PIDP Teams with Bess Press to Donate Books to the Micronesian Resource Center One-Stop Shop (MRCOSS) in Guam

In April 2022, the team at the Micronesian Resource Center One-Stop Shop (MRCOSS) had the great pleasure to meet Dr. James Viernes during his short visit to Guam. During the meeting, Dr. James and the team discussed potential partnerships and ways to collaborate on initiatives to help communities in the Pacific region between Pacific Island Development Program (PIDP) and MRCOSS. MRCOSS is a project of Mañe’lu that provides informational and educational resources to individuals and families that migrate to Guam. All the services that MRCOSS provides are culturally and linguistically appropriate to the communities it serves. Dr. James was fascinated by this modification of MRCOSS’s services that he recommended incorporating the use of educational books from Bess Press (Hawai’i) during the weekly outreaches. With the help of Dr. James, MRCOSS received a donation of 130 units of educational books in August 2022 including:

100 copies of the island Alphabet series in various Pacific languages
15 copies of The Musubi Man’s New Friend
15 copies of There’s a Monster in My Opu

Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority – Toto Gardens (Community Center/ Library)

MRCOSS conducts weekly outreaches to neighborhoods that are identified as underserved with a potentially large population of families from the Freely Associated States (including the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia). During these weekly outreaches, MRCOSS staff provide team-building activities and interactive games with children and the youth. With the donated books, MRCOSS is hopeful to include reading and storytelling as activities in the coming months. Additionally, the books have gained some attention on social media. With that, the MRCOSS office has received requests from various people in the community to possess books in their respective languages to share with their own children in their households. MRCOSS will share photos of community members with respective books as community members send them in. There are additional books available at the Micronesian Resource Center One-Stop Shop office and in the Edimund Wengu Micronesian Learning Center (EWMLC) for children that visit the office. The books will also be in the Mobil Access to Information (MAI) Van which is the mobile office that visits various communities during weekly outreaches for the children to read and enjoy!