The Foreign Service Journal, October 2005

6 AFSA NEWS • OCTOBER 2005 A comment from first-place winner AlisonNoll illustrates just howwell the con- test succeeds in its outreachandeducation- al goals: “While doing the research for the AFSAessay contest, I learneda tremendous amount about the many and varied roles that Foreign Service officers play within United States embassies, consulates and at the State Department headquarters. I becamemuchmore aware that diploma- cy is not just carried on between govern- ments. I learned many specific ways that ForeignServiceofficers interact closelywith all segmentsof thepopulation inthenations where they are posted. I discovered how Foreign Service officers develop working relationshipswith local businesses, NGOs, schools, women’s groups and journalists, aswell as government and lawenforcement officials. I was impressed with how Foreign Service officers function on so many levels to help our government understand the issues in each country and develop strategies to implement our gov- ernment’s foreign policy objectives.” Noll’s essay topic was “The Role of the American Foreign Service in the Battle againstHumanTrafficking.” She chose to write about human traffickingbecause, she explains, “it is a form of global crime that victimizes the most vulnerable people in society. It is present in some formin every country. I learned that our government and the Foreign Service are working diligently to prevent human trafficking throughout the world.” Noll was struck by the enor- mous reach of trafficking when she heard about the plight of a 12-year-old Egyptian girl whowas enslavedonlyblocks fromher home. Noll’s essay can be found on the AFSA Web site at www.afsa.org/essay contest/winningessay05.cfm. Foreign Service Youth Awards AlisonNoll and theother twoessaycon- test finalistswere not the only outstanding young people honored at the Youth Awards Ceremony, which was hosted by Director General W. Robert Pearson. Also honored were the winners of the Foreign Service Youth Foundation’s Una Chapman Cox Foreign Service Youth Award for Domestic Community Service and theHarryM. Jannette ForeignService YouthAward for InternationalCommunity Service, and the joint Foreign Service Institute Transition Center’s Overseas Briefing Center and FSYF Kid Vid Awards, fundedbyClements International Insurance. Thewinner of theCoxAward was Julia Lange (age 17), for her continuing service to Foreign Service teens through involve- ment in the FSYF, including work as the editor of the FSYF publication, Wings of AWAL , and for her dedication to serving others through her enthusiastic participa- tion in the FSYF community service pro- gram. The winners of the Harry M. Jannette Award for International Community Service were 13-year-oldReuben Luoma- Overstreet, forhiswork inCotonou, Benin; and16-year-oldKevinMcGrath, for labors of love in Budapest and Moscow. While learning about his temporary home coun- try, Luoma-Overstreet found that the materials in the Historic Museum of Abomey—aUNESCO-designatedworld heritage site—were entirely inFrench, lim- iting access to the information. He trans- lated all of the museum’s written materi- als into English, something the museum had long wanted to do but could not because of a lack of funding. McGrath was honored for raising funds andorganizing a project to renovate a church kitchen serving political and reli- gious émigrés in Moscow. His work in Budapestwas also recognized: immediate- ly after moving to Budapest, McGrath became deeply involved in volunteer ser- vice activities inhis school and in the com- munity. He worked in soup kitchens for the homeless, raised funds for several wor- thy projects and began an altar boy train- ing program. Also, a special certificate of appreciation was bestowed on Foreign Service teen Stuart Symington Jr. for his extraordinary commitment and leadership to his Washington, D.C.-area Foreign Service peers. The first-place winner of the Kid Vid Award—honoring ForeignService youth for the productionof videos that depict life for children and teens at posts worldwide — was Cassandra Ruggenbuck, for her video of Abu Dhabi. “The Youth Awards ceremony at the State Department was a wonderful and memorable experience for me, as well as for my mother and both grandmothers, who flew in from California,” essay win- ner Noll told AFSA News . “It was a great honor to be selected as the winning AFSA essayist and tohave theopportunity tomeet Secretaryof StateCondoleezzaRice theday before [the ceremony]. The entire expe- rience of the ceremony and the time at the StateDepartment were unforgettable.” o Essay Winners • Continued from page 1 AFSA National High School Essay Contest winners, from left: Alice Nian-en Lee, Andrew Scheineson and first-place winner Alison Noll. Jay Mallin