The Fanapi Foundation provides technical assistance to the Fanapi Center’s efforts in the creation, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of leadership and capacity-building efforts for the outer islands.
Cultural Preservation
Building opportunities at the Center for the outer islanders to demonstrate their traditional practices to the visiting public. These cultural preservation projects include traditional chants and dances, canoe-carving, fishing skills, hut-building, basket weaving, traditional lei weaving, and others.
Food Security
The remoteness of the Northwest islands (fanapi) coupled with increasing impacts of climate change threaten the food security in these small low-lying outer islands in Micronesia. Problems range from saltwater intrusion into taro patches to coral bleaching. On some islands the introduction of the outboard motorboats into what was once traditional fishing practices using outrigger canoes have led to overfishing. Fanapi Foundation will work with local leadership and global partners to help people understand and change the practices that are within their control to enable food security. We seek expertise from environmental conservationists to help the people understand the impact of climate change and what can be done to mitigate these problems.
Youth Empowerment
This program supports the current activities of religious and civic action youth groups in the Northwest with fundraising, leadership development, scholarships, and entrepreneurial projects.
Women Voices
The Northwest region in Chuuk have traditionally been a matrilineal culture. Women were the foundation of a clan. Lands were given to the wife’s clan to support a husband’s children. Unfortunately, the introduction of the patrilinial culture has beginning to erode the local traditions. Women Voices is a program that provides leadership development opportunities for the young women to find their voices in the communities. Mentored by older and wiser fanapi women, the Fanapi Center will help women access funds from global organizations that support women’s needs including business ventures, leadership programs, scholarships, and cultural preservation programs.
Volunteers Network
A program to bring volunteers to serve in capacity-building efforts in the outer islands. This includes Fanapi citizens living abroad to contribute their time and expertise to the capacity-building efforts of the outer islands in areas of education, health care, economic development, agriculture, environmental preservation, youth development, and other needs as identified by the respective municipalities. It also includes building partnerships with existing NGOs, colleges, and groups that send volunteers to teach or provide capacity-building services in the outer islands.
