The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

JULY-AUGUST 2003 • AFSA NEWS 9 FOREIGN AFFAIRS DAY Secretary of State’s Volunteer Awards A FSA congratulates the winners of the Associates of the American Foreign ServiceWorldwide/Secretary of State’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. The winners were presented with their awards bySecretaryof State Colin Powell during Foreign Affairs Day on May 9. The volunteer winners demonstrated a remarkable commitment to their respective communities and showed that one person can make a differ- ence. The awards were created in 1990 by Susan Baker (wife of for- mer Secretary of State James A. Baker III), whowas impressedby the outstanding volunteer service performedby Foreign Service families abroad and who wanted to ensure that it was recognized. The 2003 winners, by bureau, are: African Affairs: Christopher P. “Norman” Bates, Dakar East Asian and Pacific Affairs: Frank J. Weicks, ChiangMai European and Eurasian Affairs: Anne C. Bridgman, Prague South Asian Affairs: Karie Ennis, NewDelhi Western Hemisphere Affairs: Kristine Luoma-Overstreet, Merida CHRISTOPHER PAUL “NORMAN” BATES, DAKAR: An informa- tion management specialist, Norman Bates solicited sporting equipment frommanufacturers and secured hundreds of dollars worth of balls, bats and gloves for poor Senegalese children. He also organized events for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament. FRANK J. WEICKS, CHIANG MAI: During his five years with the DEA in Chiang Mai, Frank Weicks supported a fledgling foster care program at a government orphanage by organizing a gala dinner and auction that raised an unprecedented $10,000. He served as vice chairman for the Foundation for the Education of Rural Children. He led fundraising efforts to build a preschool in a remote Karen hill tribe village, to supplement basic education with music and field trips and to provide volunteer medical pro- fessionals for routine health care. He also wrote grants to Rotary International to match retired teachers from the U.S. with com- munities in Thailand and to aid infants with poor vision. ANNE C. BRIDGMAN, PRAGUE: Anne Bridgman helped organize the Green Tree Early Learning Center for preschoolers making it affordable for embassy families. She wrote the book Prague for Kids , which provides a wealth of information in English for Prague’s non-Czech speaking population and generates profits for Volunteer Award winners at the May 9 ceremony. Left to right: Frank J. Weicks; Christopher Paul “Norman” Bates; Kristine Luoma-Overstreet and Karie Ennis. AFSA Active-Duty Achievement Award Cecile Shea A s AFSA representative at Embassy Tel Aviv, Cecile Shea has been tire- less in her advocacy on behalf of embassy employees. Her term in Tel Aviv has coincided with a period of extreme tension in Israel: suicide bombs have been frequent in residential neighborhoods and the intifada has reached all corners of the country. Issues of safety and security have been paramount in the minds of members of the Foreign Service community in Israel, and they have relied on AFSA Representative Shea to represent themwith embassy management. Their trust was well placed. When the U.S. was getting ready to go to war with Iraq and the State Department and post management were considering whether to authorize an evacuation, Shea ensured that the concerns of employees and of AFSAwere heard. Her representation was effec- tive, and evacuation was authorized. She also worked with post management on a number of morale- boosting measures. These included successfully advocating for a sec- ond R&R for employees on the grounds that they needed to get away from the constant stress of life in Israel and that they needed to visit family and friends who were not comfortable coming to Israel to see them. This issue was of special concern for non-custodial parents. Shea also pushed for a danger pay allowance for employees, which was established. She also enlisted AFSA’s help to correct a long- standing error in the calculation of Thrift Savings Plan payments to a class of diplomatic security agents. Shea’s work to ensure that the evacuation policy taken during the 1991 Gulf War—no evacuation was implemented—was not repeated in the 2003 IraqWar, and her other employee morale- building efforts had a positive impact on the whole mission. Employees were confident that their interests were being taken into consideration. As Shea moves on to another assignment, her advo- cacy has left a legacy. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are seen as posts that take employee concerns seriously. This should help keep these cru- cial posts fully staffed. Cecile Shea and ARSOs Tony Neves and Laura Williams survey the damage at the site of a suicide bombing near the embassy. PAUL KOCSAK Continued on page 13