This letter, addressed to Emmanuel Mori, President of the Federated States of Micronesia, touches on the research and facts that support that the Islands are full of vulnerable persons due to lack of education. Addressed, will be a pilot program entitled MicroCorps which could greatly impact four areas: educational development, youth unemployment, human rights, and leadership & governance. This paper shows that each of these are, indeed, political issues that can be impacted by MicroCorps.
Attn: Emannuel Mori, President of the Federated States of Micronesia
I would like to thank you first and foremost, for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my letter. I know that you are an important man with a large agenda and I am honored to have your precious time. I’m quite impressed with the career that you have led. Your education in Business Management and experience with finance and social affairs has proven to be very useful. Your strong support in community affairs and work in executing measures of progressive reform including the restoration of 24-hour power services to Weno is impressive to say the least.
From your experience to making a bank that is near ends profitable to your skills in power services, I have taken notice of how gifted you are at making positive change in Micronesia. I saw that just in June (2013), you signed into law Congressional Act No. 18-02 to become Public Law 18-03 which after numerous revisions show your support towards creating public projects and social programs (fsmpio.fm, 2013). With this in mind, I would like to make a suggestion that I believe could change our vulnerable Islands and empower our people.
It is important to mention that the Federated States of Micronesia is full of bright minds and able bodies. Regardless of this fact, however, College of Micronesia-FSM (Federated States of Micronesia) has a success and retention rate of less than 40% (Lamsis, Jr., 2010). In the elementary education level, there were no schools as of 2000 that had an average of over 85% testing for the high school entrance/placement exams on any of the Islands with public school systems tracked (Hezel, 2000). The Federated States of Micronesia’s latest statistics on the government website shows that 12.3% of the Micronesian population 25 years old and older has not attended school and over 80% of the Micronesia population over 25 years old does not have a college education (fsm.gov, 2013).
The graph below shows education attainment in the Federated States of Micronesia for those 25 and older:
One of the world’s most notable leaders and change agents is Nelson Mandela of South Africa who said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” He also said, “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated” (brainyquotes.com, 2013). His statements are strong and the example he sets is even stronger. I would like to share an idea that I believe can help our community change as well as develop our people and society.
One of the organizations that are in place to help the Micronesian community is the Peace Corps. Nearly 4,620 of Peace Corps volunteers have volunteered in Micronesia and Palau since the program began in 1966. To date, there are currently about 40 volunteers between the two communities working predominantly in the education sector. This program is an asset to the community as volunteers teach young minds the English language among other subjects (peacecorps.gov, 2013).
In the United States, a huge push for AmeriCorps has submerged within the past 20 years. Since 1965, when the first members were integrated in urban and rural areas within the United States by President John F. Kennedy to assist in sustainable development and educational development, the American government has monitored its success through tracking statistics. Today, under President Barack Obama, AmeriCorps (in the VISTA’s sector alone) is considered larger, stronger and more vital than it has ever been with 8,000 members who serve at 1,100 projects nationwide to address root causes of poverty (nationalservice.gov, 2013).
An example of AmeriCorps success would be from the state of Illinois. Illinois according to the last US Census has a population of almost 13,000,000 (census.gov, 2010). This is significantly larger than the 160,000 population of Micronesia (peacecorps.gov, 2013). As of 2005, in the state of Illinois:
92% of AmeriCorps sponsoring organizations say members helped them increase the number of persons the groups served to a large or moderate extent
72% of AmeriCorps members continue to volunteer in their communities after their term of service ends
87% of former AmeriCorps members accepted public service employment (including governmental and nonprofit work) within three years after completing their AmeriCorps service
86% of former AmeriCorps members indicated that their service experience and training helped to a great or moderate extent in their job, educational pursuits, or community service capacities ( www.2illinois.gov, 2005)
Essentially, the way AmeriCorps works is that individuals who apply agree to a year of “service”—not “work.” They agree to live on a living stipend (that is expected to cover low income room and board matched to the economy of the community they are living in) and at the end of their year of service, they receive an Educational Award as well. This award may help to pay off student loans for some or work similar to that of a scholarship for others; members may also transfer this Educational Award to family members such as children or parents who expect to attend higher education. Community organizations and projects apply through the government for these excited volunteers to come and serve in their community and in turn get a passionate and enthusiastic individual that is free of charge to their project, school system, or organization. The volunteer works on a project for one year. An example of this would be to create an afterschool program that fosters an environment that can teach children outside of school in a fun way and also assist them in their homework hence developing the success of those youth involved in the program in an educational and enriching fashion (americorps.gov, 2013).
A program that is small and similar to the above mentioned is a small organization called Exponential Education that works out of Ghana, West Africa. This non-profit utilizes cross-age mentoring. They have employees on a stipend who then reach out to five high school students who tutor five elementary students per mentor in order to receive scholarship money. This program is helpful as it reaches out to low-income students who are at-risk and also is powerful as it pays it forward to 25 youth who then go on to also mentor eventually spreading their knowledge, leadership, and experience. This program has proven to be successful and as a result is still growing (exponentialeducationprogram.org, 2013). This type of program is a blueprint that shows that these projects are not just possible in large Westernized cultures like America, but also in smaller communities with limited resources. Below is a diagram of the hierarchy of the volunteer, tutors, and students.
