Pacific Islander America: Spokane, Washington

While our board members were posting our stories about why the P.IA. project matters to us, Spokane, Washington's Spokesman-Review published a story on that area's Marshallese population.  As we've noted in earlier posts, prominent Marshallese communities can be found in places like Salem, Oregon and Northwest Arkansas, as well as others. On more than one occasion, interviewees talked about the importance of education and how the desire for a better education motivated them to bring their families to the United States.

...Paul said the chief reason Marshallese come to the U.S. is economic incentives, "including both jobs and education... 

..."First is education. We want our children to be educated, he said.  Second is our religion.  And third, it's family.  Those are the most important...  

The article also covered efforts within the local community to get more Marshallese students into college.  Marshall Islanders, like all Pacific Islanders, are underrepresented in higher education.

The Spokesman-Review article follows an NPR story that was published last year, which also went into the area's Marshallese community to learn more about why their population is growing, and what sort of challenges they face.

Kawika

• Here's a link to the Spokesman-Review story: LINK
• Here's a link to the NPR Story: LINK
• For previous Pacific Islander American posts on Marshallese communities, click here and here