The Secretary of State's Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad

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Year 1999 Winners

AAFSW/Secretary of State's Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad

Year 1999 Winners

Johanna Braden

A few weeks ago, when I first raised my intention to nominate her for the 1998 Outstanding Volunteer Award, Johanna Braden responded with a simple question: "Why?" That answer typifies the special person whom the Embassy community, from the Ambassador on down, knows and cherishes so much: a compassionate and caring human being whose desire to help others comes solely from within. For us at this Embassy, as for so many other people throughout Latvia, Johanna Braden embodies the meaning of selflessness and service. She is what volunteering is all about.

Although independent for eight years, Latvia is, in many ways, still emerging from fifty years of Soviet occupation. It is progressing rapidly, but its needs are many and its resources, few and inadequate. The quality that distinguishes Johanna is her fusion of vision and practicality, her ability to identify needs, then to do something about them. As a result, in the three years she has been at post, Johanna has made a difference in the lives of literally hundreds of people within the Embassy community and in Latvian society.  

Although she is the sole practitioner in Embassy Riga's medical unit, a mother of two, and the busy spouse of our Defense Attaché, Johanna manages to find time for an astonishing range of volunteer activities. Her accomplishments are impressive and far too numerous to be listed. A few illustrative examples cannot suffice:

Neither the foregoing nor yet more detailed lists will convey the remarkable spirit Johanna Braden brings to everything she does. Whether serving as mistress of ceremony at a raffle to raise money for the International School or assisting at the Riga Women's Club bazaar or single-handedly organizing the first ever Marine Ball in Riga (an event that directly contributed to raising community morale), she always gives enthusiastically of her time and of herself. 

Johanna is never off-duty. As the nurse in the only Embassy medical unit in Latvia, her knowledge and advice is constantly sought by diplomats in other missions. She is often called--on weekends, late at night, in the middle of receptions she herself is hosting--to assist with referrals to doctors and clinics or to obtain needed medications on the local economy.

Johanna never says, "No. "In the two years I have known her, I have not once heard Johanna turn down a request for help. Her reaction to an emergency call is never, "Can't it wait 'til tomorrow?" or "I'm too busy," but always, "I'll be right there. "And she always is.  

Johanna's up-beat, can-do spirit has a positive influence on everyone with whom she comes in contact. Her combination of sincerity, candor and encouragement lends strength to those who are ill or who face painful medical procedures. With Johanna, people in need find it easier to endure their difficulties and to get started on the road to recovery.

All who have been warmed, cheered, fed or nursed by Johanna Braden--Latvian, American, or international--would agree with me that if there were a Hall of Fame for volunteers, or a Roll of Honor for the compassionate, Johanna would be an unanimous choice. Should the Committee choose to honor Johanna Braden with this award, it can have made no finer choice.  

Kristina Dodd

Since her election as president of the Embassy Volunteers' Association (EVA) nine months ago, Kris Dodd has provided outstanding leadership for this non-profit organization, to which all U.S. Embassy Caracas employees and adult family members belong. Under her direction, the organization worked with notable success to achieve its twin goals of promoting high morale among mission members and supporting charitable organizations within Venezuela. Like many spouses in the foreign service community, Kris has volunteered her considerable professional and personal talents for the benefit of both the mission and the wider community.

However, Kris's involvement in traditional community activities began before she became EVA president. As a volunteer for EVA she organized a holiday bazaar which gave local vendors, as well as, Embassy employees or family members, the opportunity to sell their products. It was a win-win event: employees and family members could do some holiday shopping in a safe environment on the Embassy grounds, and the vendors has an affordable venue for selling their goods. Kris repeated the bazaar this year, making virtually all the arrangements herself for this useful and enjoyable event.

Last spring, as families began to pack up to move on to new assignments, Kris organized another community-wide event - an enormous garage sale. There was wide participation among Americans and the local staff, as well as, from Venezuelans and members of the international community who were able to come to shop. Although garage sales are ubiquitous in the United States, overseas they are not traditional events. Organizing one for the Embassy community gave everyone a boost - in terms of morale, it was fun; financially speaking, everyone was happy. The Foreign Service Nationals Association sold food to raise funds for their activities. The Marines sold drinks to earn money for the Marine Ball. It was a low-key, enjoyable, morale-building event, and Kris was responsible for making it happen.

