Community News – Achievements of RPCVs
Author: Peter Deekle
April 2019
COLOMBIA
James Fisher (2015-2016) joined Voters of Deer Isle, Maine on Jan. 8, 2018 as a full-time town manager. He is also a musician, plays the bassoon and tuba with two local bands, and belongs to the Flash! In the Pans Steel Drum Band and the University of Maine at Machias Ukulele Club.
ETHIOPIA
Janet Lee (1974-1976), dean of Regis University’s Dayton Memorial Library, recently joined the list of recipients of the Magis Medal. The Magis Medal was originally developed as part of the Centennial celebration of Alpha Sigma Nu (ASN) in 2015, and has been awarded every year since to members who best exemplify scholarship, loyalty, and service in their work to make the world a better place. Lee previously served in the Peace Corps and spent 10 months in Ethiopia last year on a Fulbright Scholar Award, expanding open-access to libraries and first-language children’s books as part of the Foundation Library project.
FIJI
Drew Loganbill (2005-2008) was recently promoted to district conservationist, running the Natural Resources Conservation Service field office in Petaluma, California. His challenges include environmental restoration following the extensive wildfire damage in Northern California.
GRANADA
Catherine Johnson is an interpreter education instructor at Wilson Community College, North Carolina. Her first teaching experience was teaching life skills in West Indies middle schools. Johnson considers it a great privilege to be an interpreter for the deaf community, helping students understand the responsibility and integrity that is required for the profession.
GUATEMALA
Jenifer Hagness (2004-2005) began a career in coffee as a Peace Corps volunteer working with a coffee supply chain in Guatemala. Today, she is vice president of global marketing, product and merchandising for Caribou Coffee Co.
KENYA
Travis Wilson is an associate professor of psychology at Oberlin College, Ohio. He was one of eight alumni honored with a Young Alumni Achievement Award in March 2019 for leadership in his field of study by the University of Illinois, College of Education. Wilson’s distinguishing commitment to service through both his teaching and research prompted his award nomination.
PARAGUAY
Anna Chott (2015-2016) is now the longest-tenured employee with the Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity, heading up its faith relations and volunteer services.
PERU
Kristen Jackson (2012-2015) is helping to build 10 composting toilets during her service as a wastewater engineer in Jacobs, Oregon. She now travels every year since service to build sport courts beside a nonprofit Courts for Kids – demonstrating the desire to deliver a more connected, sustainable world.
RWANDA
Markey Culver (2010-2012), with her brother David Culver, formally launched the Rwanda Women’s Bakery, a social enterprise centered on holistic education for women as a means for empowered autonomy, both socially and financially. By September 2013, the Rwanda Women’s Bakery gainfully employed twelve Rwandan women and captured a growing market in seven villages.
SIERRA LEONE
Celeste Hodges (1969-1972) and her husband Reginald have given The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University a gift of 27 works of art, including masks, figurative sculpture, and musical instruments collected during and following their Peace Corps service while they lived in West Africa for nearly two decades.
SURINAME
Evan Delahanty (2011-2013) wanted to continue his contributions after serving in economic development during his Peace Corps service. He started a fruit snack company, Peaceful Fruits. Some of the fruits are sourced from the Amazon, where it all began. Now the company has eight different flavors, producing 4,000 snacks per day.
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