This week we learn more about Ongly Remengesau a Palauan scholar who hopes to combat deadly noncommunicable diseases on her island armed with the knowledge she’s gained in her studies on agriculture and cooperatives.

Ongly Remengesau never intended to move to Ireland. 

But a master’s program offered at the University College Cork, fully funded by the Ireland Fellows Programme, and the chance to take what she learned to benefit her fellow Palauans was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. 

“What intrigued me was the one year in length master’s programme and specifically on the subject area of cooperatives, and so this is how I found myself in Ireland,” Ongly tells The Husk. 

Ongly, known more formally as Jodean Deprise Ongelibel Remengesau, is doing an MSc in Co-Operatives, Agri-Food and Sustainable Development at the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. 

As an undergrad, Ongly studied agribusiness at the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan. Also around this time, she changed the way she ate, opting for more plant-based foods and eating more vegetarian dishes. In Taiwan, vegetarian dishes are generally more prevalent.

“You see, the Taiwanese cuisine makes it easy to go full vegetarian. No-meat Mondays and Thursdays practiced by Taoists is commonplace in Taiwan,” Ongly said. “And on every food street are vegetarian food establishments to cater to that.”

She would take photos of her meals, noticing her plates were vibrant displays of colorful fruits and vegetables. They made for great photos but they also made her think. 

“I was also starting to take notice of the lack of variety, less than colourful dishes back home,” Ongly recalled. 

“Home” for her is Palau. Ongly is 28 and was born and raised in Koror. 

“Where there is just an abundance of access to the sea. So many fond memories of swimming-I remember going to Catholic school and there’d be a lot of holy days when we’d only attend Mass in the morning then have the rest of the day off. After Mass, we’d walk down to the nearest dock and go swimming or we’d meet up later with our bikes to go swimming,” she said. 

With the Rock Islands a boat ride away, Ongly said she spent many days enjoying meals with her family on those scenic shores.

Ongly is named after her great grandmother, who lived to be over 100 years old, and who Ongly remembered as a child. 

Growing up, Ongly was part of a traditional dance group and traveled to different countries to perform. She was exposed to cultures from around the world. At a Taiwan dance festival, Ongly recalled one particular group, the Māori from New Zealand, capturing her interest. As she learned more about the indigenous people of New Zealand, she vowed to one day visit their land.

The desire to visit New Zealand stayed with Ongly, in the back of her mind. She moved on to high school and studied in the U.S. doing well at school. School, Ongly said, has always been something at which she excelled. 

As a citizen of Palau, Ongly was eligible for U.S. financial aid and she intended to use that to help her further her studies but a confused immigration officer processing her through the Philippines stamped her passport without the I-94 visa code.

It proved to be a fateful mistake. 

“So though I did well in high school I was ineligible for any financial aid without that I-94. Our Palau Ambassador to the US informed my parents that it would take another year to apply for a new one,” Ongly said. “My parents, afraid that I might take a part-time job and enjoy earning my own money and (choose) to work more and postpone college, thought it best that I return home.”

Even as she completed her undergraduate degree in Taiwan, Ongly’s wish to visit the land of Māori stayed with her. She looked into a work experience program when, on the radio, she heard the Palau ambassador to the United Nations on the radio speaking about an opportunity for Palauans to work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Ongly decided to apply for the position.

“Even as I was applying didn’t hit me that this far-off land of Europe actually was becoming my reality,” she said. 

As fortune would have it, Ongly’s application put her at the top of the list of candidates, and instead of adventuring in New Zealand, she found herself in Rome working under the supervision of a woman from Ireland at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

This connection would become key. It was through this work that Ongly found out about Ireland’s program helping small island developing nations (or SIDS), which then led her to apply for the Ireland Fellows Programme. 

“I had concluded that after returning home from FAO and working in the public sector that cooperatives might be a more suitable business model for island communities of which I want to return to live in and help uplift my people,” she said.

The cooperative model is based on a community approach, which Ongly said is more in line with islanders’ way of life. 

“It is also within our makeup and in daily cultural practice to share your harvest or catch (with) your relatives and especially the elderly without the means to fish and farm,” she said.  “Island communities, especially those who are most affected by climate change, are still very much reliant on moving as a unit, as a community in sharing and delegating roles and responsibilities. I truly believe cooperatives still make sense for Palau.”

Noncommunicable diseases are the single largest cause of premature death in the Pacific Islands, according to the World Health Organization. Which is to say, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases have killed too many islanders too early. 

“I truly believe that solutions lie within us and the social networks and the community spirit will take us there,” Ongly said. 

When she completes her master’s program, Ongly has her sights set on returning home and helping the community. 

To reach Ongly, email her at ongly1@icloud.com.

Thank you to Ongly for sharing her journey! I had never heard of the Ireland Fellows Programme or cooperatives but enjoyed learning about it through Ongly. I can’t thank you enough. 

Thank you for reading. If you liked this, consider subscribing to The Husk. You’ll get weekly stories about Micronesian makers, creators, and professionals sent to your inbox for free. Do you know a Micronesian we should write about? Email thehusk@substack.com.

Share this post by clicking the button below.

Share