Community News

India, Nepal, Paraguay, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine

By JoAnna Haugen on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

INDIA

Retired orthopedic physical therapist Paul Stefanacci (66-68) opened a walk-in physical therapy clinic in Elbasan, Albania, this past September, which provides rehabilitation services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. He is also currently mentoring a young man named Kristaq Marku, a student in physical therapy who graduates from the American University later this spring. Stefanacci will be returning to Albania in June for a two-month stay, and at that time, he and Marku will open the clinic completely. To help minimize costs for supplies, Stefanacci has joined Lantern Projects, a nonprofit organization that raises money for small international businesses.

NEPAL

Heather Keag (00-01) has been named the new executive director of the Downtown Chico Business Association. She has been working for the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and in the city manager’s officer. Prior to that, Keag was the deputy director and interim executive director for City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley and at Chico State University in student development for University Housing and Food Service.

PARAGUAY

Brooke Magid Hart (84-86), a counselor at Spring Lake Park High School, has been named Minnesota Secondary Guidance Counselor of the Year. This is her 15th year as a guidance counselor. Prior positions include work as a family resource specialist for a family forum / head start program, a project assistant for Project REACH, a consultant and trainer for a teen program and an assistant human growth and development coordinator. She is the founder of SLP High School’s Student Alliance for Leadership in Social Action and the Gay / Straight Alliance. Past awards and honors include participating in a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program in Japan in 1998 and serving on the Ashland City Council from 1992-1996. She is currently a board member of the Anoka School Counselors Association and co-chair of the Minneapolis Public Schools District Curriculum and Instruction Advisory Committee. Hart received her bachelor’s degree from Alfred University in New York and her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Superior.

PHILIPPINES

James C. Stewart is the author of Ask What You Can Do: Our Days in the Early Peace Corps, which details his experience as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers. The book includes information about the living conditions, encounters and routines of early volunteers in the country as well as the Filipino people among whom the volunteers lived and worked. Stewart received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a doctorate degree from the University Hawaii. He taught for 30 years in the Department of Environmental Studies and Planning at Sonoma State University.

THAILAND

University of Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton (62-64) has been named as chair of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development, which advises the Agency for International Development on strategies to promote food production, nutrition and food security worldwide. He has developed and led international assistance programs in Haiti and Zambia and conducted research on agricultural development in Grenada and Kenya. Deaton has honorary degrees from Prince of Songkla University in Thailand, Chonnam National University in Korea and Kutasi University in the Republic of Georgia.

TURKEY

Donna Chmara (66-68) and her husband were honored by the Polish Arts Club of Trenton, NJ, at its annual Polonaise Ball. Chmara is an educator and writer. She taught English at Trenton Central High School and The College of New Jersey. She was also the communications director for the NJ Association of School Administrators, coordinator of the Provisional Teacher Program, director of the State Board of Education and personnel director for the New Brunswick School District. She is currently seeking a publisher for her book, Breaking the Silence. Polish Christian Narratives of World War II Chmara has a bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey and a master’s degree from Temple University.

UKRAINE

During her Peace Corps service, Sarah Whelan (07-09) created Eastword Oral History Project, a nonprofit organization that collects oral histories in her region of service and translates them into English in order to foster cultural understanding. The organization is currently supporting fellow Ukraine RPCV Brian Woods in his effort to create a short film documentary about the culture, history and art of the Crimean Tatar. The project is supported by the International Committee for Crimea and its community. It is slated to begin in June of this year with a final product release date in March 2012.

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