Shortly after the garage sale, Kris agreed to help plan the community-wide July 4th celebration to be held on the Embassy grounds by taking charge of logistical arrangements, which included having a stage built, acquiring tents and chairs, and designing the extensive physical layout for the event. About 2000 people attended this highly successful party. Kris was asked to tackle such a tough job because of her well-deserved reputation as a highly competent volunteer with an unwavering sense of community spirit. These qualities enable her to see through complex tasks with grace, enthusiasm, and efficiency.

At the helm of EVA, Kris has continued financial support for three homes: the Madre Marcelina pensioners' home, a nursing home for approximately 55 elderly persons; the Osman Home for teen mothers, which shelters about 55 girls ages 12 to 18 with sad backgrounds of poverty, abuse and rejection; and the Jose Gregorio Hernandez girls' home, which houses a mix of orphans and hardship cases. EVA donates $100 each month to each of the three homes, provides Christmas gifts for residents, and has given additional support on other occasions.

Funds for the charities come from profits from an EVA store that sells Embassy T-shirts and other items. Recently EVA has begun supporting a group called Children of the Street by selling their products; half of the profits go directly to the children who produce beautiful hand-made notebooks and half go to purchasing supplies and otherwise supporting the children's efforts.

Currently, EVA has launched a campaign to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Mitch, matching contributions from community members dollar for dollar up to $1000.

In addition to supporting local charities, EVA has supported a number of important Embassy community events. During Kris's tenure as president, the organization has continued to organize and fund the children's Halloween, Easter, and Christmas parties, in which Caracas--with our scores of young children most often cooped up in high-rise apartments if they aren't at their schools--are important family events. Additionally, EVA supports the Community Liaison Office with monthly contributions of $50, and has also provided financial support for the CLO by funding, for example, a teen security briefing, thinly disguised as a pizza party. With leadership from Kris, EVA jump-started fundraising for the annual Damas Diplomaticas bazaar which raises tens of thousands of dollars for local charities EVA volunteers organized bake sales and bingo fundraisers to help finance the U.S. participation at the bazaar, in addition to lending money to purchase products late sold for charity.

Kris Dodd is a person who says "Yes, let's do it!" and "What can we do to help?" instead of "Sorry, I'm too busy." She's a lawyer, the mother of two pre-school children, a marathon runner, and our own can-do volunteer with energy, talent, and an extraordinary sense of commitment to our small Embassy family and to our wider Venezuelan community. With great enthusiasm, I nominate her for the AAFSW/Secretary of State's Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. Her exceptional achievements with the mission and in the host country deserve recognition at the highest level possible. This award would suitably honor Kris for her many hours of cheerful, useful, and faithful community service.

Michele Johnson

    "Friends Across the Border (FAB)" was a cultural event celebrating the increasing commercial, social, and cultural links between Southern Mozambique and Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The objectives of the event were to:

  1. promote friendly relations between neighboring countries and peoples and to further enhance the mutually beneficial relationship that spans across the border;

  2. spotlight the talents of young contemporary jazz performers from both countries; and

  3. expose audiences to the richness of traditional African music, song and dance, performed in concert with contemporary jazz - a worldwide musical form, albeit one with African roots.

  4. Raise money for charities serving youth with HIV/AIDS in Mozambique and South Africa.

  5. The initial concept and subsequent effort to produce this program was spearheaded by Michele Johnson, who is of neither Mozambican or South African nationality, but who was simply interested in seeing a unique cultural program of quality entertainment realized from a non-profit perspective. In order to realize this vision, Ms. Johnson gained the assistance of like-minded volunteers, financial sponsors who offered their support either by a contribution of funds or a donation of goods and/or services, and official endorsements. The approximate cost of the program was $30,000. In addition to her months of effort, Ms. Johnson and her husband also contributed over $1,000 to the FAB project.

FAB consisted of a series of musical performances in Mozambique and South Africa held in September and October 1998, highlighting the talents of artists from both countries. These musicians formed an ensemble to produce jazz and traditional African music. Their efforts were further enhanced by the participation of jazz artists from the United States and Germany, along with traditional Mozambican dancers. Sponsors recruited by Ms. Johnson provided the air tickets and housing for the foreign musicians.

The main FAB performance, held October 24, 1998, was at the Sudwala Caves, located in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, approximately 4 hours west of Maputo. The Caves are the oldest known cavern system in the world (dated at some two and a half million years), one of the natural wonders in Southern Africa, and an extraordinary place to both play and hear music. Both the perfect acoustics and the remarkable surroundings guaranteed an unforgettable cultural experience. Concerts ranging from the South African Philharmonic Orchestra, opera to a jazz quartet have recently been performed within the Caves, but FAB was the first time traditional African rhythms had been heard there. The FAB performers are listed inside the Sudwala Concert Program.

