J. KIRBY SIMON FOREIGN SERVICE TRUST
GRANTS AWARDED IN 2003
The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is a charitable fund established
in the memory of Kirby Simon, a Foreign Service Officer who died in 1995
while serving in Taiwan.
The Trust is committed to expanding the opportunities for professional and
community service and personal well-being of active Foreign Service Officers
and Specialists and their families. The Trust has been funded with contributions
from Kirby Simon's colleagues, friends and relatives and other persons interested
in the purposes of the Trust. The Trustees are present or former members
of the Foreign Service - State Department community and Kirby Simon's parents.
In the Fall of 2002, following the pattern established in the six previous
years, the Trust invited proposals for the support, in 2003, of projects initiated
and carried out by Foreign Service personnel or members of their families, or
by other U.S. Government employees employed at American diplomatic posts abroad.
In response to this invitation, the Trust received 38 proposals for projects
based in 31 countries. The very modest size of the Trust permitted funding
of only 27 of the proposals – and, in many cases, at less than the requested
levels. The 27 approved grants range in amount from $600 to $5000, for a total
of $60,020, allocated to projects in 23 countries. One of these projects could
not be implemented because of a reassignment of the Foreign Service applicant
and the simultaneous relocation of the host country project sponsor.
The following pages describe the 26 projects that received grants in 2003.
(Material in quotation marks comes from the texts of the proposals received
by the Trust.)
Bolivia
– La Paz:
Furnishings and a paint job for three preschool classrooms for orphaned and
abandoned children, a project coordinated by Maria Antonieta Romera, spouse
of the Assistant Country Attaché for the Drug Enforcement Administration, based
at the Embassy.
Located in the south zone of La Paz, Hogar Virgen de Fatima (Our Lady of
Fatima Home) is a state-run center for orphans and abandoned children up to
eight years of age. Para los Ninos (PLN)
is a non-profit volunteer organization drawn from the local and international
communities that provides services, materials and funds to promote the physical
and emotional well-being of the children served by the Hogar. In 2002 the
Trust supported the repair of the pre-kindergarten classrooms. These rooms,
however, lack the furnishings – child-size kitchen centers, puppet centers
and new book stands – that "promote sociodramatic play and encourage
literacy." New area rugs and repainting are also needed. Working with
PLN, Ms. Romera (a longtime PLN volunteer with her husband) is arranging for
these enhancements of the pre-school classrooms. The Trust's 2003 grant finances
these improvements.
Brazil
– Sao Paulo:
Beds and mattresses, repair and registration of a van and recreational facilities
for a center for abandoned, neglected and abused children – under the supervision
of Ronald Verdonk, Director, U.S. Agricultural Trade Office at the Consulate
General in Sao Paulo.
The Casa do Meno Carente de Cipo (CIPO) in Sao
Paulo cares for 26 boys ranging in age from four to
eighteen. Some are orphans; all are children of hardship, victims of violence,
abandonment, or forced prostitution, and all were sent to the CIPO by the
courts "as a result of parental neglect, abuse and desertion."
CIPO’s shoestring budget provides shelter and food, but little else. The
bunk beds on which the children sleep (sometimes two to a bunk) are rickety,
and the old mattresses are worn; a donated 1982 van needs tires and registration
to transport children and pick up large donations of food or materials; in
addition the recreational area lacks a hard (cement) base and athletic accessories.
Under Mr. Verdonk's supervision and with Trust funding, CIPO will replace
beds and mattresses, repair and register the van, lay a concrete area on the
CIPO grounds for basketball, soccer and volleyball, and acquire athletic materials.
Bulgaria
– Dragalevtsi: Equipment and staffing for a psychological and physical
therapy program at the Dragalevtsi Orphanage – a project organized by Michael
Phillips, Human Resources Officer at the Embassy in Sofia,
and his wife, Bonnie Carlson-Phillips.
