Reponses to the website
from the community
Since starting this project five years ago we have received consistent support from the communities we hoped to connect with. Here are a sample of the correspondence sent to us via email, our Contact Us form, and through Grant surveys.
The stories and comments you sent are so powerful!  Over the years I have often wondered about the impact that PCV make in people’s lives. I know my service definitely had an impact on me but it is so hard to measure impact on others—these comments are so heartening.  Last month I got a call from Jovita Maratita Taimano.  I didn’t recognize her name when she called but she told me that she had been one of my students in the 5th grade on Rota.  She went on to college in Guam, got her Master’s degree and went on to become a principal on Rota. She called to thank me for making a difference in her life in terms of math and social studies—wow I was just blown away!
 
- Robert J. Bartolotta (Peace Corps Micro IX)
[July 17th, 2019]
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...I'm so thankful to you for sharing all those wonderful pictures of Rota and especially the students and teachers at the school.  As you recall, we were so poor we couldn't afford the luxury of buying cameras and taking pictures.  It was God's blessings that we had a team of PCVs like you who brought these technology at that time and were able to document the island and the people of Rota who were slowly rebuilding their lives from the wrath of WWII and transitioning from a Japanese administration to the US administration.…

- Anthony Calvo
[April 7th, 2018]
…I find myself regarding you with deep affection for a single picture shared with me from your collection, that of a small young girl from Rota who happens to be my mom. You don’t know how much you have given me in a single photo. I can now picture her in all her stories as a young girl growing up in Rota and Guam (for school). I will write more soon, but I needed to reach out to you immediately and give you a warm digital hug for this gift! Si Yu’us Ma’ase!!!

- Rachel Taimanao-Ayuyu
[March 3rd, 2018]
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Selected Comments from KPV Advisory Group​
[2018]

  • “Thank you for your email and for sharing this with me. I had a chance to go over some of the sections of the site and was very impressed with all the artifacts that have been digitized so far. I would definitely want to assist in any way I can. I work for the CNMI Public School System's Office of Curriculum and Instruction. I found many of the documents related to our programs in Social Studies, NMI History and even our Chamorro and Carolinian Language Heritage Studies to be valuable in the work that we do. I am not sure how I can be of service, but please let me know. I will be more than happy to share this with my colleagues and my supervisor as well. Thank you again!”
 
  • “Please keep me updated with your project and do not hesitate to contact me if you need further assistance. The website for your collection looks great and the organization is very user-friendly! Although I was not even a blip on the radar at the time of most of the photographs, it was really fascinating to see Saipan and Tinian in the 1960s and 1970s and to compare those views with what it looks like now.”
 
  • “WOW I love the collection and have actually been looking for this kind of material for the current immersion program that is in need of literature in Chamorro AND we wanted the OLD stuff to be reprinted.... SO if this is digitized.... how do we get permission to REPRINT so we can give our families books that they can use in their homes?  It is so important that kids can take books home.”
 
  • “I am sharing the info with the new Immersion program that is in its second year.  I have been asking around for old materials and the only people who seemed to know anything are the people at the library.  PSS institutional knowledge of these items is hard to find =)”
 
  • “I was reading update #1 and I couldn't help myself but to write a short note…. Second, I wanted to kindly ask if you recall a man named Misael Hocog Ogo during your presence on Rota. He was my father and I would like to know little bit more about him. Do you have pictures of him? What did you recall about him? He was always traveling as a district representative, I heard, during those time. I appreciate your help”
 
  • “Thanks for reaching out to our office…. Please note that I surely do value archived documentations as it provides me references and guidance to the importance of our mission.”
 
  • “Thank you so much for your email. It would be an honor to help you with this project as you and your contribution through your work are valuable historical resources for our islands. I will go over the website and updates and provide any feedback that come time mind in the next few days.”
 
  • “Wow, Mrs. Porter, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you kindly for sharing and including me to this Collection of Crucial Documents and Very, very, Informational site.  I'm looking and navigating through it now.  I'll let you know of what may be missing or could and should be included on my review.  I don't think I'll ever be done, it is so rich a lot to absorb.” 
 
  • “This is a great collection of our history. Please give me more information of what the next steps are.“