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National Peace Corps Association > News > Community News > Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Togo
Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Togo
By JoAnna Haugen on Monday, November 12th, 2007
GHANA
Darrell Dearborn has been named interim community development director of Pinole, Calif. He most recently worked as a consultant for San Jose, but Dearborn has also served as director of personnel and labor relations in Salem, Ore., senior deputy city manager of San Jose and interim redevelopment director in Seaside, Calif. A graduate of San Jose State, Dearborn earned his master’s degree at Cal State Hayward.
GUINEA
Kevin Burke’s (63-65) impressive collection of jewelry and artifacts from Africa will soon be on display at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge. The Buzzards Bay, Mass., resident built his collection over a thirty year period when he worked in many different parts of Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer and former Foreign Service officer for the U.S. government. He purchased many of the items from artisans to help support local economies. In addition to his collection of African items, Burke is also providing his passports and many black-and-white photos to be displayed. Though now retired, he plans on working part-time for the Army Corps of Engineers in the Cape Cod Canal field office during the summer.
GUINEA
When Connie Kamara (92-95) took a job with the American Refugee Committee, she knew the use of video in developing countries was a powerful tool. In order to spark conversations on gender and health issues, Kamara began working with a concept called participatory video, which allows for change in a community by letting local people make videos to discuss issues they believe are important. She helped develop Through Our Eyes, a joint venture by the American Refugee Committee and Communication for Change that shoots participatory videos in developing countries, screens them for communities and provides a forum for feedback discussion. USAID awarded the project a three-year grant.
LESOTHO
Thomas G. Soucia (81-84) will take office as public defender in Franklin County, N.Y., in early December. He graduated from Vermont Law School and has most recently been working in Franklin County as assistant attorney in the county Department of Social Services. In addition to serving the in the Peace Corps, Soucia served in combat in Operation Desert Storm.
KENYA
State Treasurer of Nevada Kate Marshall (83-85) has a history of work in law and personal success. A graduate from the Boalt Hall School of Law at University of California-Berkley, Marshall worked for the U.S. Department of Justice under both George Bush, Sr., and Bill Clinton. In 1997, she moved to Nevada and became Senior Deputy Attorney General and creator of Nevada’s Antitrust Unit. Marshall currently runs her own law practice, specializing in consumer protection, telecommunications law and competitive market analysis. She is also active in community service.
KENYA
Stephan Wilson (76-78) has been named dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences at Oklahoma State University. He was most recently senior associate dean and a professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Nevada-Reno. Wilson has served as a visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi and collaborates with colleagues at both Kenyatta University and several universities in China.
MALI
Shawn Davis (96-98) and his photography training project, Visual Griots of Mali: An Exhibition of Photography by African Youth will soon be opening in Los Angeles. The exhibit is a collection of 49 black-and-white photographs taken by 22 Malian children ages 10 to 16. Davis works for the Academy for Educational Development, which supports Visual Griots of Mali.
SENEGAL
Marguerite Roy, a recent graduate from the Washington University School of Law, was appointed Head of Office of the Northern Region for the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). Her work has already taken her around the world, with service for the International Foundation for Election Systems in Guinea; Population Services International in Washington, D.C.; Save the Children UK in London; and the UN’s development programs in Albania and Kosovo. Roy holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
TOGO
Winner of Best of Show at the International Quilt Foundation, Hollis Catelain, saw her winning quilt, Hope for Our World in a dream. The prize netted $10,000, and the quilt will become part of a traveling exhibit to promote awareness of wide-ranging social issues including the environment, genocide in Darfur and fair trade. Chatelain’s 2004 entry in the show, Precious Water, won Best in Show three years ago, and her quilt, The Gift, won first place in the Art-Painted Surface category this year as well. Her work can be found in private and public collections throughout the world.
