The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2004

JULY-AUGUST 2004 • AFSA NEWS 9 FOREIGN AFFAIRS DAY Honoring Volunteer Award Winners A FSA congratulates the winners of the Associates of the American Foreign ServiceWorldwide/Secretary of State's AwardforOutstandingVolunteerismAbroad. Thevolunteerawardswerecreatedin1990by Susan Baker, wife of then Secretary of State JamesA.BakerIII,andthefirstawardwasgiven inMay1991onForeignServiceDay. The2004 winnerswerehonoredduringtheopeningses- sion of Foreign Affairs Day May 7. AAFSW PresidentTerriWilliamspresentedtheawards. The 2004 winners are: • Mary Jo Amani, Guatemala City, Western Hemisphere Affairs • June Carmichael, Hanoi, East Asian and Pacific Affairs • Zina Lynch, Dakar, African Affairs • TheresaMcGallicher, Kathmandu, South Asian Affairs • Amy Sebes, Tirana, European Affairs Each of these volunteers demonstrated a remarkable commitment to their respective communities and showed that one person canmake a difference. Others whomade outstanding contributions received honor- able mention. They are: Kathleen Ahern, La Paz SandraW. Bagley, Antanarivo Jennifer Breiman, Dhaka Maxine Brinsfield, Moscow MargueriteM. Davis, Strasbourg Charlotte Davnie, Vilnius Deborah T. Delare, Bucharest Wendy Dwyer, NewDelhi MiraM. Hankins, Maputo Maria Pastrana Lujan, Mexico City Maurice R. Olfus, Port-au-Prince Angel Rivera, Panama City Elaine Saxe, Mexico City Lee-Allison Sibley, Calcutta Judy Snellgrove, Managua Karen Sprakties, Ashgabat Ron and Sheri Verdonk, Sao Paulo Patricia and DaveWilliams, Colombo Angelena Vernal Young, Ljubljana Following are summaries of the activities of the five winners. MARY JO AMANI, GUATEMALA CITY Since her arrival in Guatemala in July 2001, Mary Jo Amani demonstrated extra- ordinary compassion for disadvantaged youth, dedicating hundreds of hours to improve the quality of education and to inspire a reading culture in poor, marginal areas of Guatemala City and the country- side. Safe Passage, a Guatemalan commu- nity organization working with children liv- ing at the city dump, has benefited from Amani’s teacher-training program to devel- op aMontessori-like approach for young children. She started a children’s library and brought in trainers to conduct workshops with teachers on how to use books effective- ly. Most recently she has developed a grant proposal for the construction of a new building for Safe Passage. JUNE CARMICHAEL, HANOI Because of June Carmichael’s love of museums and 14 years in retailing, she identified a great need in the museum shops of Hanoi. She began a series of projects with the VietnamMuseumof Ethnology presenting lectures on the importance of museum shops, collaborating with the shop manager to design and locate vendors to produce a VMEmug and tote bag, and helped the museumdirector launch Vietnam’s first museummembership pro- gram. Carmichael also encouraged the director to join in the worldwide celebration of International MuseumDay and saw thousands of Vietnamese attend this special free family-activity day, raising awareness of their own rich cultural heritage. ZINA LYNCH, DAKAR Zina Lynch is involved with the House of Hope shelter for raped, abused and preg- nant girls in Senegal. She began her involvement by soliciting friends in the U.S. for clothes, linens and hygiene items. She garnered support from the U.S. Air Force in Dakar to raise funds for a new building for the House of Hope, and enlisted support fromCatholic Relief Services tomanage the fundraising account and to establish aWeb site for the shelter. Lynch is also the com- missioner of Dakar’s softball league, manag- ing and operating the concessions to raise funds for the league and playing an instru- mental role inmaking theWest Africa regional softball tournament an internation- al success. She has also worked to ensure the sustainability of the projects so that they can have a lasting impact on the communi- ties after her departure. THERESA MCGALLICHER, KATHMANDU Theresa McGallicher believes that introducing the “haves” to the “have-nots” is a sure way to improve the lives of both. As chair of the Education and Training Committee of the Active Women of Nepal, she conducted site visits to prospec- tive and ongoing programs to give out 218 scholarships and provide skills training to 64 women. She spent countless hours online seeking other sources of funding for organizations her committee couldn’t sup- port. She has raised thousands of dollars for AWON through her creative fundrais- ing efforts. In addition, she became the unofficial advocate for four orphanages, bringing them donations of books, toys and clothes, as well as bringing in other volunteers. AMY SEBES, TIRANA Amy Sebes volunteers well over 40 hours a week helping trafficking-in-persons victims. With strong determination and devotion, relentless advocacy work, an entrepreneurial mind and endless energy, she helps trafficking victims rebuild their lives. At a shelter in Tirana for trafficking victims, Sebes established the Association of Albanian Girls andWomen to teach handi- crafts, the sale of which will provide needed income. She also works to ensure the vic- tims have a voice in decisions that affect their lives and well-being. ▫ Winners of the Secretary of State’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad, from left: Zina Lynch, Amy Sebes, Mary Jo Amani and Theresa McGallicher. Not pictured: June Carmichael.