The Dragalevtsi Orphanage serves the needs of approximately 60 children between
the ages of three and eight. The children, whose parents are unable to care
for them as a result of alcohol or drug addiction, economic hardship, or abusive
behavior, arrive at the orphanage with physical and emotional needs requiring
specific care. While the orphanage has a psychiatrist, it does not have a
budget for the equipment required for physical and emotional therapy and cannot
afford to retain a physical therapist. The Trust is providing funds for the
equipment and for the services of a physical therapist for one year. Mr.
Phillips and Ms. Carlson-Phillips will purchase and set up the equipment,
recruit the physical therapist and guide the implementation of the program.
Burkina
Faso
– Ouagadougou:
Roofing, storage and general supplies for a women’s papermaking cooperative
– a projected monitored by Elizabeth M. Bailey, a Foreign Service Officer at
the Embassy.
With a per capita income of $239, Burkina Faso ranks
as one of the world’s poorest countries. Economic opportunities are particularly
elusive for women, the result of a high illiteracy rate (86%) and a culture
that expects women to pursue "traditional" roles. Papiers du Sahel
is a women’s papermaking cooperative that emerged from an effort by two expatriate
women to provide nutritional assistance to children. Today, the cooperative
employs twenty women who, working on a porch in an outdoor courtyard, make
greeting cards, photo albums and writing paper. Revenues from the cooperative
are insufficient to cover more than the women’s wages, leaving the program
in desperate need of basic materials, especially a roof to provide protection
for the papermaking materials during the rainy season. Under the supervision
of Ms. Bailey and with funds from the Trust, Papiers du Sahel will acquire
a roof, storage chests, a medicine chest and general supplies for the cooperative.
Colombia
– Bogotá: Clothing and other personal items for abandoned children
with cerebral palsy housed at a rehabilitation home – a project conducted by
six Foreign Service Officers at the Embassy: Jennifer Bartsch, Clayton Bond,
Michael Flores, Mark Rincón, Mark Stamilio and Kristin Stewart.
"In this country, torn by guerilla strife and terrorism, providing hope
for children becomes even more important, as they are the future of Colombia." The IDAFE Institute
is a private organization founded in 1964 dedicated to the rehabilitation
of children with cerebral palsy. Abandoned children housed at the Institute
are assisted by the Nuevas Generaciones Rotary Club in Bogotá. As a result
of their involvement in the Rotary, the six Foreign Service Officers named
above have become actively engaged in assisting the children at the Institute;
the FSOs are also overseeing the purchase of clothing, linens, diapers and
other items for the children, with funds provided by the Trust.
Colombia
– Bogotá: A protective wall
to enclose a home for orphans, abused and neglected children – a project supervised
by Mary Ellen Keen, Consular Assistant at the Embassy.
Forty years of armed insurgency and drug trade bloodshed have made Colombia
one of the world’s most dangerous places to live. Hogar San Mauricio is a
home for orphans who have been abused and abandoned. The home, established
in 1981, currently shelters 150 children, providing temporary housing for
adoptable children as well as a day care center for 75 toddlers from the immediate
neighborhood. The Hogar is located on seven acres of semi-urban land and
is walled on three sides. A hillside on the fourth side is thought to be
the site either of gangs and criminal groups active in the area or of guerilla
and paramilitary forces threatening nearby military and police targets. The
vulnerability of the home to violence from these sources has led the staff
to conclude that the home should be enclosed through the construction of a
fourth wall. Government funds are not available for this purpose; the Trust
is defraying the construction expenses. Ms. Keen will work closely with the
general director of the Hogar to contract the work, monitor progress, and
ensure timely completion.
El Salvador – San Salvador: A library, story
hours and tutoring for an orphanage – a project administered by Nancy L. Hoffman,
Foreign Service Officer, Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for International
Development Mission at the Embassy.
