Past Meeting History
2004
Peace Corps Experience in Turkey
February 24, 2004: Jim Kari shared photos, maps, books and other memorabilia from his time as a Peace Corps Volunteer teacher in Turkey in the 1966-68. Jim was a TEFL instructor in Bafra on the Black Sea.
Water and Sanitation Projects in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Congo
January 20, 2004: Derek Chambers spent a month in Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2003, assessing water and sanitation projects funded by USAID in response to the drought over the past two years. Molly Patton spent six months in Kalemie, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire) in 2002/3 working on water and sanitation projects with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). They presented slide shows on their experiences. Derek and Molly both work for Tanana Chiefs Conference, Office of Environmental Health in Fairbanks.
2003
Philippines Environmental Education Program
November 18, 2003: A Peace Corps program was provided at the Noel Wien Library by LJ Evans about her environmental education activities she was involved in during the past 2 years in the Philippines. A Peace Corps recruiting power point presentation, provided by Seattle Peace Corps office was also presented. Many local RPCVs attended and provided artifacts and photos from their experiences. LJ outlined the impact of the Spanish colonial era on Filippinos, indicating that lumbering and the establishment of farms had eliminated much of the under story causing soil erosion and wells were taking out water too fast causing sea water to invade the fresh water supply. She worked with Cebu Unity For Sustainable Water with the goal of increasing the fresh water supply. She was assigned a host family in the mountains behind Cebu and rented a room in Cebu to better access her host office. She stayed with her host family for the first 3 months and thereafter visited her host family once a month as well as working on a water catchment project for the area. She assisted in the writing and editing of grant applications and conducted workshops for teachers and students. They were also instrumental in conducting a Peace Corps Map of the World project incorporating geometry lessons into the project. Patience and flexibility were necessary, as usual. She is willing to participate in other educational presentations in the community. She can currently be reached at the UAF Office of Presidential Affairs.
Teaching in "bush" Alaska
September 16, 2003: Frank Keim (RPCV Bolivia) and Jen Keim gave a presentation on their experience working in Hooper Bay, Alaska in 79-82 and 78-82 respectively as teachers. They became very familiar with subsistence living of the area and artfully photographed the fishing, hunting, and parts of the area. They were present at the time when TV was just introduced so they could see life before that influence. Resources included seals, fish and rye grass. One ship a year came to the village between 1930-1970. Jen taught elementary and Frank taught secondary levels.
Welcome back to Fairbanks for recently returned volunteers
August 2003: NAPCFs celebrated the return of Denny and Lisa Wells, from two years in Thailand, and LJ Evans from two years in the Philippines, with dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Fairbanks.
Click on photo at left to see an enlarged version.
Left to right: Lisa, LJ, Don Gray-RPCV India, Herb Melchior-friend, Tony Gasbarro-RPCV DR & El Salvador, Denny, and Valerie Hill-Peru. We are looking at recent photos from the Philippines and Thailand. Northern Alaska Peace Corps Friends had donated in 2003 to the water catchment project of LJ's in the Philippines and also to assist Supon, a teacher from the Wells village, come to the US through an AFS program.
Summer Business Meeting & BBQ
July 9, 2003: A BBQ dinner was held at the home of Don & Carolyn Gray to honor Tony Gasbarro receiving the Lillian Carter award (see News page).
Madagascar vacation
May 27, 2003: Derek Chambers, RPCV Kenya, and Maria Ornes, RPCV Ecuador, and their 2 year old son Cole traveled to Madagascar in February and March 2003 to assist former volunteers in Africa. They showed slides of the country and various CARE and other NGO programs currently going on there.
Venezuela
April 21, 2003: Johnny and Kelly Mendez shared slides from three regions of Venezuela where he worked as an environmental engineer.
Peace Corps Recruiters in Fairbanks
March 26, 2003: Seattle Peace Corps Office RPCVs Tim Micek and Kirsten Franklin were introduced in a community presentation about Peace Corps in the Noel Wien Library. Guy Sattley who was a volunteer in India in the late 1960's, Derek Chambers who was a volunteer in Kenya in the late 1980's and Larry Flemming who was a volunteer in Gabon in the late 1990's gave slide presentations which highlighted the similarities and differences of the Peace Corps Experience over the past 35 years.
March 27, 2003: Tim and Kirsten showed slides of the Dominican Republic and Gabon to interested students on the UAF campus and later participated in the UAF Career Fair that week.
