Introducing the second cohort of CHL scholarship students. They started their programs in August 2013. Spend a few moments getting the know them!
Degree sought: Health Sciences
Hometown: Wone, Kitti, Pohnpei
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
In my community the most affective problems are the unhealthy conditions of a person. This problem occurs due to the wrong decisions that people make for their food selections. I see that many people in my community die from making wrong food selections. My mother works for the Pohnpei State Health in the Mental Health Section of the Public Hospital. She has talked about the many problems local people have because of the decisions they make in their personal food selection. Recently, the Federated States of Micronesia published a survey that showed the high number of people that have diabetes and other diseases associated with their food selection.
What are your long-term goals?
I will always return home. Home is home to me and I have no intention to live anywhere else. My long term career is very simple: 1) I want to earn a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition, 2) to complete a Master of Science degree in the same field and maybe continue on for a Ph.D in the same field, 3) after obtaining all three degrees I want to return to Pohnpei and work for the government in the area of study. There are many problems that I had seen in my community of Weno but also all around Pohnpei. I want to lobby for the government to make substantial health decisions that will benefit the community. I intend to utilize this opportunity to continue my studies in something that is needed in my hometown.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I hope that with the knowledge that I obtain from my studies, I will work with my country and encourage all people in our community to eat healthy local foods instead of buying Western food. I want to return with a degree in a field that will allow me to connect with childhood problems and help my community to improve health. I want to teach people about what they eat and help them understand the consequences of making wrong decisions by consuming food that can cause health hazards.
What are your hobbies / interests?
My hobbies include volleyball and baseball. I’m interested in cooking local food and doing things on my own sometimes.
Degree sought: Nursing
Hometown: Guegeegue, Kwajalein, RMI
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
I felt this program offered a great opportunity to go to school abroad and to earn an education that will allow me help the Marshall Islands.
What are your long-term goals?
I want to work in the Marshall Islands and help the people there.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I hope to make an impact because I can speak Marshallese and a lot of the nurses here cannot.
What are your hobbies / interests?
Volleyball, Baseball, Basketball, playing with makeup and nail polish, listening to music and dancing.
Degree sought: Health Sciences
Hometown: Weno, Tunnuk, Chuuk FSM
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
I became interested in the CHL Training Program when I found out that CHL offered an opportunity to study in the field of health, which is one resource that my Island of Chuuk does not have. Chuuk has lacked the resources for health programs and staff to provide efficient treatment and learning to the communities. This affects the children of today who will be the next generation. I was very much interested in the CHL Training Program because it offers me a chance to help serve my community and this program deals with helping children which I am most compassionate for.
What are your long-term goals?
Once I have completed my studies in the CHL Training Program, I plan to return to my Island of Chuuk and help my people.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I plan on helping my community by providing programs that deal with health issues. This will bring more understanding to the minds of the people about the health crisis we are currently facing every day of our lives. This program will bring awareness to the community on how to live in a healthier environment and many lives can be saved.
What are your hobbies / interests?
My hobbies and interests include volunteering for the program that my school offers to children who desire to pursue a higher level of education. I have volunteered for the past two summers in 2010-2012 and I am also in a club at my school that volunteers to tutor children during my school hours. I am very much interested in working with children because I am very passionate about being a part of, and impacting a generation that has great responsibilities waiting for them. This gives me faith in knowing that the next generation will live in a healthier environment.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition
Hometown: Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
Through small community service projects and growing up with my grandmother, children constantly surrounded me. The experiences I had were both exciting and rough, but it made me appreciate and enjoy working with children. I was drawn to the CHL training program not only for the opportunity in academic success, but to build on experiences that will be beneficial in the future.
What are your long-term goals?