More than 30,000 Salvadoran children "are born each year without a father
being named on the birth certificate." Dire economic conditions force
the mothers of thousands of these children to abandon them. La Casa de Mi
Padre (My Father’s House) is an orphanage in San Salvador, founded by
Ms. Hoffman and other American volunteers, which houses and cares for 45 of
these children, with plans to increase its reach to 200 children. The educational
objectives of the orphanage are hampered by the lack of a library. (Nor is
there any public library in El Salvador.) With Trust funding
for construction, books, a computer and educational games, Ms. Hoffman will
oversee the creation and operation of a library in the orphanage and arrange
for story hours and a volunteer tutoring program.
Ghana
– Aboasa: Furniture and books for a rural school library – a project
organized by Commander William O. Rogers, M.D., Ph.D., Program Head of a U.S.
Naval Medical Research program in Ghana.
In Aboasa, a remote farming village of 4,000 people in the hilly country
southeast of Lake Volta,
few children pursue education beyond elementary school, and the average income
is less than 25 cents per day. Recognizing that education is a key to improving
the economic prospects of this impoverished community, Dr. Rogers has spearheaded
a movement to help residents understand the importance of education and has
provided concrete assistance to make it available, including establishment
of a scholarship fund supporting ten students from elementary school through
university, provision of 50 desks for the primary school, and donation of
initial funds for the construction of a library. The grant from the Trust
is being used to complete the construction, to furnish the library and to
acquire its inaugural collection; Dr. Rogers is overseeing these activities.
Ghana – Accra: Renovation of a small ward
at the Korle Bu Children’s Hospital, organized by Kim Dubois, Human Resources
Officer at the Embassy, and Lori Giles, the Mission's Computer Trainer.
The Korle Bu Children’s Hospital was created in 1965 "to provide critical
medical treatment to Ghanaian children." The facility, however, is far
too small and thinly staffed to meet the need: more than 30,000 children each
year are referred to the unit, "which can only adequately provide treatment
to 250 children at full capacity." Moreover, the ward is physically
deficient and dismal. "Three to four children share a bed"; "mothers
with sick infants sit on wooden benches or the floor for hours" waiting
for care; "toilets and showers are unsanitary"; "windows do
not have glass panes, and some do not have screens…in a country where malaria
is a known killer." Led by Ms. DuBois and Ms. Giles, more than 30 volunteers
are ready to refurbish the hospital, including painters, carpenters, plumbers
and artists (Foreign Service spouses) who will paint murals and brighten up
the hospital. Trust funding will defray the costs of replacement tiles and
mattresses, wood (for shelves), paint, window screens and tools.
Greece – Athens: Improvement of housing at two centers serving
the needs of refugees – a project overseen by Ambassador Thomas J. Miller and
his wife, Bonnie Miller, at the Embassy.
Greece has increasingly become a destination
for refugees and asylum seekers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. The country,
however, lacks the resources and infrastructure to deal with this increase.
Currently, refugees live in eleven crowded housing centers. To address this
housing deficit, the Community Service Network (CSN ) was organized by Ambassador
and Mrs. Miller, bringing together U.S. Mission volunteers and local residents
who are committed to community service. In 2002, funds from the Trust helped
CSN rehabilitate a refugee center as well as a school for handicapped children
that had been damaged in an earthquake. In 2003, CSN, working with Friends
of Habitat for Humanity and with the assistance of U.S. Navy Seabees stationed
at the Embassy, is rehabilitating two independent refugee centers in desperate
need of repair. The Trust's grant covers the cost of building supplies.
Guatemala – Guatemala City: Books, materials
and training for a comprehensive school classroom and library reading program
organized by Mary Jo Amani, spouse of a U.S. Agency for International Development
staff member at the Embassy.
In a country still reeling from the effects of more than three decades of
civil war, Proyecto Camino Seguro ("Project Safe Passage") has been
dedicated to providing a safe place for children before and after school.
Currently serving 325 children of families employed in the city’s central
garbage dump, Camino Seguro recently secured funds to build its own school
for neighborhood children. Ms. Amani is serving as a volunteer reading consultant
and teacher-trainer for the new school and has designed reading and writing
workshops. Other members of the U.S. Mission community are working with Camino
Seguro to equip and staff the school. Funding from the Trust provides the
library and classroom with books and other educational materials.
