Wa’agey is a community-based organization that uses traditional skills to confront the social, economic and environmental challenges faced by the people of Micronesia’s most remote outer islands.
We pursue the preservation of native technologies and arts, both to protect our distinctive Outer Island identity, and to solve specific problems relating to import dependency, urbanization, climate change, and unemployment.
Wa’agey organizes the efforts of volunteers to pass specialized local knowledge from community elders to young people. Traditionally, this occurred as a matter of cultural and familial course in the Outer Islands that span from Yap Proper to Chuuk Lagoon. Today, with the introduction of the cash economy, and a surge in emigration to urban centers, continuation of such instruction must be deliberate. Ongoing Waa’gey projects include canoe carving, traditional navigation instruction, handicraft production, and specialized weaving.
Waagey also supports the efforts of others working in or for the Outer Island Community. Waa’gey has ongoing partnerships with foreign development agencies and international non-profits, as well as local clubs, schools and organizations. Collaborations include WeavingConnections, a project to preserve and sustain traditional textile weaving practiced in the western Caroline Islands.
Contact us at larry@waagey.org
One way to help is by donating to Habele, a US nonprofit established by former Peace Corps Volunteers that has supported Waa’gey since it’s inception in 2012.