To be able to find a career that will allow me to incorporate all the knowledge I gain through this program. I also want to invest in owning and opening a small business and restaurant in the future.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I hope to be that person who will be there to serve, educate, and motivate my community with the knowledge I attain from the CHL training program. Also, after gaining experience, I hope to one day work together with the other CHL trainees from the Federated States of Micronesia to improve the eating lifestyles of our nation as a whole.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I enjoy playing the ukulele, guitar, and cooking.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition, Pre-Professional Track
Hometown: Yap, Federated States of Micronesia
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
My main reason for applying for the CHL Training Program scholarship is for financial assistance. The CHL program, with its benefits, will give me a lot of options to pursue. I wasn’t aware of the program until I came to Hawaii, and I’m feel very fortunate to have learn about the scholarship opportunity.
What are your long-term goals?
I want to become a doctor. From my experience, growing up in the islands, I think the people are more likely to listen and follow a doctor’s recommendation more than anything else. I want to be skillful in not just providing diet recommendations, but also to help them as a doctor typically would.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I believe this program puts me in the best position to make changes in my home community. I’ve always wanted to work in a health-related field, but wasn’t really sure which discipline was a good fit for me in a developing nation. This program has directed me towards the right path, showing me an option that I will fit into. I believe a poor nation is the best place to make an impact because of the fact that there are many issues that needs to be fixed, so any small change is a success. Since diabetes is one of the main focuses, I believe there are countless ways to combat it. In my opinion, the best way to combat this issue is to start from the governmental level. My home community and surrounding islands used to have a very healthy diet, and it is still there. The diabetes epidemic started when processed foods were introduced to the islands. I believe the best way is to deal with exports, and at the same time, educate the people on the problems we’re facing, and also to promote agriculture. Being in this program gives me the flexibility to do more in different areas to combat the problem.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I am interested in any kinds of sports, but my favorite is playing basketball. I play basketball whenever I’m free. Aside from sports, fishing is one of my favorite hobbies.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition
Hometown: Mwoakilloa, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
The learning opportunity that the CHL program offers is unparalleled within the Pacific region. I wanted to be a part of a program that not only works for a good cause in the Pacific islands, but also ensures that the staff from the communities they are working with are qualified and trained in the appropriate fields of study.
What are your long-term goals?
My goal has always been to pursue a college degree, and return home to work in a position where I may be able to help the members of my community. With the opportunity I now have with the CHL program, I am able to do just that.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I plan to become a Registered Dietician and return to Pohnpei to work within the community to prevent childhood obesity. I would like to work with toddlers, and study the correlation between a healthy diet and the prevention of obesity; not only as children, but also whether these healthy eating habits can be retained and prevent obesity throughout life.
What are your hobbies / interests?
Swimming, playing volleyball, and reading.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition
Hometown: Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands
What drew your interest to the CHL training Program?
I was really interested in the CHL Training Program due to my country’s issues with complications due to diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, respiratory problems, cancer, and all related noncommunicable disease in the Marshall Islands. Since we don’t have any nutritionist in the Ministry, I am very interested in gaining knowledge to educate, campaign, and of course to create policies for the importation of unhealthy processed foods on the island to reduce the risks to our patients with complications, pre-diabetics, and of course for the future of the children of our Country.
I want to help work toward policies for our Ministry of Health to have a prioritized focus on nutrition because we don’t have an expert or our own nutritionist working for the Ministry.
What are your long-term goals?
My long term goals are to be a confident person to help my government make an improvement towards promoting a healthy lifestyle here in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. I see that there is not enough information provided to public to educate them on why and how to improve their diets on a daily basis. Once I earn my degree in the field of nutrition, I would like to work to enforce policies to reduce the costs on healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. This should reduce the risk factors of our patients, pre-diabetics, and everyone’s lives.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact you home community?
The great impact from the education, campaigns, and policy enforcements should lead to the community gaining an understanding of the importance of consuming 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, along with a 30 minutes exercise. If the government really enforces the policies on the retailing of the healthy food, fruits, and vegetables, then we should really be a healthy nation.
What are your hobbies/interests?
