With each purchase from Amazon.com through our website, AAFSW receives a small percentage to help fund out activities and services. So, don't forget to click through aafsw.org when you shop online!

AAFSW is also affiliated with ReusableBags.com offering sturdy, environmentally totes perfect for shopping all over the world.

Realities of Foreign Service Life, Volumes 1 and 2: Writers from the Foreign Service community share their first-hand experiences and insights through essays on Foreign Service life. A great gift for newcomers or veterans of the Foreign Service and especially useful for anyone considering a Foreign Service career! Click here to read more about Realities of Foreign Service Life and to order your copy!

 

The AAFSW Awards Program

On December 9, 2008, well over 120 attendees gathered in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State for AAFSW’s annual Awards Program. AAFSW members, as well as a large group of family and friends of the Secretary of State’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism (SOSA) Award winners, joined in the festivities to honor the 2008 SOSA and Dorman Award recipients. Also attending to honor SOSA recipients were several representatives from each of the six regional Department of State bureaus. View photos below.

Among the honored guests were AAFSW’s honorary President Diana Negroponte and the Department of State’s Under Secretary for Management, Patrick Kennedy, who presented the SOSA Awards. Each of the six SOSA recipients spoke movingly of their projects and testified to the power of volunteer achievements.

EUR SOSA winner Bridget Guerrero told the audience how she was motivated to volunteer from the example of a group of nuns she met in Romania. The nuns told Bridget that during an overseas assignment, a person could choose to wait and see what the situation presented, or could jump in immediately upon arrival and seek ways to help others less fortunate. In Ankara, Bridget obviously chose to jump in and take action, as did all our SOSA recipients. Their spirit of can-do volunteerism and compassion is an example for all of us.

We congratulate Bridget as well as AF recipient Sherilynn Tounger (Ouagadougou), EAP recipient Amy Robinson (Rangoon), NEA recipient Susan Mattes (Baghdad), SCA recipient Cal McQueen (Karachi), and WHA recipient Ellen Brager (Santo Domingo).

In his remarks, Under Secretary Kennedy thanked the SOSA winners for their work and for their example, and said that the impact of their grass-roots diplomacy often reaches beyond official public diplomacy efforts. Under Secretary Kennedy then presented each of the recipients with an award certificate signed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a check from AAFSW for $3,000.

The awards ceremony also included the annual presentation of the Dorman Award by former AAFSW President and current board member Lesley Dorman. This year’s award was presented to AAFSW’s Treasurer Lucy Whitley. Lucy has devoted countless hours not only to her responsibilities as Treasurer, but to every major undertaking that the association conducts. Lucy is a true example of a recipient of the Dorman Award which was established to recognize an AAFSW member who has contributed selflessly to all aspects of the organization.

This year, there was no Tragen Award winner but Anne Kauzlarich of DACOR Bacon spoke briefly about Irving Tragen’s wish to honor the memory of his wife Eleanor, who was active in advancing the global rights and benefits of Foreign Service spouses. To further promote the Tragen Award, DACOR Bacon has decided to expand the area of eligibility to include Foreign Service employees in addition to spouses and members of household.

The program closed with a delightful holiday recital by AAFSW member Francesca Kelly accompanied by the Director of Music at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Sonya Sutton. Francesca’s selections ranged from sacred to secular and concluded with her own personalized FS version of “I’ll be home for Christmas” (see page 7 for lyrics). Needless to say, everyone left the program on a high note!

Please enjoy the following photos from the December awards program. Read more about the winners and their projects here.

AAFSW President Faye Barnes presents retiring Program Coordinator Barbara Gordon with a gift in recognition of her many years of service to AAFSW.

Barbara Gordon addresses the audience in the Benjamin Franklin room.

SOSA Coordinator Cathy Salvaterra welcomes the audience to the annual AAFSW Awards program in the Benjamin Franklin rooms at the Department of State.

Lesley Dorman presents AAFSW Treasurer Lucy Whitley with the Dorman Award in recognition of her outstanding service to the organization.

Amy Robinson accepts her award for coordinating refugee assistance in Burma after typhoon Nargis left devastation in its wake.

Bridget Guerrero accepts her award for founding the Ankara Refugee Support Group in Ankara, Turkey.

Susan Mattes accepts her award from Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy. Susan created the “OFF-Site,” a recreational facility for Embassy personnel in Baghdad, Iraq.

Sherilynn Tounger accepts her award from Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy. Sherilynn founded “Chasing Lions,” a charitable organization in Burkina Faso.

Calvin McQueen accepts his award for revitalizing the Embassy community association in Karachi, Pakistan.

Ellen Brager accepts her award for co-founding the “Traveling Notes” music festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The artistic director for Traveling Notes, Jorge Aguirre, is at right.

AAFSW member and professional soloist Francesca Kelly entertains the audience with a program of Christmas music.