Pacific Partnership 2011 Shares Culture, Stories with Micronesian Children

By Airman 1st Class Haleigh Greer, Pacific Partnership 2011 Public Affairs

POHNPEI, Federated States of Micronesia (NNS) -- Members of the Pacific Partnership 2011 (PP11) team from USS Cleveland (LPD 7) participated in Pohnpei Public Library's Library Camp, in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), July 12.

"School is out for the summer, but some parents want their kids to stay active and continue learning. So they send them to library camp," said Lt. Phillip Ridley, Pacific Partnership 2011 chaplain. "Here they are learning library skills, playing sports with each other, and learning about different parts of the world. Each child gets a 'passport,' and when they finish learning about a new country, they get a sticker to show they have completed that country."

Over the course of three days, Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen, along with civilian volunteers from non-governmental organizations Project HOPE and the University of California, San Diego's Pre-Dental Society, engaged in multiple activities with the children while also taking the time to teach them about North America, this week's topic at the camp.

"I feel that it was great experience for us and the kids as well," said Lt. Melinda Garcia, PP11's supply officer. "We played soccer, did arts and crafts, read to the children individually, and at the end we all came together to read stories to the entire group. It was a fun experience."

"I think community relations projects are a great bonus on these missions," said Hanna Taylor, a registered nurse with Project HOPE. "The medical, engineering, and veterinary sites are important, but it's also nice for us to be able to interact with the local people on a personal level and show them what people in America are really like."

PP11 members also had the opportunity to work alongside Peace Corps volunteers from the U.S. as they ran the library's inaugural reading camp.

"It's nice to see a different type of government organization like the Navy," said Peace Corps volunteer Cori Jo Jahnsen. "We didn't know a lot about Pacific Partnership, and they didn't know a lot about us. But it was nice to come together to learn from one another and achieve a common goal."

The libary was constructed by U.S. Navy Seabees in the late 1970s and team of Seabees will work to refurbish it beginning in August.

FSM is the fifth and final mission port for Pacific Partnership 2011, which has completed operations in Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. In four mission ports, the Pacific Partnership team has treated more than 36,000 patients, cared for more than 1,500 animals, conducted more than 40 community service projects and completed more than 20 engineering projects.

Pacific Partnership is an annual humanitarian assistance initiative sponsored by the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Born out of the aftermath of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, Pacific Partnership began in 2006 and has gone to many countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, treated more than 240,000 patients, and continued to enhance interoperability with partner nations.