MinSun

Park. Dec.2014.
SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

AIC20-SXM REPORT

By AWAM International Chapter 20 (AIC20)

Cofounder & President
Sun Park
Dec. 3rd. 2014
(Revision on Dec.15th.2014)


MinSun Park. Dec.2014.
SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION & INSPIRATION BEHIND THE AIC20-ST.MAARTEN PROJECT.

An AWAM International Chapter 20s sub chapter AIC20-St.Maarten(SXM) formed and
started initially with an amazing passion and effort of Linda Sollars and a great local support from
Mr. Andrew Rapley. Linda and Andrew (and his wife Lyn) acquainted at the JFK airport while Linda
was one of the pilots of the flight that Andrew and Lyn were on board from SXM to JFK. It all started
with a simple question from Andrew, intrigued by his wife Lyn, to Linda, Whos landing was it?
Linda responded to the question and they started sharing their aviation experiences since Andrew
was a private pilot.

As the conversation went on, Linda did not miss the opportunity to spread the mission of
AIC20 chapter- Championing womens professional growth and enrichment in the aviation
maintenance fields by providing and sharing information and increasing public awareness of
women in the industry on an international level. and, Andrew happened to know a female mechanic
who worked on his Cessna 172. Linda and the Rapleys kept in contact for few months after, and
Linda went down to St. Maarten to meet female mechanics and see the potential projects for
AIC20 And the rest is the history that you are just about to find out by reading this report. I hope
you find this report as a professional report, but also want it to be an honest and intimate report
from my heart to you.

There have been a lot of emailing back and forth especially among Linda, myself, and
Andrew in such a short period of time with such a busy schedule for each of us to make this trip
work. Even to the final step, we all had no idea how it was all going to work out. But here we are,
where there is a will, there is a way! Thankfully and obviously it all WORKED out for us, and I was
able to visit the island under AIC20 name, and come back safely without any health issues nor
liabilities issues. I am writing this report at this very fine day with a huge gratitude for
everyone who made this possible.

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE ACTUAL TRIP TO SXM.

- Arrival to SXM :
Nov. 16th. 2014. 2:00PM (Sunday)

- Departed from SXM :

Nov. 22nd. 2014. 11:00AM (Saturday)

- Method of Travels :
I used one-20,000-Jetblue-TrueBlue points
that AWAM national donated to get to SXM, and I
used one-travel-certificate from Linda Sollars with
Jetblue to come back from SXM. Taxes were put on
my personal credit card and paid in full.

- Lodging in SXM :

[From the left to right, Gwen(daughter), Lyn(wife), and Andrew.]

Couch surfing at the generous Rapleys in SXM, - Mr&Mrs Andrew and Lyn Rapley, AIC20SXM chapter members, generously opened up their home for me.


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- My Personal Impression About The Island (from a part of my personal journal that I
wrote during the visit):


I feel that Racism and sexism is very prone and deep in their root in St.Maarten.
According to my host corruption is beyond our imagination, kind of a Wild West type of
atmosphere like a lawless place. You don't need an ID to buy drink nor getting into a strip club. I
was told that by local people that even a 6 year old can drink and buy whatever they want or be told
to buy for their parents whether that is drugs or drinks. Child abuse is common. Many wives are
treated no better than a housemaid. Education system is very weak and not many opportunities for
females especially. Poverty is a big thing as well of course What can I do as a blessed individual
and as an representative of our AIC chapter?...

3. MAIN REPORT WITH DAILY BREAK DOWNS

- Reports focused on the following days : Nov. 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st.

Nov. 16th. 2014: Introduction to the Island & Meeting up with the AIC20-SXM
members.

Arrived to SXM, and went on a 172 ride with
Andrew Rapley, Mirjam and her daughter around the
island. Andrew is a local SXM member, generously paid
for three ladies on the island to be AWAM members. He
is a private pilot. Mirjam is a local AIC20-SXM member
as well.

Later on that evening, I met up with Claudette
Alexander at a local restaurant, another member of
AIC20-SXM member, an automotive mechanic, and
extremely interested in becoming a certified A&P with
her work experiences with a local A&P for the last few
years. She just did not know that she should have, and
could have kept her logbook when she worked on
airplanes.

Nov.18th. 2014 : A local radio interview

The Island Radio 92(91.9 FM) with Dj SOC.
Andrew and I both talked how and why we are involved
with AWAM and AIC20. It was a casual talk show type of
an interview. Hope many people listened to our stories
and got intrigued by it.