Honduras
– Tegucigalpa:
Housing for hurricane victims – construction of new homes and cement flooring
for old homes – a project assisted by Dennis LeBow, Assistant Regional Security
Officer at the Embassy, and his son Brian LeBow.
In 1997, Hurricane Mitch carved a devastating path through Honduras,
leaving thousands homeless. While many have since been helped into new homes,
single mothers and elderly widows remain in particular distress. With the
active participation of Dennis and Brian LeBow and other Embassy personnel
(Nurse Practitioner Nancy Evans and her family and several Marine Security
Guards), the Union Church in Tegucigalpa and a local
church in the Flor del Campo neighborhood are providing housing for these
homeless persons. Five to seven new houses are being constructed, and cement
floors are being installed in six to twelve existing dirt-floor homes. The
Trust’s grant defrays the cost of essential supplies: cement, tin roofs, wood
and paint.
Honduras
– Tegucigalpa:
Dental hygiene program for school children in a low-income neighborhod – a project
coordinated by Jennifer LeBow, spouse of Dennis LeBow, Assistant Regional Security
Officer at the Embassy
Dental hygiene is not a priority in poor communities in Honduras.
"It is not uncommon to see infants drinking Coca-Cola from their bottles
at the age of three months." Without any instruction in dental hygiene,
these children "often reach adulthood with several teeth missing."
Ms. LeBow’s project aims to provide dental care education to the 151 students
at a local school, the Escuela Evangelica Bautista Internacional, offered
by a local dentist without charge. To implement this instruction, each child
will be given a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss, funded with a Trust
grant.
India – Bihar State: Expansion of a children's
library in Ranti and opening of a new library in Hainthi, projects initiated
by Kailash Jha, Foreign Service National Political Specialist at the Embassy
in New Delhi.
Inspired by the children’s library in Charlottesville,
Virginia, Mr. Jha in June 2000 started a library
for children in the village
of Ranti, in the Indian
state of Bihar. The library offers a safe
and educational environment for the children in the village, a place "to
instill a love of learning…[and] to bring all of the children together to
read books and play games." It also helps "to break down caste
and community boundaries (deeply rooted in rural India) and also
works as a channel to encourage children from all sections of the community
to attend school." Currently the library has more than 2,000 books.
Paints, drawing materials, puzzles and other supplies are available for the
children. Each day at least 70 children between the ages of three and thirteen
come in to enjoy the library. Mr. Jha has encouraged the expansion of the
Ranti facility to become a larger library and community center, "of use
to the entire population of Ranti." To that end, a computer is required.
In addition, with Ranti as a model, Mr. Jha is helping to open another library
in the village of Hainthi,
for which books, racks and educational toys are needed. The Trust is providing
funds to purchase these materials.
India – Mumbai: Five classroom libraries,
a boundary wall and playground equipment for a school serving poor children
– a project coordinated by John Larrea, Consul and Chief of the Nonimmigrant
Visa Unit, and Jennifer Williams, Consular Assistant, at the U.S. Consulate
General in Mumbai.
Aseema is a non-governmental organization founded in 1995 to improve and
enhance the lives of poor – often homeless – children in Mumbai. With an illiteracy
rate (46%) closely tracking the drop-out rate of elementary school-aged children
(50%), India faces a
growing crisis in educating its youth. In response to this need, Aseema recently
"adopted" the Pali-Chimbai school, serving 200 children from the
Mumbai slums. The school has recently increased its teaching staff and arranged
for free lunches, but none of the grades has a library. With funds from the
Trust and the oversight of Mr. Larrea and Ms. Williams, the school will acquire
five small libraries, with bookcases, books, supplemental learning materials
and school supplies, as well as a rehabilitated boundary wall and outdoor
playground equipment.
