Peace Corps Polyglot

Peace Corps honors 2008 Franklin H. Williams Award Winners

On June 19th the Peace Corps held the 2008 Franklin H. Williams Awards to honor returned Peace Corps Volunteers of color who continue the Peace Corps mission through their commitment to community service and who support the agency's Third Goal of promoting a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Eleven RPCV's who have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities were recognized at the ceremony.

The Franklin Awards, established in 1999, are named for former Peace Corps regional director for Africa and U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Franklin H. Williams. Williams worked alongside Sargent Shriver to establish the Peace Corps and was the first and highest ranking African American in the agency. He was committed to inclusiveness and envisioned that the Peace Corps would reflect the diversity of America. Williams remained dedicated to international development work and the goals of the Peace Corps long after his time with the agency. Peace Corps director Ron Tschetter stated, "named for Ambassador Franklin H. Williams, this award pays tribute to his legacy. Mr. Williams' service to his country, both foreign and domestic, is a beacon we may all follow throughout our lives."

W. Frank Fountain (India 66-68), the 2008 Peace Corps Director's Award honoree, spoke at the ceremony. Fountain is the senior vice president of external affairs and public policy at Chrysler LLC, and is the highest ranking African-American at the company. He also serves as president of The Chrysler Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports the company's leadership in corporate social responsibility for the U.S. and globally. In his remarks Fountain talked about the importance of an expanded Peace Corps.

The 2008 Franklin H. Williams Award recipients are: Maria Pearson Shockley (Namibia 02-04), George Rutherford (Zaire 88-91), Ella M. Phillips Lacey (Malawi 95-97), D. Jorge Urbina (Cote D'Ivoire 70-72), Ginny A. Lee (Zambia 03-04), Mark H. Lewis (Nicaragua 93-95), Tina Chan Sweenie (Niger 97-99), Gloria Watkins (South Africa 03-06), Linda Fujikawa (76-78), Lillian D. Benjamin (Cote D'Ivoire 2002), and LaHoma Smith Romocki (Central African Republic 80-82).

To read more in depth descriptions of the honorees click here.

Update: "One Person Can Make a Difference"

Almost as soon we posted about the search for Thailand RPCV Rebecca Pherin, she was "found." It turns out that my colleague David Arnold has been in touch with her for several years and will write a story about her and Sompop in the Spring issue of WorldView magazine. 

In the wake of the daisy chain of RPCV connections, Rebecca wrote David:

"I have read the Wallenberg Medal website. It is clear from that information that Sompop is in exactly the right company alongside the Dalai Lama, Paul Ruseabagina and others ... right up there next to the Nobel laureates (for which he was, BTW, re-nominated this year by my congressman). The kudos ALL go to Pop. HE is the one - not me - going from family to family year after year with reasons why they should not sell their daughters. HE is the one - not me - who has all the children's safety on his mind and heart 24/7/365 ... x 18 years. My other students had much the same encouragement from me as Pop did, but it was he especially who decided on and set out to do this purposeful thing with his life. This is Pop's story and is exemplary of the kind of change that Peace Corps hopes for when it places volunteers around the world. That's how I see it."

"One Person Can Make a Difference"

Critics of the Peace Corps sometimes carp that volunteers don't do much in the way of lasting development.  "What do we have to show for 45 years of sending Americans overseas?" they ask. 

Well, here's a story that points to the value...and values... of Peace Corps service. 

This letter made its way to the NPCA, and is addressed to Carolyn Nickels, leader of the Friends of Thailand affiliate group.

Ms. Nickels,

I am chair of the University of Michigan's Wallenberg Committee.  The Committee oversees the award of the annual Wallenberg Medal ( http://www.wallenberg.umich.edu/medal.html).   This award was established in 1985 to commemorate Michigan alumnus Raoul Wallenberg who, as a Swedish diplomat during World War II, engineered the rescue of tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis in Hungary.  The Medal recognizes outstanding humanitarians whose courage calls to mind Wallenberg's extraordinary values and accomplishments.  Past recipients have included Elie Wiesel, the Dalai Lama, Congressman John Lewis, and Paul Rusesabagina, the Rwandan hotel-keeper who rescued many hundreds of Rwandans during the 1994 genocide.   