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SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

Nov.19th. 2014 : A local newspaper interview for a feature story

Claudette introduced me to a local free-lancing writer at the Daily Heralds. Initially, I
wanted it to be more of a AIC and AWAM story and be more of an informative article than my
personal story, but she said the articles intention is to have a special feature story about an
individual and she thought it would still be effective and inspirational to the people on the island
just to give a new perspective on women in aviation industry.


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SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.


MinSun Park. Dec.2014.
SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

Nov.20th. 2014 : Another local radio interview

The radio DJ at PJD2 radio station was a
professional interview. We did a brief pre interview for
the actual live interview. It went well great since I was
able to address most of the main things that I wanted to
say, such as the mission of AIC, mission of AWAM, and
etc.

Nov. 21st. 2014 :
#1. A meeting with the director of NIPA1 The National Institute for Professional
Advancement, Vernon Richards. & #2. Being a guest speaker at the Caribbean
International Academy2

- A meeting with the director of NIPA

I got to meet up with Mr. Vernon Richards. He was very interested in meeting with me and
discussing some potential possibilities in setting up an A&P program at NIPA. Following notes are
the things that I wrote down during the meeting.

[ Meeting with the Director of NIPA, Vernon Richards, a graduate of
Michigan tech. ]
- NIPA provides a number of vocational trainings with 4 different levels as
the last 4 years of high school grades, each level takes a year, and full
training takes 4 years. Each level includes Math, English, and even Social
skills due to a low quality of the education system within the island for the
general public. (Beside a local international academy where the children
of the upper mid to the high income families go to school.)
For example,
Math level 4 includes quadratic equations, which is appropriate to the senior year of high school I believe,
and prep for a college math 101.
level 2: need of supervision still, but possible targeted populations to introduce the A&P program
(according to Mr.Richards)
- A local high school has a sheet metal work stations, including welding, so there is a possibility to have a
partnership with that school if the NIPA decided to go for it.
- Tuition : around U.S $100 Per year, which is very affordable and inexpensive for the whole training per
year
- Issues in SXM in regarding starting an A&P course:
1.Absent of the air authority
2.Brain drain to the United States and Europe; High schoolers leave after when they get their basic
preparation at NIPA for whatever the course they took, and never come back to the island. They can
transfer to 4-year institutions in Europe or take U.S GED and go right into the U.S colleges.

1 The Director of NIPA (The National Institute for Professional Advancement) http://www.nipasxm.com
2 Caribbean International Academy. http://www.carib-international.net


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3.Curriculum differences between the Dutch education system and the U.S system, especially in aviation
related programs.
- A Bright side in starting an aviation program is that :
Even in the mainland Holland, - U.S education system is taking over and get a better recognitions (solely
according to the Director Richards). Therefore the director thinks it is very buyable to start a U.S FAA
A&P training on the island.
- Anyone wants to come down to SXM and teach at NIPA is welcome to contact him at
(Vernon_Richards@hotmail.com) Teachers requirements: at least have a B.A degree from 4 year
accredited institution, and a good English speaking, reading, and writing ability. No Dutch or French
needed. It is a paid position, about 3,000 per month, increments every year. Salary are coming from
st.Maarten local government. Work visa needed for foreigners, which can be very tricky. Very high cost of
living.]

- Being a guest speaker at a local school :

I gave a basic introductory talk in aviation, math, physics, and had a general Q&A session for
over an hour and a half to a class of 6th grades.

It went simply fantastic! I was blessed enough
to speak clearly and confidently about my knowledge,
and the participation and interests from the students
and teachers were great.

I finished the talk with an encouragement
that the students should see the field of aviation as
just another common career field that anyone with a
strong will and passion can be in, just like any other
career fields, and myself, our AIC20, and AWAM were
there to provide information as needed.

Some day, It would be awesome to see at least one of those students being in the field of
aviation in the future, and testify to people saying, When I was in 6th grade, there was a small Asian
lady who was an A&P, came to speak about aviation in my class, and I felt that If that lady can do it?
Then I CAN DO IT TOO!



[As a petite person, !
I dont get to stand in a
back row in group pictures
at all! It felt so new to me
haha. I am still shorter
than a couple of 6th grade
students Yep, thats me.]


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SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

4. One other project that AIC20 considered :

- Working on hurricane damaged airplanes in St.Maarten.