India – Mumbai: Curriculum and playground
equipment for the Magic Bus Center, a recreational center for poor children
– projects organized by Jack Amick, Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General
in Mumbai, and his wife, Susan Amick.
Mumbai’s legendary dominance of trade on the Indian subcontinent has continued
as the city assumes a primary role in India’s
emerging global economy. The economic opportunities in this industrial city,
however, also make it a magnet for the nation’s millions of rural poor. The
Magic Bus is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 "to provide the
tools for [all children] to effect change in their lives and play a valuable
part in their community." It has developed a groundbreaking program
of day and weekend trips for underprivileged youth; these trips to date have
served more than 3,000 children. Recently Magic Bus purchased seven acres
of land near Karjat on which it is building the Magic
Bus Center.
Ms. Amick, a trained recreational therapist, is developing the curriculum
for the Center, and the Amicks have been supervising the installation of playground
equipment, for which the Trust is providing funds.
Lithuania
– Alytus: Field trip for occupants of a home for orphans and children
removed from their parents, planned and implemented by Jonathan Floss, Vice
Consul and Post Language Officer at the Embassy in Vilnius,
in cooperation with Irena Volkovaite, a Post Language Teacher.
The Alytus Children’s Home is one of the largest children's homes in Lithuania;
the inhabitants, aged four to eighteen, are children who either are true orphans
or have been taken away from their parents because of abuse, neglect, chronic
alcoholism or imprisonment. Although the children's physical needs are largely
met by the Children's Home, Mr. Floss and a Lithuanian charity, Path of Hope
(headed by Ms. Volkovaite), hope to "provide for the children's emotional
needs, at least for a moment in time, by providing experiences during which
they will feel that the outside world cares for them" and through which
they will have "a chance to socialize with American children and adults…."
The field trip is designed for that purpose. Using funds from the Trust and
with the participation of Embassy personnel (Foreign Service Officers, Marine
Security Guards and family members), the expedition will take approximately
50 children – the ones who have no other place to go on weekends or school
holidays – to Vilnius, for visits to a museum and a castle, a restaurant lunch,
skating at the Ice Palace and a farewell ice cream party, joining with Embassy
participants in folk songs and group games.
Mongolia – Ulaanbaatar: Uniforms, equipment and other support for a
youth soccer program organized by Jonathan Addleton, Director of the US Agency
for International Development Mission at the Embassy.
Surrounded by four rugged mountains known collectively as "The Holy
Peaks," Ullaanbaatar "bills itself as the ‘coldest capital’ in the
world. It is also among the most isolated." Recreational opportunities
for both Mongolian and international children (including Foreign Service youth)
are limited, especially during the long winter months. In response, Mr. Addleton
formed a Monday Night Football (soccer) club attended by 20 children, including
several "street children" living in a local children’s home. With
the collaboration of a young soccer coach named Jardel, Mr. Addleton proceeded
to form the Ulaanbaatar United Football Club, which enrolled 50 children (half
of them Mongolian); the program is expected to grow to 75 children in 2004.
The Trust provides funding for uniforms and equipment for the Club and for
the expenses connected with a city-wide tournament, "to our knowledge
the first of its kind ever held in Ulaanbaatar."
Nicaragua – Managua: Installation of electrical
outlets and light fixtures and provision of school and craft materials at a
children's center – projects coordinated by Eliana C. Saxton, spouse of a Foreign
Service Officer at the Embassy.
Managua's Mercado Oriental (East Market) is
"one of the poorest areas in Nicaragua." Most of the children
live in squalor and have little hope for the future. They are out on the
streets, often shoeless and unfed, begging for money, going through the trash
and often resorting to prostitution. Nor can their families afford the public
schools, which require a parental "investments in uniforms, school materials
and fees." The Centro Pan y Amor (Love and Bread
Center) was founded to
provide a safe place for the children during the day, meals, clothes and academic
and vocational instruction. Two abandoned buildings were recently donated
to the Center to serve as its quarters. The electrical wiring is rudimentary,
and the classrooms lack light fixtures or outlets. In addition, the Center
wishes to provide notebooks, papers, pens, pencils and other school and craft
materials that the students cannot afford to purchase. The electrical work
and the provision of school supplies – to be coordinated by Ms. Saxton – are
being financed by the Trust.
