AAFSW

AAFSW’s beloved annual Art and BookFair is back for 2022! We’d love your help.

The sign up sheet to volunteer with AAFSW during Art and BookFair is below. Scroll down on the right side of the below pdf to view the full calendar. Please email office@aafsw.org AND akauzlar@gmail.com with your availability (days and hours) and contact information.

The Art and BookFair runs October 27-November 5.

AAFSW appreciates your support during Art and BookFair 2022!

Please note that this page will be updated.

Meet the Honorees of the 2022 Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA) 

“Honor an overseas volunteer; nominate someone today!” This AAFSW appeal was especially effective in 2022, with 23 nominations submitted from around the world. 

The SOSA awards, administered by AAFSW, were established in 1990 with the direct encouragement and support of then-Secretary James A. Baker and his wife Susan. While on official travel, Mrs. Baker was so impressed by the extraordinary volunteer work performed by the Foreign Service community overseas that she advocated for an award to recognize these volunteer accomplishments.  

The SOSA awards are presented by AAFSW annually to recognize the most exceptional volunteer efforts by Foreign Service employees and family members abroad. Nominees can be Foreign Service employees, spouses, family members, Eligible Family Member domestic partners, or Members of Household posted overseas. Selection criteria include the scope and impact of the volunteer work, sustainability, ingenuity and leadership. Over its history, the program has honored more than 100 awardees chosen from over 130 diplomatic missions.

The 2022 honorees were chosen by selection committees consisting of AAFSW President Lara Center; AAFSW SOSA Chair Patricia Linderman assisted by committee member Mette Beecroft and new incoming SOSA Co-Chairs Moises Mendoza and José Dorce; Director Gabrielle Hampson and Jason Pantaleo of the Global Community Liaison Office; and the director or other representative of each geographic regional bureau. 

Winners will receive a cash award of $2,500 and a pin commemorating the event. Both winners and Honorable Mentions also receive a certificate signed by the Secretary of State. The Awards Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2021, in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department. During the past two years, highly successful hybrid ceremonies were held at DACOR-Bacon House, and this will be repeated if necessary. Funding for the award includes donations from former Secretaries of State, including annual support from James and Susan Baker, the Green Family Foundation headed by former Ambassador Steven J. Green; and generous AAFSW members. 

The 2022 SOSA Winners

The 2022 SOSA finalists are Justin Wimpey (AF Bureau, Antananarivo, Madagascar); a shared award for the volunteer team of Denis Rajic, Michele Rajic Tang, Vicki Daniel and Ellin R. Lobb (EAP Bureau, Shanghai, China); Meredith Wiedemer (EUR Bureau, Chisinau, Moldova); Debra Stock (NEA Bureau, Doha, Qatar); and Jesus Carlos Valles (WHA Bureau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti).

Recognizing that 97% of Madagascar’s population uses charcoal for cooking, EFM Justin Wimpey sought a better solution which would not only be technologically feasible but highly affordable, produced locally, and culturally accepted. Starting from the traditional Malagasy pot design, he created a pressure cooker which he offered without compensation to a local metalworker and foundry. He also improved the manufacturing process and helped establish a women-led business to market and distribute the pots across Madagascar. The “Cocotte Minute Gasy” is rapidly gaining in popularity as it reduces charcoal use and therefore deforestation, and saves mainly women from spending many hours every day exposed to the health-damaging fumes of charcoal fires.

In March 2022, Shanghai imposed one of the harshest lockdowns in the world in response to the PRC’s largest COVID-19 outbreak, leaving the population without access to food and other necessities. Through indefatigable networking efforts, the volunteer team of Denis Rajic, Michele Rajic Tang, Vicki Daniel, and Ellin R. Lobb organized wholesale food deliveries for U.S. direct-hire staff and families and local employees of Consulate General Shanghai, some of whom had not had deliveries in weeks. The team is now assisting other Missions in establishing their own supply chain systems.

In Moldova, as more than 460,000 Ukrainian refugees have streamed across the border, EFM Meredith Wiedemer was part of the leadership team at a Donation Center that provided emergency supplies like food, hygiene and baby items to over 38,000 refugees. One month into the conflict, she realized the need for long-term support for refugees and opened Sunflower Center, which is currently providing children’s programming, psychosocial support for mothers, and employment to Ukrainian women. She has raised over $200,000 in private contributions and secured partnerships with international organizations in support of Sunflower.

EFM Debra Stock arrived at her first overseas post, Doha, around the same time as a flood of 58,000 Afghan refugees. Debra immediately took the lead in organizing volunteers to help, spending her days and nights for months at the Al Udeid Air Base. Her “Doha Do-Gooders,” as they became known, worked on the receiving lines for incoming refugees and provided warm clothing, hygiene items and other essentials, as well as children’s supplies including over 300 soccer balls. They organized fundraising events for the refugees which brought the Embassy community together, and they even created and furnished a school for the refugee children, where Debra also served as a teacher and mentor.

