Community News

Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Jamaica, Morocco, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga

By JoAnna Haugen on Monday, September 17th, 2007

CONGO, COTE d’IVOIRE, GABON

As founder and director of Village Bicycle Project, David Peckham (Congo 97, Cote d’Ivoire 99, Gabon 00) of Moscow, Idaho, has been collecting and shipping bikes to Ghana since 1999. The organization has shipped more than 21,000 bikes over the past eight years, but, in the style of a Peace Corps volunteer, Peckham has also made sure that Village Bicycle Project is sustainable by offering bicycle education classes to local Ghanaian residents. The free workshop offers instruction in how to ride, maintain and repair the bicycles, and people who complete the course have the opportunity to purchase a bike at a significantly reduced cost.

GABON

Malia Crawford (96-97) graduated with her master’s in divinity and has started a 10-month internship in Sudbury, Mass., to advance her formation as a candidate for Holy Orders. She has been working in the stewardship office at Trinity Church in Copley Square but recently changed positions at the organization and is now working as the administrator for liturgy and pastoral care. Crawford has completed field work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a day shelter for homeless women, a hospice and a community center for people living with HIV/AIDS. She hopes to be ordained in June 2008.

GHANA

The Ghanaian women befriended by Kristin Johnson (92-95) of Minneapolis, Minn., and Renae Adam (92-94), currently of Accra, Ghana, continued to struggle economically long after the two had completed their Peace Corps service. To help break this cycle of poverty, Johnson and Adam started Global Mamas, a nonprofit organization that introduced the products created by their Ghanaian friends to the more affluent United States market. When Global Mamas was founded in 2003, only six batik artists created work for distribution. Today, more than 200 women are participating in the organization with a growing product line. Global Mamas has earned approval from the Fair Trade Federation, an association that connects low-income producers in developing nations with high-income consumer markets and outlines fair trade practices.

JAMAICA

Rev. Cynthia Huling Hummel was recently installed as the nineteenth pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Waverly in New York. She received her master’s degree in divinity from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and her doctorate in preaching from McCormick Theological Seminary. Hummel is the author of The Lice Lady: Holy and Hilarious Moments in Ministry and is on the board of directors for the New York Association of Fire Chaplains. She has also served as the administrator of the Lyons Lunch Program and the Lyons Food Pantry and was president of the Inter-Church Council of Lyons for five years. In 2004 Hummel was honored for her work with the developmentally disabled.

MADAGASCAR

In order to address the growing needs of immigrants in the Baltimore area, community health nurse Aisling McGuckin, MSN, MPH, APRN-BC, (00-02) launched Community Leadership Education for Asylees and Refugees – The CLEAR Project. Funded through a Baltimore Open Institute Fellowship, the program is a free, 10-week training course that helps immigrants become community health workers so they can help others create a safe home environment, negotiate the American healthcare system and learn how to prevent prevalent chronic diseases. McGuckin currently lives in Baltimore City.

MOROCCO

Airgas, Inc., the largest U.S. distributor of packaged industrial, specialty, and medical gases and related products recently announced Robert H. Young, Jr., (70-74) of Radnor, Penn., will join the company as senior vice president and general counsel. He is currently president and shareholder of McCausland Keen & Buckman where he has focused his practice on general corporate law for public and private corporations, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital financing. Young received his undergraduate degree at Williams College and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

MOROCCO

The High Atlas Foundation recently recognized the achievements of Richard Holbrooke (70-72), former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Peace Corps Director in Morocco. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to establish development projects in rural communities of Morocco that local people design and manage. It was founded by former Peace Corps volunteers in 2000.

SOUTH KOREA

Once upon a time, Don Montague wasn’t interested in what South America had to offer. Today, however, Montague provides assistance to independent travelers south of the U.S. border through his nonprofit organization, South American Explorers (SAE). The organization’s thousands of members in nearly 50 countries around the world receive travel information via quarterly magazine and access to members-only clubhouses in four locations throughout South America. These travel havens provide a place for backpackers to gather, share stories and stock up on information. SAE staff members encourage involvement in the local communities by recommending independent local guides and service providers and ensuring that tourist dollars reach those who need them most. Montague is a graduate of Columbia University and the New York University School of Law.

THAILAND

Social studies teacher Jason Springer was recently presented with the Lawrence Horizon Award. He is a second-year teacher at Free State High School in Lawrence, Kan. Co-chairman of the social studies department, Springer also sponsors Model United Nations. The district gives out two awards to honor exemplary teachers each year. District administrators will also nominate him for the Kansas Horizon Award program.

TONGA

University of Washington epidemiology professor Laura Koutsky (76-77) is credited with developing the world’s first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine along with Dr. Kathrin Jansen. The vaccine is the first to combat cervical-cancer, which is the second most common cancer among American women, the second most common cancer among women worldwide and the leading cause of years-of-life-lost from cancer in the developing world.

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