This year the Committee has selected Sompop Jantraka to receive the Wallenberg Medal.  Starting in the late '80s, Sompop began working to rescue young girls from being trafficked to Thailand's sex trade, and established the Development and Education Programme for Daughters and Communities in Chiang Rae.  He resigned as director this past spring, and has embarked on an effort to address trafficking of young girls in the broader regions of the Mekong basin, including Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province.  The organization ( http://www.depdc.org/index.htm), with support from Canada and several European governments and NGOs, is continuing to do very important work.

We noticed in an article that appeared about Sompop in Time Asia, that he attributed his start to a Peace Corps volunteer named Rebecca Pherin, who he met in Surat Thani.  He says that she gave him two gifts:  the chance to get an education and the sense that he could do something with his life. They may have met in the 1970s or early 1980s.  The Committee would very much like to find Ms. Pherin who, like Sompop, exemplifies the inscription on the Wallenberg Medal:  "One Person Can Make a Difference." We would appreciate it greatly if you or some of your colleagues in the Friends of Thailand might know how we might find her.

Many thanks for your assistance,

John Godfrey

Former Peace Corps Volunteer and Environmental Justice Activist Receives Top Leadership Honor

"There is a small village in Africa that I go to many times a day in my heart and in my mind. It's where I lived and worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, it's where I got the perspective and understanding that is so vital to my work today."

For more than eight years, Anne Rolfes (Togo 91-93), founder of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) has worked with residents in Louisiana to mitigate the impact of polluted air and contaminated soil.  Members of the Bucket Brigade have learned to collect and test soil and air samples and amass data that clearly illustrate the link between the foul substances and myriad health problems suffered by residents in the surrounding areas.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is honoring Rolfes for her leadership and advocacy in environmental health.  She is one of 10 outstanding individuals from across America to receive the Foundation’s 2007 Community Health Leaders (CHL) award. Each CHL receives $105,000 to further the work of their program and a $20,000 personal award.

Under Rolfes’ direction the LABB developed the largest collection of community gathered air samples in the U.S. and documented hundreds of violations of state and federal air quality standards. Rolfes, a former Peace Corps volunteer, enlisted the aid of a physician and researchers to develop a low cost  community-friendly survey to document the health symptoms and unequivocal evidence of the connection between the contamination and pollution and the health of the people who live in the areas surrounding the facilities.

Now Rolfes and the residents advocate for pollution control, health protections and fair compensation for contaminated properties so that residents can relocate from the affected neighborhoods and communities, most of which pre-date the existence of the plants and offending facilities.

Rolfes’ environmental health advocacy began in Nigeria, where she documented the environmental and health destruction of the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. Her work with Ogoni refugees resulted in their resettlement from refugee camps and their destroyed environment.

“It is tremendously exciting to meet Anne Rolfes and learn about her work,” says Janice Ford Griffin, Community Health Leaders director.  “Anne’s work is an example of the many efforts underway in communities throughout the nation to take action to address their own problems by creating new approaches and solutions, and demanding changes in outdated systems and institutions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders are the vanguard for assuring quality health for all citizens.”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders awards $1.25 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to improve health and health care at the community level.  Rolfes and other awardees for 2007 were honored at an event on October 3 in Washington, D.C.

Since 1992, the program has distributed 150 awards in 47 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. Those chosen are nominated by civic leaders, health professionals, government representatives, and others inspired by their efforts to provide essential health services to their communities.  This year’s award winners come from urban and rural areas of California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, New York and Puerto Rico.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008-09 Community Health Leaders.  Visit www.communityhealthleaders.org for more information.