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What's Going On? Current MicSem Projects
(Updated January 2008)
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Performance Monitoring in FSM
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For some months now, MicSem has been collecting data on the FSM health system and education system. This project is aimed at helping FSM identify benchmarks for progress in those areas that are being funded by US Compact assistance. Clearer means of tracking progress in health and education can be very helpful to the FSM, even as it assures the US that its Compact funds are being well spent. We have been visiting the states to gather this data and are now in the final stage of passing on the information to the Graduate School of USDA, which is running the project. We will also be working with health and education officials to finalize the measures that will be selected as indicators of progress.
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Micronesian Music Collection
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MicSem is continuing to collect local music from the region. Government radio stations everywhere in the region have agreed to collaborate and are sending in their old reel-to-reel tapes to be copied in digital format. A few churches have been sending in recordings of old hymns, and we have even been able to gather a few chants and dances. Altogether we have collected 4,000 songs and chants so far–from CNMI, Guam, Palau and the Marshalls as well as from FSM.
A new Indonesian volunteer, Very Ilham, has been most helpful in teaching us how to screen out background noise and scratching. So the quality of the music will be enhanced, we hope, as it is being preserved. All music will be catalogued and archived, with support from an Endangered Archives grant through the British Library. The music will be stored on external hard drives here and will be made available to the public (provided that this doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights).
We are looking for music of all kinds, old and new, religious and popular. If you have any reel to reel tapes or cassette tapes you would like to preserve, please contact the MicSem media staff. We will be happy to digitize your old music and give you a copy on CD.
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Micronesian History Video Series
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Progress continues on the video series on the history of Micronesia that MicSem is producing. Erik Steffen, our master videographer, has completed the first two videos in this five-part series. The first in the series, “Early Encounters” (76 min) was completed last June. The second segment, “Planting the Foreign Flag” (70 min), was released in November. The third video will be released by late January, and the fourth is scheduled for May. We expect that by December 2008 the entire series will be finished.
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Micronesian Studies Textbook
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Josh Levy, a WorldTeach volunteer working at PICS, has begun work on a high school textbook on government in Micronesia. This project is funded by a grant obtained through the US Embassy to FSM. The textbook is very different from most in that it begins with an in-depth look at the type of traditional governance in three places: Chuuk, Pohnpei and Yap. From there it goes on to explore the impact of early colonial governments on the islands before examining the modern political system. The first draft of the text should be complete in April, after which it will be put out in a limited edition and tested in several schools.
Let us know if you’re interested in obtaining a sample copy of the completed textbook for use in any of the FSM high schools (or perhaps even college).
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We have been asked by the Tobacco Control Program of FSM Substance Abuse and Mental Health to produce another video on tobacco use. This one will dramatize the human cost of tobacco use on the lives of Micronesians. We are looking for stories from those who know persons or families that have suffered as a result of smoking or chewing. We are hoping to find people to interview so that we can put a real face on the damage that can be done by tobacco. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch with us at MicSem (320-4067).
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