Pakistan
– Shelman Refugee Camp: Sporting equipment for an Afghan refugee
camp in Pakistan
– a project organized by Matthew Everhart, son of Christine Everhart, a Human
Resources Officer at the Embassy in Islamabad.
Matthew Everhart, aged 16, as part of his efforts to obtain the rank of Eagle
Scout, is planning and leading a community service project that enlists the
assistance of other scouts in his Maryland troop: a drive to collect balls,
shoes, board games, frisbees and other sporting equipment to be shipped to
children living in the Shelman Refugee Camp for Afghan war refugees in Pakistan.
(A recent report states that the children in the camp "had nothing to
play with, so they resorted to throwing rocks at each other.") Funds
from the Trust are defraying the costs of shipping an anticipated 50 boxes
of donated items to the refugee camp with the assistance of Ms. Everhart in
Islamabad.
Panama – Panama City: Vocational training
for girls impregnated as a result of rape or incest – a program initiated by
Celia Hilliard, spouse of the Administrative Counselor at the Embassy; Rocio
Hoffman, spouse of the Associate Director of Region V U.S. Department of Agriculture
Screwworm Program; and Laurel McMullen, spouse of the Deputy Chief of Mission
at the Embassy.
Casa Hogar Luisa McGrath is a home for young pregnant girls who are victims
of rape or incest. Because of prevailing "cultural attitudes, the victims,
rather than their predators, are ostracized and punished. Once these girls
(as young as twelve years old) become pregnant they are forced to leave their
homes, to avoid embarrassment to the family, and have no place to live."
Casar Hogar Luisa McGrath, with assistance from several Embassy family members,
provides shelter, care and child development support for the young victims
and their babies. The home also intends to provide the mothers with skills
to support themselves and their children once they leave the home. Investigating
various forms of vocational training, Ms. Hilliard, Ms. Hofmann and Ms. McMullen
settled on training in cosmetology because "these services are in great
demand by all economic/social levels…in Panama; have low startup costs; require
a short training period; allow the girls to perform the service in their homes
(where they could still care for their babies)." Accordingly, the three
project initiators have organized and are administering a cosmetology training
program for the young mothers. Trust funds will pay for a cosmetology training
consultant and start-up supplies and materials.
Romania
– Giurgiu County:
Equipment and training expenses for a photographic project to overcome
the silence and discrimination faced by teenage AIDS victim – organized by Kara
McDonald, Foreign Service Officer at the Embassy in Bucharest.
"Since the late 1980s, Romania has had
the largest number of children infected with HIV/AIDS in Europe.
Half of all AIDS cases in Europe are in Romania."
(Many of these cases resulted from blood transfusions administered during
regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, "when food and vitamins were unavailable.")
Romanians infected by HIV/AIDS face discrimination, ignorance or indifference,
and "many cases, especially among teenagers, remain undiagnosed, undiscovered
or ignored, because of social stigma and discrimination." Working with
the Firefly Association, a local advocacy organization, Ms. McDonald's project
uses "photography as a means of…giving voice to the critical and taboo
subject of HIV/AIDS in Romania's
transitional society." An innovative methodology, Photovoice, is employed
to capture the stories of AIDS victims and, through those stories, to educate
local officials and other citizens about the need to address the needs of
the HIV/AIDS community and reduce further spread of the disease. Funds from
the Trust underwrite the purchase of photo equipment and services and travel
expenses for the trainers.
Rwanda
– Gitarama: Establishment of an electrical engineering training program
in a Gitarama orphanage – a project overseen by Charles E. Bullington, Financial
Management Officer at the Embassy at Kigali.