Pre-Taliban Afghanistan
February 18, 2003: Events were planned for National Peace Corps Day at the end of February. Jan Cabanas showed slides of Afghanistan taken in 1973 of both urban and rural life. Guy Sattley followed up with ones he took in Afghanistan from 1969-1971 as well as some from Orissa, India where he had worked as a volunteer .
Gabon Peace Corps Experience
January 2003: Larry Flemming presented a slide show about his experience in Gabon building schools.
2002
Cape Verde Peace Corps 1998 - 2000
September 23, 2003: Shannon Sinclair presented a power point presentation on her experiences in Mindelo, Cape Verde 1998-2000. Shannon taught English in a technical high school to 240 students and later taught at a university methods of foreign language teaching and literature. Shannon received a Masters International through Monterrey Institute of International Studies and her service in Peace Corps involved a practicum in teaching.
Biodiversity Program in Mongolia
August 26, 2002: Clay Alderson who currently is working at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center in downtown Fairbanks, presented a program. He and his wife, Claudia, were detailed from the US National Park Service to the Partnership For Biodiversity Program with the Department of Interior and funded by USAID in Mongolia from 1999-2001. He helped 2 Peace Corps Volunteers while working with several projects. They primarily worked at Late Hovfogol in a park management improvement program.
National Peace Corps Association President visits Fairbanks
July 27, 2002: Dane Smith, president of the National Peace Corps Association, and his wife Judy, visited returned Peace Corps Volunteers in Fairbanks. At a picnic, Dane informed the local returned volunteers and friends about happenings at the national office.
Goma Volcano
May 13, 2002: In January 2002, a volcano erupted near Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and lava flowed through the city streets. Peter Wallis, of Fairbanks, Alaska was asked to travel to Goma days after the eruption and assess the water and sanitation needs of the displaced people. Peter presented a digital slide show of what happened in Goma.
Trip to India Slide Show
April 22, 2002: Don Gray has recently returned from a 3 week trip to India where he served 34 years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the village of Panskura, near Kolkata (Calcutta) in West Bengal. This was his first time back. He and Carolyn visited the village in which he served in a rice project. He took digital pictures and she took slides. After 4 days they went on a tour to Delhi, Udaipur, Ranakpur, Jaipur,Fatehpur Sikri, Agra,Gwaliore, Orccha, Kajarajo, Varanasi and Bodgaya between Feb. 25-March 18, 2002. They presented a slide show with some before (from 34 years ago) and after photos.
Kazakhstan Peace Corps Training
February 2002: Pam Randalls presented a slide show on Kazakstan where she trains Peace Corps volunteers.
Project Salvador update
January 23, 2002: Tony Gasbarro presented a slide show about his recent trip to El Salvador in conjunction with his work with the non-profit aid agency Project Salvador. The group assists artisans sell crafts and 70% of the proceeds are returned to the coop for various development projects. In this last time period, their efforts went into scholarships and home rebuilding after the earthquakes in January and February 2001. Francis McLaughlin, just returned RPCV Guatemala ’00-’02, informed the group about his recent work in pest management and other agriculture related projects in Guatemala. Lisa Mills, RPCV Haiti ’98-’00 was visiting from Anchorage, and filled the group in about life as a volunteer in Haiti. She hopes to return in April.
2001
Kenya Peace Corps Schoolteachers
November 27, 2001: David Newman and Uma Bhatt showed slides from their Peace Corps experience in Kenya. They were teachers in a rural secondary school from 1983-1985 in western Kenya.
Teaching in Papua New Guinea
June 5, 2001: Trevor White, RPCV Papua New Guinea, showed photos of Papua New Guinea and talked about the country and his teaching experience. He also sang the PNG National Anthem!!!
The US Armed Forces helps out East Timor
May 1, 2001: Tim Lockwood, RPCV Thailand, gave a presentation on US Army humanitarian assistance in East Timor.
Ethiopia in the 1960's
March 26, 2001: Susan Hansen, RPCV Ethiopia, presented a program on Ethiopia with focus on the education programs she worked on from 1967-70.
Trip to China and Tibet slide show
February 14, 2001: Marcella Hill, RPCV Bulgaria, gave a slide show of her recent trip to China and Tibet.
Zimbabwe
January 11, 2001: Mark Piedra, RPCV Zimbabwe, presented slides and music from Southern Africa and talked about his work as a secondary school teacher in rural Zimbabwe.