By Lisa McFarland MBA

All of KnowledgeWell’s pilot projects focused on Palauan youth and occurred before KnowledgeWell’s official launch at the Guam Hilton in 2005. KnowledgeWell became the “well” or “source” that Pacific Island communities have “drawn up” from for any needed expertise and training.  KnowledgeWell’s pilot programs had no grants or funding yet involved two Palauan youth- trained in North Carolina. One program provided limited time professional work skills experience without certification. Karl Iekar of Peleliu was chosen by Minister Fritz Koshiba and Jerry Knight. This program was made possible thanks to Iekar’s airfare being covered by the Rotary Club of Palau and local volunteers chipping in to provide housing, food and local transportation in North Carolina. Iekar, an eager and accomplished learner, returned home with new insights and skills sets which he leveraged to advance his career in the BLS.  Additionally before its official launch, KnowledgeWell collaborated with Koshiba to pilot an event hosted in Palau with Pacific professionals flying in from the region over 20 years ago.

The other and much longer residential pilot program included a Ngarchelong Palauan born in the FSM- Perry Paul. Paul, recommended by Billy Kuartei, attended college and graduated in North Carolina with what is now called a Geomatics degree. On holidays, many families (including Dr. Kristen Downs’ family) on the US mainland volunteered to host Paul. As with Iekar, these volunteering families provided food, housing, transportation and time at their own expense with each family gladly “adopting” both grateful learners into their homes. After completing his degree and local internships, Paul relocated to Guam where he currently works with GPA (Guam Power Authority). Paul, in addition to raising his family on Guam, is professionally recognized by the Guam PEALS Board. Whether its Paul, the 90+ Palauan youth with new job opportunities or Dr. Downs presence on island today, all credit goes to Billy Kuartei.

KnowledgeWell co-authored a Federal US OJT/SS (On the Job Training) Grant which benefited nearly 100 Palauan youth. All candidates were selected by the Palau Ministry of Labor for jobs training and new careers on Guam. Of that group, five flew to Raleigh North Carolina to receive KnowledgeWell certification training in transportation technologies. They participated in KnowledgeWell’s hands-on certification program at the North Carolina Department of Transportation “New Hope” training center and were personally welcomed to Raleigh by North Carolina Transportation Secretary Eugene Conti. All five maintained 100% attendance over the 2012-2013 program. These Palau Community College (PCC) grads were all immediately hired by private sector firms after arriving on Guam. Their S.U.E. (Subsurface Utility Engineering) expertise gained in Raleigh landed new careers for them and saved over $1 million for Guam on their first road project alone.  Quotes from two students following this program are from mom Suzan Rideb “I trusted KnowledgeWell with my life”  and a more light hearted quote from Worthy Basilius, “If it weren’t for KnowledgeWell, I would still be climbing betel nut trees in Koror.”  KnowledgeWell is considering moving this type of workforce and professional development training to Palau as well as its experiential learning and research programs to Palau. While the initial programs were infrastructure related, these programs could cover any industry such as health, medical, education, agriculture, and others. Having met with Mr. President and Ministers, KnowledgeWell Climate and Water Director Kristen Down PhD is wrapping up her work and evaluation this week in Palau.

About KnowledgeWell:

As the analogy suggests, KnowledgeWell is the “well” or source that Pacific Island communities throughout all of Micronesia have drawn from to receive needed expertise, knowledge, training and best practices. For 19 years, KnowledgeWell has listened to local community needs, identified experts to volunteer and initiated funding requests to cover the costs of the volunteers’ travels and stay.