Rwanda, long stricken with ethnic
strife, culminating in a 1994 genocide that claimed more than 840,000 lives,
has also been ravaged by the African AIDs crisis. One outcome of both these
tragedies has been a surging population of orphans. The Catholic diocese
of Kigali
runs an orphanage near Gitarama serving approximately 3,000 Rwandan youth.
Mr. Bullington is coordinating the establishment of an electrical engineering
department in the orphanage’s Vocational Training Center;
the new department "will target electrical skills for eight to ten students
(two girls) that are complex, in demand by Rwandan society…and are transferable…."
The program is expected to double in size in 2004. With Trust support, the
project is constructing a classroom that will accommodate the electrical equipment
used in the instructional program.
Ukraine
– Kiev:
A professional dental unit for an orphanage, a project organized by Christian
Hyland, son of Jason Hyland, a Foreign Service Officer at the Embassy.
"With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the situation of Ukranian orphanages
quickly went from bad to worse." One of these facilities, Orphanage
12 in Kiev, houses children who "have been victims
of horrible physical abuse, mental abuse, neglect and malnutrition.” The
staff has limited resources to meet even the basic needs of the children.
“Many of the children suffer from simple toothaches, which at the moment cannot
be treated"; the existing dental equipment is unreliable, dirty and unsafe.
Mr. Hyland (age 16) and his fellow members of the Humanitarian Club of Kiev
International School are arranging to purchase, with Trust funds, a modern
dental unit and supervise its installation. The state medical bureau will
provide dentists four hours a day, and another foundation stands ready to
provide dental supplies. The result will be the provision of dental care
to 500 children during the life of the equipment.
Washington, D.C.:
Informational and social support services for Foreign Service youth and
families re-entering the U.S. after crisis evacuation, a program
administered by the Foreign Service Youth Foundation.
Sudden evacuation from an overseas posting is always a possibility for Foreign
Service families. With the increase in threats against American personnel
around the world, such evacuations are becoming more common; in the first
16 months after September 11, 2001, there
were 25 evacuations from 19 countries. Under the best of circumstances "frequent
uprooting" creates difficulties for Foreign Service youth and their families.
"Evacuee families experience these same issues but because of the tremendous
stress, uncertainty and often danger of an evacuation, they confront additional
concerns and problems…, such as transfer of schools mid-year, loss of friends,
and family separation." With funding from the Trust, the Foreign Service
Youth Foundation, is developing educational materials to assist evacuee families
and providing support structures, including social events that connect evacuees
with other Foreign Service families and a youth sponsor/buddy system that
will offer evacuee youth with "peer support, friendship and advice, youth-to-youth."
Zambia — Lusaka:
Toilet
facilities for the children’s dormitory of the Missionary of Charities Centre
– a project administered by Nelda Villines, Office Management Specialist, Office
of the U.S. Ambassador at the Embassy, and Ms. Villines' spouse, Mwana Bermudes.
The Missionary of Charities Centre in Lusaka,
founded by the sisters of Mother Theresa’s order, functions as "an orphanage,
school and hospice for the poorest of the poor." The orphanage currently
houses more than 180 children, the majority of whom lost at least one parent
to AIDS. Although the sisters of the hospice receive only rudimentary nursing
training, the hospice has a steady and increasing flow of patients, in part
because it is one of the few places people suffering from AIDS can go without
fear of stigmatization for them and their families. The school provides education
for more than 400 children. A staff of only seven sisters provides round-the-clock
care for approximately 1,000 men, women and children in the three facilities.
Sanitation facilities in the children's dormitory are seriously deficient;
to address this situation, Ms. Villenes and Mr. Bermudes are supervising a
project, funded by the Trust, to construct an external building containing
two flush toilets.
* * * * * * *
TRUSTEES OF THE J. KIRBY SIMON FOREIGN SERVICE TRUST
Liisa Ecola
Cynthia Ely
Herbert J. Hansell
George P. Kent
Colette Marcellin
John Daniel Morris
Courtney Nemroff
Kathleen Sheehan
Claire B. Simon
John G. Simon