Fanapi Foundation

Empowering the outer islanders from Micronesia at home and abroad

Youth Empowerment

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Energizing the Young Generation for Civic Engagement! 
The youth have been the backbone of our community activities in the outer islands. Ironically, they have also been the least resourced. Their voices are not readily heard because of the cultural misconception that youth means inexperience rather than energy; that youth (hemirit) means lack of wisdom when in fact they bear creativity; that youth are undisciplined when in fact they are hungry for knowledge; that youth lack unnecessary challenge the status quo when in fact they are simply asking to do more for the betterment of their island community, family, church groups, and organizations. It is vitally important that the government and the island leadership strengthen its youth services to empower the young people to do more to help the island communities. In an increasingly changing island culture, the adults have to learn the necessary skills to manage the complex needs of the youth. Adults have the responsibility to set positive role modeling for our youth in areas of hard work, respect of others, dedication to taking care of each other and of being ambassadors for our beloved outer islands.

Programs:

  • Improve the formal education of the youth by improving elementary and secondary schools in the outer islands.
  • Create job training opportunities for the outer island youth to succeed in future jobs in Chuuk or overseas.
  • Build or establish a Fanapi Youth Center on Weno which provides opportunities in sports, jobs, businesses, fundraising, college advising, job training, etc.
  • Establish a Northwest Region Youth Commission comprising of youth leaders from all the church groups in Pafeng, Pattiw, Namonweito which will serve as the advocacy body for all youth affairs.
  • Create a Youth Fund controlled by the Youth Commission which encourages creative community service projects.
  • Establish a Fanapi Cultural Performance Group comprising of a select group of dancers, song writers, performers who would represent the traditional and contemporary performance arts from the outer islands at State, National, and International conferences.
  • Seek international funds for an Outer Islands Scholarship to enable merit and need-based financial aid for outer island students to attend private schools on Weno and college.
  • Establish a College Advising Office with volunteers from US colleges to help guide outer island high school students through the process of planning, selecting, applying, preparing, and succeeding in a college education.
  • Establish an Internet Café on Weno to be used by college and high school students from the outer islands attending schools on Weno.
  • Establish opportunities for the outer island youth to know the pros and cons of a career in the U.S. military service. For those interested, establish tutoring programs to better their chances of passing the entrance exam.

Healthcare Programs

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Preventive health care must be improved to combat the increase of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems in the outer islands of the Northwest region. In a State which suffers from incompetent leadership and lack of resources, the only sure medicine that has always been available to us as a people has been our own way of life; we need to re-educate our people on preventive measures such as the need to lead less sedentary lifestyles. Parents must be educated on the lifestyle and diet changes happening to our people as a way to return to our more healthy food choices. The lack of preventative health services threatens the lives and future of the future generation of Chuukese. Health education must be part of the school curriculum as an early way to educate future Chuukese on preventative health skills.

Action Strategies:
  • Establish a Health Clinic on Weno specifically to serve the medical needs, advocate for healthcare, provide community training programs, and partner with international medical organizations to help the outer islands.
  • Establish a super dispensary on three strategically and centrally located islands in Pattiw, Pafeng, Namonweito to service each region. The selection of the island that houses the health center will depend on a competitive selection process by which the mayors can provide the rationale for hosting the health clinic to service those islands. On the other islands, establish a health clinic room into every existing elementary school on all islands in the Northwest.
  • Provide a scholarship specifically for qualified outer islander to get medical training in the United States and return to serve the islands in the Health Clinic or dispensaries.
  • Work with the Outer Islands Partnership organization and other international NGOs to bring volunteer doctors to serve in the Northwest with services, medicine, and training

Environmental Protection

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Protecting Our Natural Resources for Future Generations!

The care of our lands, seas, and air is the responsibility of every Chuukese citizen. The government must provide adequate funding, leadership, and programs to educate the public in the proper stewardship of our natural resources. Efforts must be made to empower the NGO’s that are dedicated to environmental issues. The problems predicted by scientists on global warming has already impacted our islands directly. Taro patches and other locally grown food products have been rendered useless due to the rising tide. The government must work directly with municipal leadership and the FEMA office in the national government to initiate long term plans and short term solutions to this impending crisis.

Action Strategies:
  • Utilize existing reports and strategies on how best to prepare for the effects of global warming in the outer islands.
  • Solicit external funding from governments and NGOs to purchase water catchment systems in the outer islands to preserve drinkable water.
  • Partner with engineering schools in the US specifically at Santa Clara University to have students design sustainable means of growing taro without the erosion from rising sea level.
  • Create a commission of experts from the outer islands as well as international NGOs to review existing reports and create implementation strategies for the Northwest islands.
  • Provide grant writing resources and advise to outer island NGOs to apply for funding aimed at conservation efforts in the outer islands.

Supporting Small Islands

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Fanapi [fan.ah.pee] is a Chuukese word (literally translated “islands of the sand”) refers to the low-lying islands located in the Northwest regions of Chuuk State, FSM. The Northwest groups of geographically remote islands include the Pattiw, Namonweito, and Pafeng regions.

Founded by Vidalino Raatior and a team of experts, the Fanapi Foundation was established in December, 2102 as a non-profit organization to support the establishment, funding, and technical assistance for Fanapi Center in Chuuk, FSM to help the Northwest region. The Foundation’s role is simple: to do whatever it takes to support the local efforts by bridging those needs with global resources….all with the goal of empowering self-sufficiency in those fanapi islands.

At the Foundation, we are humbled by the immensity of hope and aspirations of the grassroots movement in the fanapi islands to take ownership of “our problems and our solutions.” Their hope is to create a locally-led Fanapi Center on the main island of Weno to centralize the programs and services in education, community development, healthcare, and economic opportunities for the outer islanders. The Foundation is the US-based bridge for that Center.

The Fanapi Foundation is a sponsored project of the United Charitable Programs (www.unitedcp.org), a registered 501(c)3 public benefit non-profit organization headquartered near Washington, DC. As a program of UCP, we are able to offer tax deductible donations capabilities. We are now implementing the second phase of our approach which is to seek funding for capacity-building training programs for the the fanapi leadership to build the Fanapi Center’s programs and to create more local and global partnerships.

We encourage all sons and daughters of the outer islands living back in the islands and those in Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland to join our movement.  We welcome all efforts, all talents, all levels of commitment to work with us in improving the lives of people back in the islands. We must unite as a people to help each other, to strengthen our efforts to address the various needs of our people. Register your email  so we can update you on the latest development of our movement. You can also view videos from our islands on our YouTube account (www.youtube.com/fanapicenter), follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/fanapicenter), sign up to receive our news feeds, and network with us on FB group (www.facebook.com/fanapi) or join the Outer Islands Partners (www.facebook.com/outerislands).

We also seek global partners to help build the dream of a multipurpose Fanapi Center (Uuten Ataween Fanapi) that will be centrally located on the main island of Weno to implement the programs and services of the NGO. Please contact us at info@fanapi.org or fill out our online form if you have any questions.


 

Message from Founder

Dear Friends: On behalf of Fanapi Foundation's all-volunteer Advisory Board , our partners and sponsors, I want to welcome you to our website.   Thank you for your interest in knowing more about our mission and programs. The Fanapi Foundation was founded in 2013 to provide technical assistance to the people from the geographically remote … continue

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