Dancing, singing, volleyball, and basketball.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition
Hometown: Tafuna, American Samoa
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
My advisor at the American Samoa Community College told me about the CHL Training Program. I was always interested health, so I decided to apply. CHL invests in helping Pacific Islanders, and I strongly believe in that.
What are your long-term goals?
I plan to continue my studies until I earn a PhD in Public Health. I believe the key to wellness is education. If we teach ourselves the ideals of healthy living, they become a part of us and those around us.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I plan to work in the Department of Health and help implement a strategic plan that would inform and educate my people about the threats of childhood obesity. I strongly believe that if we educate people enough about the importance of healthy living, and how it will impact their lives and the lives of their children in the long-run, the mortality rate of our Pacific people dying from diabetes and heart disease would significantly decrease.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I enjoy reading about history. There is something intriguing about our past, it teaches us a lot about why things are the way they are today.
Degree sought: Health Sciences
Hometown: Koror, Palau
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
Childhood obesity is increasing in Palau, and the cause of it is that the kids in Palau do not eat healthy diets or exercise regularly. The CHL training program would give me the knowledge and the experience to help change the ways of the youth of Palau.
I also saw this as an opportunity to spread my love to all of Palau. I do not want others, particularly young children, to feel the pressure that the social media shows related to the idea that “sex sells.” In other words, in order to be beautiful their clothes have to be a certain size. I wish the kids of Palau would see that it is okay not to be a size 2, and that what really matters is that a person must love him or herself enough to make a healthier change in their life. The CHL training program gives me the tools to be able to help in the initiative to reduce childhood obesity in Palau and the Pacific region.
What are your long-term goals?
I have the desire to return to Palau and help make a big change for the future generations. I do not want the kids in Palau to experience peer pressure like I did. I want parents to know and understand the emphasis of instilling healthy eating habits in their children. Once kids are exposed to such things their mentality has become accustomed to it and they do not want to change their ways. I also want kids to know the importance of practicing healthy lifestyle choices. If they recognize that being physically active and eating foods that are good for the body, they would try to put it into practice.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
With the knowledge and experience that I have acquired from the CHL training program, I would return to Palau and implement what I have learned to help change or reduce childhood obesity. I have noticed that kids that are overweight and I want to motivate the youth of Palau to be more energetic about eating healthy foods, become more physically active, and be less sedentary.
What are your hobbies / interests?
On my free time I like to read books for fun and for educational purposes. I would describe myself as somebody who tries my best in all that I want to achieve. I feel that it is important to complete any task given to the fullest of my ability. I definitely am the type of person who loves spending time with my family.
Degree sought: Masters in Public Health / University of Alaska Anchorage
Hometown: Old Harbor, Alaska
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
The CHL training program will allow me to pursue higher education in the field of Public Health to support my passion—to decrease and/or eliminate health disparities among my fellow Alaska Native people. It will support my efforts to develop culturally appropriate and effective health interventions to decrease childhood obesity among Alaska Native children. This will ensure healthy Alaska Native families for generations to come.
What are your long-term goals?
I plan to continue working in Alaska at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to support our vision that, “Alaska Natives are the Healthiest People in the World.” I will continue working in the program: Store Outside Your Door–a community driven program seeking to address food security and its connection to chronic diseases such as: diabetes and obesity. It is a program that helps links traditional foods with reinforcing the wisdom in our many cultures and languages. I hope to see this program gain traction to not only see a positive health impact on Alaska Natives, but a cultural revival of our traditional way of living.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I will continue studying the rest of my life—there is always more to learn. As for after completion of my current studies, I hope that my home community of Old Harbor, Alaska (Kodiak Island) will have a greater awareness and knowledge of how to make healthier food choices for their children to prevent childhood obesity. Since the time of historic Western contact there was a major transition of food choice that has had a generational negative health impact on our Alaska Native Peoples—it is my hope that we revive and/or continue teaching our children our traditional food diet as well as healthy non-traditional food choices to decrease childhood obesity.
