When the Compact of Free Association Treaty between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was ratified in 1987 it opened up the US borders to citizens of Micronesia. Since then there has been a steady migration of FSM citizens to the United States including large numbers of Chuukese. The largest concentration of Chuukese people live and work in Hawaii, Guam, and the US mainland. They have formed regional associations to empower themselves. Increasingly these associations have expressed the desire to help their home islands. Yet, there has not been any formal structure of community organizing and mobilization of these associations. As Compact funding continues to decrease and financial sustainability becomes a real issue, it is imperative that the Chuukese diaspora are organized and empowered to actively engage in addressing the needs back in their home islands in educational reform, preventative healthcare, community development, and economic empowerment. Our government must find ways to formally and systematically engage Chuukese citizens abroad in the various needs in their home islands.
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