Textbooks for Micronesia Schools

The North American Division now has it’s own mission field—The Guam Micronesia Mission.  The main outreach of the mission is the Guam Medical Clinic, the Saipan Dental Clinic, and the ten elementary and secondary mission schools operated on the major islands and staffed largely by dedicated student missionaries.

Over the years the GMM schools have enjoyed the reputation of being the best on the islands and have provided the education for many,if not most, of the business and government leaders on the islands.

 While our schools still provide excellent education, the reputation of some has slipped a bit due to things like deferred maintenance, not funding book replacement, etc. However, all that is now being resolved. We have a new Educational Director for the Mission, Leonard Quaile, who is giving excellent leadership, and the NAD Education Department is providing strong support. So policies and practices are being put in place to ensure a strong future for these schools and the impact that they have for the islands and the Church.

Due to the issues identified above all of the schools are in desperate need of new textbooks.  For one thing there are not enough books. In some cases several students have to share one textbook. Also the books are very old—in poor condition and much out of date. The schools are now setting aside funds to replace books on a regular schedule, but they need help in getting caught up to where they need to be right now.

Last year we were able to help them replace all the math books for all grades in all the schools. This year we want to do the same for Science books for the elementary classes, and language arts books for the academy classes.

The Southern Union Ministerial Spouses are taking the lead in raising funds to help provide these books for all the students at four of the ten schools—Palau, Yap, Guam, and Saipan.  The amount needed is as follows: Palau--28,250, Yap--$14,750, Guam--12,500, and Saipan--$8,500 totaling $64,000.

Hope for Humanity will match all funds which are raised through this campaign meaning that if $32,000 is raised we will have enough to complete this project. If more is raised, the match still applies, and the overage will apply to books needed at the other schools.

Thank you for your help. Please pass this on to your friends, family, and colleagues via Facebook, other social media, and email.