The Sudwala performance was proceeded by performances in Maputo and workshops in both countries benefiting local musicians. Performances included those at the German and U.S. Ambassadors' residences (the former held in honor of German Reunification Day) and local venues. The musicians' workshop in Maputo was endorsed by the Mozambican Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, while the workshop held in South Africa received the endorsement and support of the Mpumalanga Province Premier's Office and the Provincial Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. The latter donated over $2,000 to the FAB project.

At its peak, FAB involved the assistance of around 10 volunteers, ranging from the dependent spouses of Embassy and Peace Corps staff to Mozambican nationals. In addition, members of the Nelspruit (small city near the Sudwala Caves) Cancer Association volunteered their help to put on a pre-concert reception for FAB donors at the caves.

Official support for and/or endorsement of FAB was received from the U.S. Embassy and the United States Information Services in Maputo; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bonn, Germany; the Embassy of the Republic of Germany in Maputo; the Consulate of the Republic of Mozambique in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa; the Mozambican Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports; the Premier's Office of Mpumalanga Province; and the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture.

Financial support was received from nearly 40 individual and corporate sponsors, ranging from the U.S. Ambassador, major financial institutions in Mozambique, small businesses in Mozambique and South Africa to U.S. and international corporations, such as, Enron (Houston, TX), Coca-Cola, Air France, and Sasol/Arco.

Interest in FAB was high on both sides of the South African/Mozambican border. Articles on the project appeared in newspapers in Maputo, Nelspruit and Johannesburg. Ms. Johnson conducted interviews with correspondents from Radio Mozambique, local radio stations in Nelspruit, and the BBC Africa Des. Radio Mozambique also sent a crew to the Sudwala Caves concert where they interviewed a range of individuals, including the U.S. Ambassador (who attended the event), financial sponsors from Mozambique and South Africa, FAB's Mozambican Musical Director and performer (Ze Maria), and members of the audience, and subsequently broadcast the comments. The favorable press coverage continued after the event. The press covered the ceremony at the U.S. Ambassador's residence at which Ms. Johnson presented a FAB donation to a Mozambican non-profit group working with youth who have lost parents to AIDS. A similar presentation in South Africa is pending. The Sudwala Concert was professionally recorded and filmed, and interest has been expressed in releasing the concert on a compact disc. If this occurs, profits will be donated to HIV/AIDS non-profits working in both countries.

Background on Ms. Michele Johnson: The experience of Michele Johnson in the production field is broad, and includes theater lighting, film production and continuity and event logistics. She studies lighting design at the Newport School for Girls and upon graduation was responsible for the lighting at the well-known Newport Music Festival, which produces the summer programs with the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. She holds a degree in Business Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California. As the spouse of a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), between 1987 and 1994 Ms. Johnson lived in Asia and Latin America. In both locations she was involved with a variety of volunteer efforts, such as her work with the Bangkok Community Center, and in Honduras, founding a chapter of Toastmasters International (the first in that country). Ms. Johnson enjoys being involved with the local culture and initiating programs that introduce new ideas and which bring people together. Immediately prior to undertaking the FAB project, Ms. Johnson was the editor of the Embassy's newsletter.

Cheryl Rose     

  1. Embassy Bangkok is pleased to nominate Ms. Cheryl Rose for the prestigious AAFSW/Secretary of State's Award for Volunteerism. Spouse of DEA Special Agent Christopher Rose, Cheryl has worked since her arrival in Bangkok in June, 1998, at the Baan Nor Giank Baby Home for children infected with HIV, providing these helpless victims of the AIDS epidemic with love, comfort, and tenderness.

  2. According to the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), over 6,000 children are born each year with HIV in Thailand. There are presently 63,000 Thai children under the age of fifteen infected with the HIV virus, of which an estimated 47,000 will die. Authorities estimate that 15,000 children a year lost their mothers to AIDS in Thailand, and at least one-third of these children is under 5 years of age. Many mothers who are diagnosed with HIV abandon their babies.

