Intern Highlight - Jennifer Kim

W-CAP is excited to welcome one of our newest interns Jennifer Kim.  Jennifer is originally from Suwon, Korea and is currently attending Brigham Young University (BYU) where she is studying accounting and working towards a double minor in Korean and Nonprofit management.  While she is hoping to someday work with an accounting firm, her ultimate goal is to work for a nonprofit that helps women/children to see their potential and to assist them in achieving their goals and dreams in life.  

“After a few weeks in American Samoa, my life has been changed. It is my privilege to work with such humble and grateful people. I know that I have given so much through other people, and I have always had a desire to give back to the world. Therefore, this experience brings me the satisfaction of giving back what I have received and am receiving. I love seeing smiles on people’s faces. I love seeing people laughing and being happy. I love the grateful spirits of these humble people. They may seem like they don’t have much material wise, but their hearts are bigger than most of us.”

This is what Jennifer said when we asked her what she thought about W-CAP

“It is great to see an organization that is trying to motivate and inform women and children to have a better lifestyle through different educational events. W-CAP is not only assisting unemployed women to create their own jobs through micro-enterprise training courses and micro-loan program, but also providing educational information about nutrition, hygiene, and other necessary topics in simple and fun ways.”    

Thank you Jennifer, for volunteering your time as an intern with W-CAP!

Staff Highlight - Brooke Gurr

We would like to welcome our newest staff member and gardening facilitator Brooke Gurr.  Brooke has recently settled in American Samoa with family and we are thrilled to have her and her extensive knowledge and skills. Most recently she was involved in creating a student farm at University of Hawaii-Manoa, called SOFT (Sustainable and Organic Farm Training) Student Farm.  She also organized volunteers to start a First Grader Garden at Noelani School  in Manoa, Oahu. 

Brooke is originally from Maine and she loves gardening and nutritious eating so she's a great addition to our program.

Thanks, Brooke, for making W-CAP a part of your life!

Staff Highlight - Melinda

Melinda is the Assistant Director of W-CAP and does all the technical recordings of the the puppet shows.  Melinda, along with her husband and talented children, provide the voices for the English recordings of the original puppet shows. Melinda is a woman of many talents. She is a gifted musician (piano, ukulele, etc.) helping with the musical creations and recordings for the puppet shows. Melinda is a creative seamstress who has taught the W-CAP staff sewing and as a wonderful creative writer and teacher she has provided great input to our educational curriculum. 

Melinda has lived in American Samoa for nearly 4 years and loves the island life. She teaches school full time and is due with her fourth child any time.  Her husband Ephraim is employed by University of Hawaii and he runs the Sea Grant extension program which has actively been involved with W-CAP as well.