Back in Guam

When we are in Guam we go to the family history office, we are working on several projects. We don't want you to think that we spend all our time enjoying these beautiful islands. The projects we are working on are:

Guam vital records - it takes time to get permission to record records, there is the issue of privacy. The couple that was here before us worked on this project, so we are now following through. We have been told that all the issues of concern have been addressed and we should be able to start digitizing the records soon.

Pohnpei National Archives - 50 rolls of film were recently returned to the Archives and they were thankful that the records will be preserved. They are sending another 100 rolls of film to be digitized. After that we are going through a long list of films that they must prioritize to determine how we will continue with this project. Unfortunately, because of the humid conditions on the island and the storage area these films are in poor condition.

Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) - We are just finishing up a project that is being digitized. We are working to get it prioritized for indexing. When records are indexed each record is indexed by two people, then it is sent to arbitration. So, it does take time, so they only have so many records being indexed at any given time.

We are also working in two other islands to start (continue) the process of getting records to assist the many people whose families have lived in this area. We are learning about the history of these islands, I think I knew about Guam but did not know much about it and I knew very little about the other islands we work with. We have learned so much and truly love the people and their customs and heritage.

We all also training on being able to help people using FamilySearch, we are learning how to use Skype and Team-viewer to be able assist when calls come in for a variety of issues they are having while searching for their ancestors.