  3. The need to care for babies with HIV cries out loud and clear in Thailand, but there are few organizations able or willing to shoulder the financial and social responsibility. The Baan Nor Giank Baby Home is one of just a few oases that provides HIV babies with care. Over the past year, Cheryl Rose has worked daily at the home, helping to care for the babies that live there. Most of these babies are diagnosed HIV positive and have a life expectancy of less than five years. Cheryl bring warmth and happiness to these children, playing with them, loving them, feeding them and caring for them every day. Cheryl has periodically taken HIV-infected babies into her hoe, including over the Christmas holidays, serving as a temporary foster parent. Both in her home and at the Baby Home, Cheryl is helping to make the lives of these innocent victims easier as they battle with the deadly HIV disease.

  4. Cheryl Rose's selfless efforts to help the children of Thailand's AIDS epidemic is a remarkable story of commitment, love and self-sacrifice. Cheryl does not tout her work among the embassy community, but goes about it quietly, not seeking recognition other than the smiles of "her" children. Yet the work she is doing for each and every child that passes through the baby home is just as important as the hundreds of thousands of dollars of research funds that the USG spends each year on efforts to combat HIV. It is for her contribution to the children of Baan Nor Giank that the Embassy nominates Cheryl rose for this year's Volunteerism Award.

Eglal Rousseau

The swarms of beggars are endless in Dhaka. The poverty is overwhelming. The demands are never met. The needs of the sick, malnourished, and homeless only seem to grow. It is easy to develop a sense of hopelessness. Eglal Rousseau has not given up, but works to impact the lives of dozens of children each day. For her efforts, she has been awarded the 1999 AAFSW/Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism.

Upon arrival to Dhaka with three children, Eglal was greatly disturbed by the number of hungry beggar children that surrounded her every time she went out. In the fall of 1997, two children dropped by the Rousseaus' gate. One boy was hearing and language impaired, and the other boy was his guide. Rather than turn the two away, Eglal started feeding them lunch. Word spread throughout the nearby slum of Muslim inhabitants called Notun Bazaar and soon about 60 children started coming to the Rousseaus' house on a daily basis for lunch. At the height of the recent devastating floods, the number rose to about 200 children daily. Eglal now feeds "only" about 60 children, from a few months to twelve years old.

Eglal tries to instill some order, manners, basic hygiene, and accountability in the children. Upon arrival midday, the children must wash their hands and line up in an orderly fashion before being given plastic plates for a meal of rice and beans. After eating they take responsibility to wash their own plates. Five of the original beggar children have been appointed to positions of helpers. They proudly assist Eglal in the day-to-day tasks of running such a program by cleaning, serving, and reading the newspaper to others to help in their education.

For the most part, Eglal manages this project on her own, with occasional help from the Dhaka American Women's Club and the Boy Scouts. The Women's Club became aware of Eglal's work during the '98 floods and found two doctors to treat the children. The doctors vaccinated the children and treated various existing medical problems.

One parent, who was ashamed of being a beggar, now bakes bread for the lunch crowd. Another parent and former beggar now supplies Eglal with bananas for the children. The small payment Eglal offers has taken away the stigma of unemployment.

The hearing impaired boy who provided the impetus for the program now attends a school for children with handicaps. He is learning to read and write and receives vocational training, all of which will help him to be self-sufficient some day. A formerly malnourished baby now toddles around full of life. The other children's eyes are bright and shiny as they give and receive in an orderly fashion.

Eglal credits her parents for her interest in serving others. Her father, an Egyptian lawyer, worked for the rights of the poor. Her family was very involved in setting up an association to help less fortunate members of Egyptian society. Eglal's mother tried to instill in her the idea that the more you give, the more you receive back in life. Eglal is grateful that her own three children appreciate the work their mother does each day.

Because of Eglal's quiet, unassuming contribution to bettering the lives of the poorest of the poor, serving others consistently, day in and day out, AAFSW takes pleasure in recognizing her as one of the 1999 AAFSW/Secretary of State Outstanding Volunteerism Award winners.

Susan Summers

Susan Summers has demonstrated exceptional service to the American and Moroccan communities.  Through her leadership and organizational initiative, the American community contributed funds and food, and served meals for three days to over 100 children and their families who had come to Rabat to benefit from Operation Smile's free surgery for children with craniofacial deformities.  Susan regularly volunteers her time at a detention center for girls in Casablanca, for the American Girl Scouts, and for the American Woman's Association in Rabat.  She helps individuals in need, and regularly "adopts" Peace Corps volunteers.  Susan has increased volunteer activities by facilitating networking between interested Americans and Moroccan charity organizations.  Susan Summers is a Foreign Service Nurse Practitioner.