Should they become U.S. citizens and vote in local elections? How do they do that?

Why did their applications for welfare get rejected? How do they appeal such a decision?

How can they become homeowners someday?

And who can help those who don't speak English understand all these baffling forms and procedures?

"We're trying to encourage Micronesians to come to the meetings," said Manny Sound, recently elected president of Micronesians United. "They can be educated through knowing the laws, knowing their rights, or knowing how they should help other people who are ignorant of the law."

Meetings ordinarily are held at Harris United Methodist Church, although this week a larger room was secured at a Marshallese church on Kukui Street. The hope, said Sound, was to gather those with the most burning questions on government aid and to offer information on voter registration and citizenship.

The Suda family became citizens after they moved to Saipan from Chuuk, part of the Federated States of Micronesia. On Wednesday, they became eligible to vote.

Sisan I. Suda, who immigrated from Micronesia with his family, registers to vote at the Marshallese Ministry. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Sound, who is serving out his term as Chuuk lieutenant governor while seeking medical assistance in Hawai'i, agreed: Becoming vested in the politics of a country is the best way for a new ethnic population to be taken seriously.

"For one thing, we want to show that there are Micronesians who are U.S. citizens, but they never come out in the open. I know there are more, but for some reason, this is not well known to people," Sound said. "If there is an opportunity to vote for the president, it is now the time."

Citizens of the FSM are among those who are eligible for various benefits under the compact of free association between their country and the United States. So Micronesians United also invited officials from the state Department of Human Services to answer questions on welfare benefits and Medicaid's QUEST and fee-for-service programs.

The information gap, as well as the cultural divide, between state workers and the Micronesians was apparent. The leading queries arose from a basic misunderstanding over land ownership. Many welfare applicants have complained about being rejected because they indicated on application forms that they own land, Sound said.

The welfare screener assumes that the land is an asset that makes the applicant ineligible for benefits, he said. But Westerners have a basic misunderstanding about what land ownership means to Micronesians.

This is especially true in Chuuk and Yap, he said; in the other two states, Kosrae and Pohnpei, individual ownership is more common.

Chris Foster, financial assistance program administrator at the Department of Human Services, told the group that applicants then should present a letter verifying that their property interests are communally owned as a way to remain eligible for assistance.

Similar arrangements are made for many applicants from Samoa, where a clan system also exists, said Paul Higa, Medicaid policy development staff supervisor.

Everyone will acknowledge that this can be difficult. Danny Rescue, another FSM consul, told The Advertiser that some land transactions are undocumented, which means verification requires more than a week of travel to remote islands to obtain a letter from a chief.

Sometimes it's the state worker who is ill informed about procedures. Sinbad Michael, a Chuukese resident attempting to help a newer arrival over a few hurdles, told Foster a worker directed his friend to apply for Social Security benefits when Micronesian migrants are ineligible for them. Meanwhile, Michael said, his state benefits were terminated.

Often, it's the language barrier that looms as the largest obstacle. Although it might sound easy to translate a form into various languages, she said, every single change means all the forms need to be redone — a "nightmare" in a state needing translations in 20 languages.

That's why the form includes an invitation to seek free interpreting services, she said; it's printed in Chuukese and Marshallese, the most common Micronesian languages. Even when forms are translated, Foster said, people usually need an interpreter, too.

And although she acknowledged that many Micronesians feel more comfortable having a friend or relative serve as interpreter for such personal matters, Foster urged them to use one that the state has already trained to understand the forms and procedures.

She also urged the group to organize a "cultural sensitivity" training for state workers.

"The Micronesian population is very new to us," she said. "Once (staffers) know you, it's easier to work together. If you did a presentation, the next time they talk to you, they will be talking to a friend."