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[Updated May 17, 2013 ] |
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Kaki Rusmore (M.Ed. 1995) krusmore@cruzio.com
After 9 years in Nicaragua, I’ve been back in the States for over a decade, and am now Director of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence at the Community Foundation for Monterey
County. It’s an interesting perspective combining philanthropy and capacity building for nonprofits. I’ve been there long enough to develop some new programs, several working with cohorts of organizations combining peer learning, small grants, individualized consulting and coaching. I also founded and co-facilitate a year-long leadership training program for nonprofit staff moving into executive positions. It’s so exciting to see their intelligence, curiosity and commitment to shared leadership and significant community change. We have a 10 year commitment to the program, by which time a significant percentage of local leaders will have participated. I also consult with local organizations and am interested in doing some international work again.
On the volunteer side, I recently stepped down from a long stint on the local Women’s Commission, where I headed up a study on the status of women and girls, especially the economic elements. And I’m active in the co-housing where I live, practicing democracy with my neighbors. If you’re ever in the San Francisco/Santa Cruz area, let me know! [May 2013]
Mishy Lesser, (Ed. D. 1996) mishylesser@gmail.com
Since 2009, I’ve been the Learning Director of an award-winning forty-minute documentary film called Coexist on post-genocide Rwanda. I wrote the film’s four-lesson Teacher’s Guide, which serves as a tool for middl
e and high school, and postsecondary educators who teach about genocide and colonial legacy. The film is used widely for social emotional learning to cultivate beliefs and behaviors that undermine othering and scapegoating, and encourage upstanding and reconciliation. Teaching Tolerance (a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center) informed its vast network of teachers about our film, and it’s now in the hands of more than 3,000 teachers all over the U.S. I do classroom teaching as well as faculty development, and work with counselors and school administrators who address bullying in their schools. On a trip in late 2012 to San Diego, I was struck by how relevant the themes of genocide and colonialism are to teachers and students who live and work in this borderland where a high percentage of students are othered because of their legal status and where their parents were born. In January 2013 we launched an indiegogo campaign to raise money to broadcast our film on public television stations across the country.
And I’m developing a new project to create an online interactive new media curriculum to teach U.S. high school students about the intersection between U.S. foreign policy and human rights in Latin American during the Cold War. A group of interns from the Harvard Graduate School of Education helped me kick off the project this past fall. I’m currently applying for grants and beginning to develop a video archive of witnesses and survivors and commentators of major foreign policy/human rights events. The first module will focus on Chile and the second on Central America.
A trip to Chile in February 2008 led me to write a blog and to develop a radio broadcast for PRI/BBC's The World, which was aired on September 11, 2008. You can read the blog and listen to the radio broadcasts on my website. I still live in Boston with my beloved husband, Chris Ives, who teaches religious studies at Stonehill College. And every time we visit the Pioneer Valley, there is yearning in my heart to stay. [Jan 2013]
Helen Fox (Ed.D. 1991) hfox@umich.edu
My most recent book is called "Their Highest Vocation: Social Justice and the Millennial Generation." (2012, Peter Lang). It's based on extended interviews with students, faculty, staff, program heads, academic advisors, and others at the University of Michigan where I teach. They -- and I -- comment on the strengths and foibles of "Millennial" college students, who are said to the the most progressive generation in history, yet seem reluctant to question or challenge the system or to go very deeply into the complex issues of social justice. Nevertheless, they are developing their own leadership style and their own relationship with the people around the world they so passionately want to serve. What do they need from their teachers in order to create, as Freire says, "a world in which it will be easier to love"? You can find the book and some reviews on Amazon.com.
At the University of Michigan I continue to work with talented, fun, hard-working, socially-conscious undergraduates in small seminars and independent study projects on topics such as racism, international development, nonviolence, and human rights activism. I’ve written (or edited) three other books: "Listening to the World" (1994) (from my CIE dissertation) is now out of print but it’s available free on my webpage. My second book, "When Race Breaks Out: Conversations About Race and Racism In College Classrooms" (2001) is now in its second edition (2009), and available on Amazon.com. The revised edition adds many new texts and videos to the annotated bibliography, and a new introduction that comments on the meaning of the Obama presidency. My third book, an edited collection, is called "ALT DIS: Alternative Discourses and the Academy" (2002), published by Heinemann. It's about opening up the university to new styles of writing and critical thinking. Many of the pieces are written in "alt" styles that range from light-hearted through angry, moving, political, subtle, and straight-forward “academic.”
I am blessed with a wonderful extended family: three granddaughters and a grandson: thirteen-year-old Sarah, seven-year old Devyn, four old Kendall, and 11-month old Aidan James. I have a wonderful stepson, Jaime Koopman, and beautiful daughter-in-law, Pilar Parish; a step-daughter Sara Koopman, who is finishing her Ph.D. on peace communities in Colombia, as well as my three daughters: Nondini (Beth), who is a bookkeeper in Portland, Oregon; Maria, a lawyer with her own practice in Portland, Maine; Maria's husband Mark, a nurse practitioner in the mental health field; and Cybelle, who is now an Assistant Professor in Sociology (race and class) at the University of California at Berkeley making twice my salary. My husband, Jim Koopman, is an epidemiologist who is looking into the dynamics of the spread of AIDS, polio, and other epidemics through computer modeling. He previously worked in many Latin American countries and, as a physician, participated in the world-wide campaign to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s in India. [Jan 2012].
