Overview
With the increasing number of Micronesians migrating to Hawai‘i, it has become evident that these migrants face many challenges after arriving in Hawai‘i including acculturating to Hawai‘ian, local, and American culture and accessing available services without losing their traditions and values.
We Are Oceania (WAO), a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity serving the Micronesian and Pacific Island communities throughout the state, is aimed at centralizing the support system for all Micronesian communities, families, and individuals in Hawai‘i. Our first project was to open a WAO one-stop Micronesian center dedicated to the development, implementation, and management of initiatives aimed at addressing various Micronesian community needs.
Who We Are
Recent Micronesian migrants face many challenges after arriving in Hawai‘i including acculturating into Hawai‘ian, local, and American culture and accessing available services without losing their traditions and values.
Our initial goal was to open a WAO one-stop Micronesian center dedicated to the development, implementation, and management of initiatives aimed at addressing various Micronesian community needs. We have since accomplished this goal and continue to serve our targeted communities.
Our mission is to empower our Micronesian community to navigate success while honoring the integrity of our diverse heritage.
Mission
We Are Oceania’s mission is to empower our Micronesian community to navigate success while honoring the integrity of our diverse heritage.
Leadership
We Are Oceania (WAO) is led by a board of directors and a Chief Executive Officer. Together, they will continue to seek community-based support and navigate the WAO initiatives with the end goal of sustainability.
Partners
We are grateful to all of our major sponsors and partners. Mahalo! Mesulang! Kinisou Chapur! Si Yu’os Ma’åse! Komol Tata! Kalahngan! Kammagar! Kulo! Sa Hagichichig! Thank you! [Learn more about our oustanding partners]
Our Name
The name, We Are Oceania (WAO), is rooted in the history of the indigenous people who navigated the vast North Pacific known today as Micronesia. They used outrigger canoes (wa‘a in Hawai‘ian), traditional way-finding knowledge, local resources, and master navigators, none more beloved in Hawai‘i than the late Papa Mau Piailug from the Micronesian island of Satawal, to navigate to and settle on their islands.
Spanning thousands of miles of open water, the Micronesian region is home to three sovereign US-affiliated island nations known as the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau (ROP).
In the biography of Tosiwo Nakayama, a key member of the Compact of Free Association nations building core team, Making Micronesia, the author, David Hanlon, describes that the late Nakayama’s expanded vision of Micronesia compares to the worldview of “Micronesia.” It is Nakayama’s indigenous vision that makes Micronesia “Macronesia” and honors the role of the ocean in that it binds these islands together rather than separates them, and provides abundant resources for these islands instead of scarcity.
WAO also means “The Canoe” in Chuukese, one of the languages of Micronesia.
Unity Anthem
Through the leadership of the Pacific Islander Student Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, the Pacific Islander students at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College have composed a fitting song, called “We Are Oceania“. “We are Oceania” appropriately communicates the hopes and aspirations of the Micronesian people in the United States to be proud of their cultural heritage and to have peace and harmony. [Listen to the Unity Anthem]