilitate community development, coordinate healthcare programs, and develop economic opportunities for the Northwest region.

The keynote speaker at this educational / leadership summit was Mr. Vidalino Raatior, a fellow outer islander, product of Chuuk State’s public education, international educator who currently serves as the Director of the Pacific Islander Student Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. In a recognition of one of their own son of the Northwest, the delegation asked him to serve as the lead consultant for the region to help implement their action plans.

Our Board

Upon returning to the University of Hawaii at Hilo where he serves as the Director of the Pacific Islander Student Center, Vid proceeded to assemble a team of experts to help him found a US-based nonprofit organization to raise funds and provide technical assistance to the local leaders and their efforts. On December 5, 2012, the Fanapi Foundation was officially chartered as a sponsored program of the United Charitable Programs (www.unitedcp.org), a registered 501(c)3, non-profit public charity organization based near Washington, DC.

Our Partners

The Fanapi Foundation continues to expand its partnership with local and global organizations, corporations, foundations, and individuals to help advance its mission. We are working closely with the various associations of Fanapi islanders to engage their members to be actively engaged in helping to address the neglected needs in education, healthcare, advocacy, and economic development back in their home islands. The largest groups of fanapi islanders now reside in Hawaii, Guam, Texas, Oregon, Missouri, and Tennessee. Please contact info@fanapi.org more information on the levels of partnerships.