What are your hobbies/interests?
I have two main hobbies—their names are Ethan and Ashlyn, my children. They are my driving force to continue what I’m doing to ensure a healthier future for them and all Alaska Native Children. They did not have the amazing experience of growing up in a rural village as I did, learning how to live off the land by doing it, and living in an environment that promoted physical activity and healthy traditional foods. We will have to revive our traditional and cultural way of life to ensure the health of our future generations.
Other general hobbies that I enjoy include: Running (in the summer-when its warm enough), Native crafts in general, cooking, hiking, photography, design, cake decorating, and harvesting traditional foods.
Degree sought: Exercise & Sport Sciences
Hometown: Yap
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
In looking at all the problems that plague many people in my country, specifically those related to obesity, I was motivated to apply for the CHL Training Program. I am motivated to take a stand against disease in an attempt to reduce, and ultimately eradicate the non-communicable diseases that have been around in my country. I am the kind of person who loves to socialize with other people, and I came to the realization that joining the CHL program would be the best choice for myself, my family, and the people of my home country, because I can help people by talking to them and teaching them the ways of living a healthy lifestyle.
What are your long-term goals?
My long-term goal is to make great contributions to my country through outreach and giving them great opportunities to see that there is another way of getting out of the “pothole” that seems to hold people down to the point that many people end up having a hard time in life, specifically due to the diseases that plague Micronesian people.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
To be honest, I am the kind of person who loves to stay outdoors and all I have in mind now is to return to Micronesia after earning my degree. I want to help the youth get into good shape so the high rate of obesity can be mitigated within my country.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I love playing basketball, wrestling, track and field, reading, spending time with my two best friends, Sabel and Yota, and having good moments with my family.
Degree sought: PhD Epidemiology / UH Manoa
Hometown: Pago Pago, American Samoa
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
The CHL program piqued my interest with their multi-facet approach to improving knowledge and health outcomes in nutrition in the Pacific. As a native Pacific Islander, the health disparities we face have escalated to a complex level that requires multi-level approach. I also like the idea of how the CHL Program recruits and trains native Pacific Island students, providing them with the knowledge and skills to return to their homelands to contribute with current efforts.
What are your long-term goals?
Upon completion of my studies, I intend to return to American Samoa and hopefully find a position that involves the continued use of the skills attained from my degree program and the CHL Training Program.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I hope to continue childhood obesity research in order to investigate more ways to combat this disease. I intend on being active within the community by advocating for an improved curriculum that implements programs that have been proven to progress the livelihood of our children.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I enjoy the outdoors: a day at the park or beach with family, long walks, a good movie, a good book. My interests include obesity research, diabetes, exploring new exciting methods for data analysis.
Degree sought: Food Science & Human Nutrition
Hometown: Yesron, Utwe, Kosrae
What drew your interest to the CHL training program?
I became interested in the CHL Training Program due to the fact that it supports the area of health in the Pacific region by promoting healthy living, and offers the opportunity to enhance students’ goals to help promote a better and healthier lifestyle.
What are your long-term goals?
I want to earn my degree in the field of Food Science and Human Nutrition, then return home to use it to help improve the health of my community and nation as a whole. I want to see the people of Kosrae to start living long, healthy lives, and to not have to deal with the non-communicable diseases that are shortening the life span of this generation.
After completing your studies, how do you hope to impact your home community?
I want to initiate an effective set of tools that will change the unhealthy lifestyle that we, the people of Kosrae, currently display, and create a lifestyle that will both benefit the young and old. I am committed to passing on my knowledge and turning it into something meaningful for the people of my island and the region.
What are your hobbies / interests?
I have two interests that complement each other: I love to cook and I love to garden. I would ultimately like to organize cooking lessons to educate the people of Kosrae about locally grown foods that are good for health. I am a good gardener and I believe that encouraging people to plant their own food will not only beautify the island but also help minimize the consumption of processed foods and improve healthy eating habits as well.