NEWS ABOUT PEACE CORPS FELLOWS/USA fellowsvolume 18, issue 2 . winter 2009 FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Peace Corps Welcomes a New Director This summer, President recruitment and project evalua- of assistance programs in Latin Obama nominated, and the tion officer for the Peace Corps America, Africa, Asia, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, Aaron in his hometown of Chicago from Middle East. He was awarded S. Williams as the 18th Director 1970 to 1971. the USAID Distinguished Career of the Peace Corps. Williams has pursued a ca- Service Award, and was twice “I am deeply honored to be the reer in the development and awarded the Presidential Award Director of the Peace Corps and implementation of worldwide for Distinguished Service. I want to thank President Obama assistance programs. Williams He is a member of the Council for the trust that he has placed in was a vice president for inter- on Foreign Relations, and he me. I look forward to making his national business development was a member of the USAID call to public service a reality for with RTI International. He was Advisory Committee on Vol- more Americans,” said Director also a senior manager at the U.S. untary Foreign Aid. He served Williams. “I am committed to re- Agency for International Develop- on the Obama-Biden transition cruiting, training, and supporting ment (USAID), where he attained team, the advisory board of the the next generation of skilled and the rank of career minister in the Ron Brown Scholar Program, enthusiastic Volunteers eager to U.S. Senior Foreign Service. He the board of directors of CARE, serve side by side with members also served as executive vice and the boards of the Institute of Peace Corps host communi- president of the International for Sustainable Communities, ties around the world.” Youth Foundation. the Pan American Development Williams is the fourth Direc- As USAID mission director in Foundation, and the National Peace Corps Director tor to have served as a Peace South Africa, Williams led a $1 Peace Corps Association. Aaron S. Williams Corps Volunteer. He served as a billion foreign assistance program Williams is fluent in Spanish. Volunteer in the Dominican Re- during President Nelson Man- He is a graduate of Chicago ing his service as a Volunteer public from 1967 to 1970. Upon dela’s administration. In addition, State University, and has an MBA in the Dominican Republic. The completing his service, he served he has extensive experience in from the University of Wisconsin. couple have two sons, Michael as the coordinator of minority the design and management Williams met his wife Rosa dur- and Steven. Coming Full Circle By Nicole Warren (RPCV/Mali, 1994-1997; Fellow/Johns Hopkins, 1998) I was sworn in as a Peace in amazement as she put my fall at the bottom of the medical Clients came to her on the backs Corps Volunteer in May 1994, af- inexperience with birth in the hierarchy. Because of their rural of bikes, mopeds, and donkey ter three months of crash courses same category as not being able location and relatively low status, carts. She never turned them in local language and maternal to pound millet or carry water on most matrones are inadequately away. She couldn’t have if she and child health, and was de- my head. Despite our vast differ- trained, poorly supervised, lack wanted to. They literally trailed posited rather unceremoniously ences, Sali took it upon herself basic equipment, and receive her as she made the well-worn in a village about eight miles off to introduce me to working with little continuing education. trip from her home to the village a paved road in southeast Mali, childbearing women. Despite these challenges, maternity throughout the day. West Africa. By default, I began In Mali, matrones are formally matrones are committed, deter- On market days, when I working with Sali, a matrone, or trained health care workers, pro- mined health care workers who helped her with prenatal consul- auxiliary midwife. She was the viding the majority of reproduc- provide the best care they can tations, Sali’s multitasking was only female health care worker tive health services in a country with little respite or support. It at its peak. I remember watching available in her community. where one in 15 women die from was Sali who introduced me to her assess one client’s abdomen, When I met her, Sali could a childbearing-related cause. the realities such a woman would explain how to take an antibiotic not believe I had never seen a Though they are uniquely situated face as wife, mother, farmer, and to another confused client, and child born. Hadn’t everyone? to help reduce maternal mortality matrone. Sali’s family and clients breastfeed the youngest of her She laughed, shaking her head in their communities, matrones needed her attention at all hours. continued on page 3 Friend Us, Fan Us, and Follow Us Peace Corps has jumped head first into the 21st