Economics – Where’s Fran?

Saipan’s Surge and Slump

Long time, no post! There was a time when I felt bound to observe production schedules and meet deadlines, but that has been lost—along with so much else—with age and senility. Still, welcome back to those of you who have had the patience to keep checking my site.

Not long ago I made a three-day trip to Saipan. It’s only a half-hour flight to an island just north of Guam. The ticket that once cost $50 now goes for ten times that. But that’s not all that has changed.

What?s the possibility that small island societies like FSM and the Marshalls can grow their economy enough to make their countries self-supporting? That?s a question that many of us have been debating for years. It?s a question that haunts the leaders of these countries as they move closer to the end of the Compact funding in 2023.

This film opens with a man and his 20-year-old son out in a small boat fishing off Kosrae. It closes with the man fishing, this time alone. What has happened to the son? That?s the story behind this unusual visual tale filmed by Nathan Fitch, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosrae not long ago.

Where?s Fran? The answer to that blog-site question is, happily…on Guam. I have a long-term assignment on the island to assist the archbishop and work with the migrant communities. For a week now I?ve been settling in at my new home in the Dededo parish of Santa Barbara where the three diocesan priests have been very welcoming. Here I have a room and a car and, best of all, real work to do!

April 6, 2015
Francis X. Hezel, SJ
Compact, Culture, Economics, Migration, Travel, Videos

Max Yarawamai

Max Yarawamai?s story is that of an island boy who made good. Today he owns a landscaping company on the Big Island of Hawaii that employs over 200 people and has big projects underway all over the state. Despite his success, he has not lost contact with his own people. Max, born in Ulithi, has set up clinics on his own atoll and has built a park that provides basketball, volleyball and other freetime activities for other migrants.

April 2, 2015
Francis X. Hezel, SJ
Compact, Culture, Economics, Migration, Travel, Videos

Innocenta Sound

The move to Honolulu didn?t come easily for Lukunor-born Innocenta Sound. She was uprooted suddenly to care for her father, the former lieutenant governor of Chuuk, when he went on dialysis in Hawaii. The former policewoman became a social activist even as she began full-time work with fellow migrants in a low-income neighborhood of the city. She lives out the ideal of islanders taking care of their own.

April 1, 2015
Francis X. Hezel, SJ
Compact, Culture, Economics, Migration, Travel, Videos

Lowery Lowery

Lowery Lowery, born in Kosrae, had an interest in security from the outset. After graduating from PATS, he joined the US Marines and served in Iraq. Later he became a key figure in a local security company in Hawaii. Like so many other community leaders, he has been asked to play a key role in helping his fellow migrants. Besides serving as a lay leader in his church, he has been asked to preside at community events.

March 31, 2015
Francis X. Hezel, SJ
Compact, Culture, Economics, Migration, Travel, Videos

Alice Ehmes

Many knew Alice Ehmes back in the islands, when she worked for the College of Micronesia and then served with the National Government. The competent administrator then is still the same, but now she is working for the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. You?ll see her at the computer tending her website, advising women applying for jobs, and on her favorite means of transportation.

Category - Economics

Saipan’s Surge and Slump

Jobs and the Economy: It?s Only Going to Get Worse

Island Soldier

Settling on Guam

Max Yarawamai: At Home While Away

Max Yarawamai

Innocenta Sound: At Home While Away

Innocenta Sound

Lowery Lowery: At Home While Away

Lowery Lowery

Alice Ehmes: At Home While Away

Alice Ehmes