The Foreign Service Journal, April 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2016 61 1976) and deputy chief of mission in Nicosia (1976-1978), followed by four years in the Office of Southern European Affairs, first as deputy director (1978-1979) and then direc- tor (1979-1982). He next spent two years as direc- tor of the Office of United Nations Political Affairs (1982-1984) before becom- ing U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Kiribati (formerly known as the Gil- bert Islands), a post he held from 1984 to 1987. During his three years in Suva, Ambassador Dillery derived special satisfaction from his role in administer- ing the Accelerated Impact Program. This was a small self-help program through which the embassy sup- ported various projects, most of them developed by Peace Corps Volunteers who worked with villagers to build water systems, community halls, health stations—and kitchens, which were especially popular. As Amb. Dillery explains in his ADST oral history: “In the traditional village, the kitchens were one end of the thatched roof house. They built little annexes on it with concrete slab and concrete blocks and a little stove and running water. They did a lot of that kind of thing and we provided the money for it. My wife and I got to open those projects with ceremonies, and when that happened we received the traditional ceremonial thank-you with the roasted pig and traditional dressed native dancers and cup bearers giving you the native drink, whale’s teeth as a sign of respect, etc. “It was a great experience. You will find plaques in remote Fijian villages which say that in 1986, Ambassador Dillery opened this school or water system—a nice legacy.” On his return to Washington in 1987, Amb. Dillery served as deputy director of the Office of Management Policy (1987- 1989) and the Bureau of Management and Financial Policy (1989-1992). Before retiring from the Foreign Service in 1993, he served on commissions dealing with international broadcasting and Foreign Service personnel. Giving Back Through AFSA A longtime AFSA member, Ed served on the Governing Board as retiree vice president from 1991 to 1993. He taught sev- eral AFSA-sponsored Elderhostel (now Road Scholar) courses Ambassador C. Edward Dillery, at right, gives the John and Priscilla Becker Family Scholarship to Merit Award winner Joshua Downes at the May 1, 2009, reception. AFSA President John Naland, center, congratulates Downes. AFSA/LORIDEC “He was a real professional, a devoted Foreign Service officer and a wonderful human being.” —Ambassador Raymond Ewing