century using social networking sites such as b Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Peace Corps In our online world, these sites provide one of the best ways to connect with a broad new audience. Compared to a standard website, social networking is more interactive and personal, making it easier Fellows/USA to get involved. Social networking sites are especially useful to our partner universities, who can use them as a To submit stories or ideas: powerful tool for raising awareness of the programs they offer, as well as for recruitment. With their very own YouTube channel, Fellows at the University of Arizona are able to share their unique experiences with the online community. Duquesne and Western Illinois use Facebook pages Write Peace Corps Fellows/USA and groups to provide information on their degree programs, and to keep their Fellows connected. Paul D. Coverdell Other than keeping Fellows up to date on what’s happening on campus, social networking sites Peace Corps Headquarters provide the Fellows with a community made up of other RPCVs. Assimilating back into American cul- 1111 20th Street NW ture can be hard following service, but having a group of people with a similar background can make Washington, DC 20526 that process a lot easier. As a Fellow, you can also use sites like YouTube to chronicle your internship and promote your com- munity service project. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with a little self-promotion! Call So, next time you’re surfing the Web, make sure you connect with the Peace Corps community by 800.424.8580, ext. 1440 friending, fanning, or following us. Fax 202.692.1421 E-mail [email protected] Web www.peacecorps.gov/fellows Happy Anniversary to Our University Partners Julie Driver Congratulations to all of our partner universities celebrating an anniversary with the Fellows/USA program Program Manager in 2009! Thanks so much for your continuing contribution and commitment. [email protected] 5-year (founded 2004) 10-year (founded 1999) Duke University (public policy) University of New Orleans Michael Garcia Fordham University Southern New Hampshire University Program Assistant Seton Hill University Florida Institute of Technology [email protected] University of Cincinnati University of Maryland–Baltimore 15-year (founded 1994) University of South Carolina (business) Western Illinois University University of Vermont Illinois State University Sarah Van Auken University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Program Assistant Xavier University [email protected] Fellows is a publication of the Peace Corps. Views ex- pressed in Fellows are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily repre- sent the official views of the Peace Corps or the United States government. Current and past Fellows, administrative staff, and community internship supervisors celebrate Western Illinois University’s 15th anniversary. Page 2 Full Circle Con’t from page 1 eight children—all at once. When the last client was taken care of, Sali would sigh and complain that her busy morning prevented her from getting the best produce at the market. I returned to the U.S. in 1996 and pursued training in nursing, midwifery, and public health, traveling to Mali as often as I could. In 2002, I became a nurse- midwife and began to appreciate the magnitude of the matrones’ Nicole Warren (far right) with participants in the Mali Midwives program. Photo courtesy responsibilities through my own professional lens. of Robert Akers. As I struggled to balance my own personal and professional their job as well as they would like, than a few phone conversations visit but not at the second, what responsibilities, I thought about struggling to meet their respon- and a couple of awkward emails. should I do?” Another asked, the matrones, who were doing sibilities with few supplies, little The day before the event, three “How many pills of iron should the same thing, only under much supervision, and little continuing of the region’s top clinical staff— the woman take?” A third tried harsher conditions and with far education. In a place like Mali, two sage-femmes, the most to clarify when and how much fewer resources. In the midst where the health care system is highly trained midwives in Mali, malaria prophylaxis should be of my busy clinic day, I could severely under-resourced, I knew and a physician specializing in given. These discussions had call up an electronic version of that these front-line matrones reproductive health—sat down the others on the edge of their evidence-based guidelines to would struggle to find that sup- to adapt the training materials to seats. The matrones had been help guide my practice. A well- port. fit the matrone’s education, skill waiting for an opportunity to rested, competent colleague Back at home, the matrones’ level, and preferred language ask these questions, to have an would reliably relieve me at the stories stayed with me.