This was where we initially had to think about some legal liability issues in terms of
working on a couple of damaged N-registered airplanes in St. Maarten for SXM members to gain
experiences. But there were some complex issues that were beyond my personal ability to resolve.
So it remains still as an idea for the future members to discuss with more qualified people in this
legal and liability matter.

5. Conclusion :

I would like to wrap up my report with a bonus acquaint that I had with a local female. I
couldn't think of a better way to finish up my report.

A 28 year old female, a crewmember of a boat, she performs cleaning and house keeping
type of job that she described to me. She is from Dominican Republic, and told me that she didnt
have high school diploma, because of it, she worried that she would never be able to do any other
jobs beside the house keeping type of work. Andrew met her while he was working on a customers
boat and told her about me and AWAM. When I met her, she just wanted to know what A&P was all
about, and had general questions about the aviation career field. Shed never even heard of aviation
career field and just got very intrigued and want to know about it.

This was a somewhat tricky but very interesting meeting for me. Because of some positives
and difficulties that I am going to address;

- Positives:
The meeting with her got me thinking about creating an Initial scholarship to help a brand
new person, for example, a person who hasn't even started anything yet, but interested in starting
something, whether that is a schooling to become an A&P or doing an apprenticeship, or just want
to see what it is to be an aircraft mechanic.

99% of the scholarships that I have encountered with are either for the existing college
students who are already in aviation majors, and for the people who are already an A&P and a pilot.
Not to mention, majority of them are restricted only for U.S citizens. As I was talking to her, these
questions came to me,

- What if a person just did not even aware of the aviation career field?
- What if they dont ever get a chance to discover that they are talented in the aviation field?
- What if all they needed is just a spark that there is the whole aviation field out there?
- What if all they need is just a taste of the aviation industry for them selves or for other
people that they know in their community?

My respond to those questions was creating Aviation Tasting Scholarships, meaning, for
example, what if we start partnership with bigger manufactures (like P&W, Gulf stream, and many
others.. And airlines like JetBlue that is already working with aerospace museums I watched a
JetBlue video on my flight to SXM that JetBlue having a relationship with a museum and schools..
correct me if I watched a wrong video.) to give away a Aviation Tasting scholarship with a


MinSun Park. Dec.2014.
SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.

simple tour to their fleet lines, MX bases, training facilities and to museums and such? I think that
would be an awesome initial help with relatively with a small budget that AIC can provide while
meeting the mission of our chapter and AWAM.

- Difficulties;

I am not sure it was the culture where she was coming from, or just an impression that she
got about our job in SXM, supporting female mechanics She was kind of demanding to me and to
the AIC that it should be our primary job to provide that kind initial starter scholarships for person
with not much income and resources (direct quote from her) like her.

I was a bit surprised by it though, but with a respect, I responded to her that we are neither
a charity group nor private scholarship foundation. I explained to her again that we are a small
chapter that is just starting and primarily supporting the women with at least some experiences in
aviation already to inform them better to their next step under the U.S FAA system, Not to lead
them nor raise next leaders sort of a grand mission. I am well award of that is very important to
stick with AWAM and AICs core missions.

Please forgive me for any grammatical errors, poor word choices, and any flaws that you
have noticed. I hope this report would give you just an idea what I did in St.Maarten, what is needed
for the island, and many other places like St.Maarten. Also for what AIC20 and AWAM can/cant do
in terms of being a non-profit organization. Any feedbacks and comments are welcome.

Sun Park
Cofounder&president of AIC20
Sunparkrover@gmail.com

Special Thanks To :

Linda Sollars, This SXM project was simply impossible without her vision, and personal
& professional support. Linda, thank you so much for being a great mentor and a sincere friend, I
am honor to know you.
Andrew Rapley, AIC20-SXM chapter couldn't be formed without him. Andrew, thank you
for supporting the women in SXM by spending your own expenses and time to encourage women
in SXM. We need more men like you who support women.
Ryan Cummings, my husband, who is the biggest supporter in my life, Cheerfully and
willingly he allowed me to leave home, and stayed back in cold Michigan for two weeks alone and
prayed for my safety and for a success of the trip. Thank you my love.
Jenny Gracia who picked me up from JFK and provided an accommodation for an over
night layover and dropped me off back at the JFK in the next morning despite of her busy
schedule.


MinSun Park. Dec.2014.
SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright MinSun Park (Sun Park). Dec.2014. SXM Report.Pub.Ver. All rights reserved.
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Risks, uncertainties and assumptions mentioned above include, but are not limited to;
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The information contained in this report is referred to therein include information
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