In Port-au-Prince, EFM Carlos Valles has volunteered over 1,000 hours at the St. Luke’s Foundation Carpenter Training Center of St. Luke’s Foundation, working with at-risk young men who learn under his tutelage to use machinery and tools and work as a team. Their workshop produces desks, chairs and beds as well as affordable coffins which allow Haiti’s urban poor to provide their loved ones with a dignified traditional burial. Carlos also works with the Embassy community to collect and repurpose packing and shipping materials for use in coffin-making. Carlos’ legacy will include a network of trained carpenters who can earn a decent living and fill a critical need for these skills in the Haitian capital.

2022 SOSA Honorable Mention Awardees

This year, an Honorable Mention was chosen from each geographic bureau. All of the nominations were truly exceptional, and we hope to see the Honorable Mentions and other nominees as finalists for this award in upcoming years. 

The 2022 Honorable Mentions are Sonia Carolina Torres López (AF Bureau, Conakry, Guinea); Ling L.C. Conley (EAP Bureau, Beijing, China); Ondrej Hindl (EUR Bureau, Tbilisi, Georgia); John Wesley Kane (NEA Bureau, Tel Aviv, Israel); and Wiley W. Skaret (WHA Bureau, Bogota, Colombia). 

In Conakry, Guinea, EFM Sonia Carolina Torres López created a sustainable feeding program, using locally produced ingredients and local personnel, for over 80 children who otherwise would have access to only one meal a day.

In Beijing, EFM Ling L.C. Conley provided vital daily visits and supplies to an incoming Embassy family as they endured nine weeks of isolation in a COVID hospital, with the mother separated from the husband, son and daughter.

In Tbilisi, EFM Ondrej Hindl connected the EFM and Department of Defense communities at post and brought people together for volunteer activities including classes for Embassy children, blood drives, fundraising art auctions, events for over 1000 refugee kids, and the creation of a donation center for Ukrainian refugees in Georgia.

EFM John Wesley Kane volunteers daily at a hospital in conflict-wracked East Jerusalem, connecting the Embassy with the community and providing help ranging from direct caregiving in support of Gender advancement to writing a grant for the purchase of Hospital equipment.

Since the age of 13 when he was posted to Bogota with his family, Wiley Skaret, now 20, has held benefit concerts and operated his own nonprofit foundation, James 1, to provide scholarships for the children of fallen Colombian police officers.

Other 2022 SOSA Award Nominees

Every 2022 nominee performed truly impressive volunteer work, and AAFSW is extremely grateful for their efforts and for the nominators who took the time and trouble to submit these nominations. We hope to see these volunteers as finalists in future years! 

AF

Uchechi Roxo (Lilongwe, Malawi)

Zinat A. Kemper (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.) Read more about her volunteer work here.

EAP

Raicine M. Campbell (Beijing, China)

Sonia Bernier-Bash (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

EUR

Heidi Hamilton (Belgrade, Serbia)

SCA

Brian D. Brendel (Lahore, Pakistan)

WHA

Cyan James (Montevideo, Uruguay

Kathryn Jones (Ciudad Juarez, Mexico)

Columba Flores and Rafael A. Flores Jr. (U.S. Mission Curacao)

David Houston (Panama, Panama)

More details about the fascinating volunteer work of the 2022 honorees and nominees will be shared in future editions of the Global Link, as well as on AAFSW’s website at https://www.aafsw.org/sosa/ .

Eligible Family Member Tim Stufft is an engineer and company vice
president who has worked tirelessly to connect his fellow EFMs with
remote, private-sector work opportunities in the fields of engineering
and defense technology. While posted in Chisinau, he also founded a
co-working group for mutual support among EFMs working remotely. His
efforts have positively impacted perceptions about the work
opportunities for EFMs as they accompany Foreign Service personnel at
posts around the world.

Read more about this award.

Thank you!

To the members of AAFSW: Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to serve as President of AAFSW for the past two years.  While I have been an active board member for the better part of the last decade, I was hesitant to take on this leadership role at first. I knew it would challenge me but I knew it would also be rewarding. And rewarding it was.

First and foremost – I must say THANK YOU to the AAFSW board. This group of dedicated volunteers is the best. The accomplishments of AAFSW are truly a team effort. AAFSW has been running strong for 60+ years and individuals like those on the board have been instrumental in keeping the association going. I was fortunate to have the sage advice of veteran board members and could tap into their institutional knowledge. There was also a group of new board members with fresh and exciting ideas who brought a different perspective to the table. In the end, we really complemented one another.