MicroCorps—A Program That Will Help In Four Dynamic Ways
Micronesia is currently benefiting from volunteers of Peace Corps coming from America to help their students. However, if the government planned and funded a program similar to AmeriCorps in their own government, they could change the educational system, youth unemployment, leadership & governance, as well as human rights by investing in and utilizing their own citizens. As previously stated, AmeriCorps has shown great improvement statistically in communities that are much larger than those of the Micronesian communities. Therefore, Micronesia could implement a similar program with even more realistic goals as proven by similar programs like Exponential Education.
MicroCorps, like AmeriCorps would have a main objective of working with youth in the educational development sector in vulnerable areas. This could be implemented in school systems working alongside current Peace Corps volunteers or in development of current non-profits and NGO’s with goals of empowering and developing youth through scholarships, educational programming and advocacy, to name a few subjects. While the main objective of this program is to reform the education system in innovative ways—this program also assists in the areas below.
This is two-fold. This will not only prepare our future generations in the educational systems ranging from elementary to high school hence assisting them to grow intelligently and one day become community professionals, but it will also act as a format for young adults to gain experience, passion for their community, and receive availability to scholarship funds by volunteering in MicroCorps. As the statistics above show, AmeriCorps volunteers go on to work in their communities within three years more often than not. MicroCorps will also have a way of tracking this information to make it a marketable and important goal. The most recent statistic available is from the 2000 census that shows that one of the political issues in Micronesia is growing unemployment which was (in 2000) at about 22% (Bouma, Ling &Pratt, 2010). MicroCorps will be able to change these statistics by preparing growing professionals.
3. Leadership & Governance
AmeriCorps statistics, as shown above, prove that alumni of the organization often move on to work in the government sector and stay active in their communities and governments. With MicroCorps, young people will feel a sense of ownership from the projects they work on to promote positive change and therefore will continue to aim high.
Lastly, the main objective of MicroCorps will be to target vulnerable populations. Studies show that students that are struggling in the Federated States of Micronesia are those who are lower-income (Lamsis, Jr., 2010). MicroCorps will have a goal of reaching out to at-risk populations to assist them in higher rates of success.
In conclusion, I believe that creating MicroCorps through our government could impact our islands greatly and tap into the potential that is left untapped within our communities. This is a project that will not only help our government, but will help our people. It promotes change, leadership, and education; all of which are important in a recipe for success. Your recent leadership has proven you to be a passionate man who believes in creating projects to assist in social change in our society. Through proper planning, a strong team, and appropriate budgeting, in which I know you have a great deal of talent at, this could change our communities significantly. I would be interested in meeting with you and other educators within the communities to show how extracurricular activities and program such as these can improve retention and prevent our youth from un-healthy activities or hobbies.
2illinois.gov (2005). AmeriCorps statistics for the state of Illinois. Found in July, 2013.
mericorps.gov (2013). AmeriCorps official web site. Found in July, 2013.
Bouma, Ling &Pratt. (2010). Federated States of Micronesia. Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Brainyquotes.com (2013). Nelson Mandela quotes on education. Found in July, 2013.
Census.gov (2010). Statistics on the State of Illinois. Found in July, 2013.
Exponentialeducationprogram.org (2013). About us. Found in July, 2013.
Fsm.gov (2013). Statistics on Education Attainment. Found in July, 2013
fsmpio.fm (2013). Office of the President. Press release: President Mori signs two public laws and reiterates concerns, found in July, 2013
Hezel, Francis (2000). Statistics on Education in Micronesia. Via micsem.org, found in July, 2013.
Lamsis, Jr. Pablo (2010). Correlates of Academic Performance of Freshman Students at the College of Micronesia--Federated States of Micronesia, Pohnpei Campus. Via Online Submission, MS Thesis, Open University, Central Luzon State University, found in July, 2013
Nationalservice.gov (2013). What is AmeriCorps? History. Found in July, 2013.
Peacecorps.com (2013). Micronesia and Palau information and statistics. Found in July, 2013
2illinois.gov (2005). AmeriCorps statistics for the state of Illinois. Found in July, 2013.
mericorps.gov (2013). AmeriCorps official web site. Found in July, 2013.
Bouma, Ling &Pratt. (2010). Federated States of Micronesia. Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Brainyquotes.com (2013). Nelson Mandela quotes on education. Found in July, 2013.
Census.gov (2010). Statistics on the State of Illinois. Found in July, 2013.
Exponentialeducationprogram.org (2013). About us. Found in July, 2013.
Fsm.gov (2013). Statistics on Education Attainment. Found in July, 2013
fsmpio.fm (2013). Office of the President. Press release: President Mori signs two public laws and reiterates concerns, found in July, 2013
Hezel, Francis (2000). Statistics on Education in Micronesia. Via micsem.org, found in July, 2013.
Lamsis, Jr. Pablo (2010). Correlates of Academic Performance of Freshman Students at the College of Micronesia--Federated States of Micronesia, Pohnpei Campus. Via Online Submission, MS Thesis, Open University, Central Luzon State University, found in July, 2013
Nationalservice.gov (2013). What is AmeriCorps? History. Found in July, 2013.
Peacecorps.com (2013). Micronesia and Palau information and statistics. Found in July, 2013
