蓝莓视频

Feeding the world

By Katy Nesbitt

Valedictorian of her 1980 high school class, Republic of Palau native Sandi Wells, 鈥�86, packed her bags, got her passport and traveled to La Grande to study business and economics.

Self-described as 鈥渨ise beyond her years鈥� and a go-getter, Wells followed her older brother to Oregon.

鈥淭here were not a lot of opportunities where I grew up, and I saw how hard my mother worked and my grandmother struggled,鈥� Wells said.

Wells attributed this attitude to Palau鈥檚 maternalistic culture. 

鈥淚n Palau it is desirable to have girls,鈥� Wells said. 鈥淭hey bring power and money into the family.鈥�

It also means that family obligations fall on the oldest female child.

After raising a family and working in banking compliance and financial regulation, Wells鈥� status as her family鈥檚 oldest daughter came into play. 

鈥淲hen my mother became older and needed more care the responsibility fell on me,鈥� she said.

Wells moved back to the Pacific Islands to nurse her aging mother and put her decades of regulatory experience to work for the National Development Bank of Palau.

鈥淭he job held a lot of responsibility,鈥� Wells said. 鈥淭he bank makes low-interest housing, business, agriculture, fishing and commercial loans to develop the nation.鈥�

Three years later, Wells鈥� mother had died and her contract with the bank had ended. She settled her mother鈥檚 affairs and returned to Oregon. While looking for regulatory work, Wells volunteered at the Milwaukie Center as a board member, raising funds to help people pay bills and receive Meals on Wheels. 

鈥淥nce I started volunteering with the Milwaukie Center and got involved with other nonprofit community-based organizations, I realized how many of my people are here that I did not know about,鈥� Wells said.

Beyond those from Palau, she has learned more about Islanders from Micronesian, Polynesian and Malaysian islands. The defines a relationship between the United States and the independent governments of the Freely Associated States of聽 Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the 1994 COFA with Republic of Palau (ROP).聽

Similar to indigenous American tribes, Wells said Islanders face barriers to health care and other services because of discrimination, language barriers, interpretation access and poverty. Through her volunteer work, she got a job helping COFA citizens living stateside sign up for the Affordable Care Act.

The named her its 2020 鈥淔ood Hero鈥� for her contributions to nutrition and community health. She was selected to chair the Multnomah Pacific Island Coalition, and helped institute the first Pacific Islander Community Health Worker (CHW) certification training. She also trained as a medical interpreter translating for Palauan native speakers. When the pandemic hit, Wells received certification as a COVID-19 contact tracer.聽

鈥淒uring the height of the pandemic from September to December I wasn鈥檛 sleeping,鈥� Wells said. 鈥淭he demand for help was incredible.鈥� 

She even coordinated with Oregon Food Bank and Rengelkel Belau of Oregon to help EOU students get food gift cards and other services while they were unable to fly back home during the pandemic. 

鈥淚鈥檓 not one to sit still and do nothing for long,鈥� Wells said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a go-getter and I like helping people.鈥