During my term as AAFSW President, the world experienced the seemingly never-ending COVID pandemic. When the pandemic shut down in-person events, AAFSW transitioned to virtual opportunities. AAFSW continued offering programs virtually, collaborating as needed with partner organizations such as DACOR who had the technology and tools in place. AAFSW successfully held its first virtual auction to raise money for scholarships and other programs in lieu of the annual Art & BookFair. AAFSW held the annual awards ceremony in a hybrid fashion recognizing the winners of the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA), Champion for Career Enhancement for EFMs and Dorman Award. With Zoom and MS Teams, AAFSW continued to meet regularly with GCLO on a variety of issues concerning family members such as education allowances, EFM employment, and Spouses in Transition.  AAFSW provided tireless support to evacuees through our Evacuee Support Network (ESN) through our email list and created a private Facebook group for the ESN.  

AAFSW continues to look for ways to improve resources for the Foreign Affairs Community.  During 2021, AAFSW tackled a website refresh. The new website is easier to navigate, content has been streamlined, and the membership portal updated. The overall look is up-to-date  In addition, FS Hub, underwent a refresh, aligning the site with AAFSW’s website appearance.  These updates were much needed, allowing the websites to be a resource for members and the community. During the last year or two, AAFSW added a supplemental newsletter for our members. The monthly supplement contains links to articles of interest to our community that you may have missed. These articles are pulled from a variety of publications including the Foreign Service Journal, The Transition Center’s Newsletter, major newspapers and magazines and blogs.

Be on the lookout for two new exciting projects together with the Cox Foundation.  AAFSW was at the forefront of EFM oral histories back in the 1980s. The collection, under the skilled leadership of Jewel Fenzi, is now housed with ADST and the Library of Congress. AAFSW wants to draw on that experience and create new topic specific oral histories. Together with the Cox Foundation, AAFSW will create six new oral histories to be released later this fall. Topics range from Third Culture Kids, EFM Employment, and Singles in the FS.  

Another project together with the Cox Foundation, which is currently under development and will be launched in the fall as well, is called Map for Change: Foreign Affairs Community Volunteers. AAFSW has the privilege of reading about the amazing volunteer efforts going on overseas through SOSA nominations. Many of us are interested in getting involved but may not know where to begin. The map and supporting database will provide information about current volunteer opportunities at posts around the globe.  

I look forward to seeing what the new board accomplishes this next term. As June Byrne, AAFSW founding President said in 1960: “We’ll go slowly. We’re not going to set the world on fire or work miracles overnight. Our job this year is to establish a simple, solid base on which to work, well organized, but simply organized and very flexible.”  This captures the essence of AAFSW and will provide guidance for future years.

Thank you, 

Lara

Who is a Volunteer?  

A person who freely offers to perform a service for others.

 

V A Voice

O An Organizer

L A Liaison

U A Unifier

N A Needs Assessor

T A Trainer

E An Energetic Manager

E An Enthusiastic Supporter

R A Recruiter

 

Many may not realize, but the board members and committee chairs of AAFSW are all volunteers. On an annual basis, we clock over 3600 personal hours. Those hours are consumed by planning programs, the annual Art and BookFair, SOSA awards, advocating for family members, and much, much more.  We are the volunteer organization for the foreign affairs community.  

In order to continue providing resources and services to our members and the larger foreign affairs community, we need volunteers to join our board. AAFSW will be holding elections for our Executive Board next month. Want to make a difference in the foreign affairs community? Join our board and donate your time and talents! For the upcoming Summer 2022 AAFSW Election, you can indicate your interest to AAFSW by sending an email and brief bio to office@aafsw.org by June 30, 2022. 

You can find more information about joining our board here.

I want to say THANK YOU to all of our amazing volunteers.  

Lara

Help AAFSW and Cox Foundation onnect volunteers by entering important data and writing case studies to create an international map

As part of an Una Chapman Cox Foundation project, AAFSW is looking to contract three (3) individuals for this new project. These individuals will each be paid a stipend of $400 for the work.  AAFSW and the Cox Foundation will create an interactive and searchable volunteer map for the Foreign Service community.  The final product, housed on FSHub.org, will serve as a resource for members of the foreign service community to learn about volunteer opportunities at overseas posts or in the Washington, DC area.   In addition, a collection of 10 case studies/best practices that highlight exceptional volunteer projects around the world will be created. The project will continue to support and promote volunteerism as a form of diplomacy.  

AAFSW is seeking individuals interested in the following tasks:

• To write ten Case Studies/Best Practices that highlight exceptional volunteer projects around the world.  As a starting point, AAFSW will provide previous nominations for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA).  The writer can consider these projects or suggest other projects known in the foreign affairs community as exceptional volunteer projects.  One Individual

OR

• To input data into a searchable database of past and present volunteer projects from around the world.  This initial data input will serve as the basis of the volunteer map. As a starting point, AAFSW will provide previous nominations for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA).  The contracted person(s) can consider these projects or suggest other projects known in the foreign affairs community as exceptional volunteer projects.   AAFSW will provide necessary instructions for data entry and access to the database.   Two Individuals

This is a great opportunity to add to your resume and support volunteerism as a form of diplomacy.  To apply, please send a brief statement of interest (max 250 words) and your resume to office@AAFSW.org by Friday, February 18.