A recent update from Sara:
I’m still an Associate Professor (of Communication) at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I continue to enjoy my job, and this year I took on a little bit of a new role as director of our department’s Master’s program. I can’t believe I’ve been here for over 7 years now! [12-10]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Earlier - I’m currently working as a servant to a very persuasive puppy named Bexar (pronounced “bear”), after the county we live in. When he allows it, I also work as an assistant professor of communication at the University of Texas at San Antonio I teach communication theory, research methods, and intercultural communication, and my research focuses on ways in which U.S. Americans experience cultural diversity, the role of communication in shaping, reinforcing, and challenging ethnocentrism and cultural ideologies about difference, and how allies work to promote social justice.
Every now and then Bexar goes to camp and allows me to leave town. My international travel these days is mostly for leisure—a recent highlight was hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. [5-08]
Lois Martin (1990-1992) loismarti@gmail.com
Upon retiring from teaching at Salem State College (now University), I moved into the Arizona sun. Aside from the sun, I was drawn to Tucson where I hoped to be able to delve heavily into Latin America activism—a continuation of the focus that had occupied my spare time for many years. In fact, I could not have made a better choice. Tucson is at the epicenter of the humanitarian crisis in the Sonoran Desert where the remains of more than two hundred migrants have been recovered annually for several years. We believe that as many more have also died, but their remains never found. Consequently, I work with Tucson based humanitarian organizations, particularly with Humane Borders and No More Deaths, on both sides of the border. Much of my time is spent in activities from walking migrant trails, putting out water and bandaging feet, to developing a national network to assist deported people and their families, lobbying, writing letters, etc. I wonder how I ever had time for a full-time job!
CIE memories are among my best and, during a recent visit east, I was glad to find DRE still anchoring the program. I urged him to let any CIE folks know that I would welcome contacts or visits from any CIE folks wanting to learn more about our border crisis. [Dec. 2010]
Cliff
Meyers (Ed.D. 1996) cmeyers@unicef.org
Cliff
reports after a visit to CIE:
I am still working with UNICEF in Bangkok as the Regional Adviser – Education, supporting UNICEF’s education programmes across East Asia and the Pacific. I have been inthis post, and in Bangkok, for 7 years and am still enjoying, though feeling a need for change. I am focussing mainly on quality issues related to basic education, as well as early childhood development, the basis for success in school and life. I have been really fortunate to have seen so much of the region, from lovely Pacific Island states to 7 visits to North Korea. I also get to meet a number of CIE members on the road, including Mohamed Hassan working in UNICEF Bangladesh.
More important than the work is the blessing of becoming a father at the ripe old age of 48. What a great thing. My son Jack and partner Oud (from Laos) have joined me on quite a few trips around the region. I was back in Amherst for a few days in November 2010, when I promised DRE that I would update my blurb on the website. [Nov 2010]
Jimmy Weir (M.Ed. 1998) jimmyweir@hotmail.com
After finishing my Masters at CIE I eventually enrolled in a PhD program in cultural anthropology at the Graduate
Center, CUNY. In 2004, I was based in Kabul to conduct fourteen months of dissertation field research that involved travel to central, northern and western areas of Afghanistan, and the collection over one hundred life story interviews. During this same period, I organized the Afghan Oral History Project at Kabul University, and directed the American Institute of Afghan Studies. My dissertation, entitled We Went to the Hills: Four Afghan Life Stories, was successfully defended in May 2010. I will soon submit for publication a manuscript that analyzes Afghan life narratives for perspectives on shared macro-historical experiences and for depictions of meaningful cultural discourses. I speak, read and write Dari at an intermediate level and speak Urdu at a similar level.
Good to see things are still thriving at CIE. I have been back in touch with Rob Fuderich just recently. I ran into Ann Hartman in Hawaii at the East-West center a few months ago. And I saw some other CIE members recently. CIE continues its many orbits!
I’m returning to Kabul in July where I will be based in Kabul doing research on tribal and informal political systems, mostly from Kandahar and Uruzgan. [June-10]
Edward Graybill (Ed. D. 1995) egraybill@aed.org
Colleagues and friends,
The other day I found myself perusing the CIE website and noticed that the personal blurb and photos I have on file are seriously outdated, so I thought it’s time for an update. I recently left Zambia after more than eight years during which, on behalf of, first, Creative Associates, and then, AIR, I managed two USAID-funded education programs (CHANGES and CHANGES2) that were multi-sectoral in nature, crossing over into health, HIV/AIDS prevention, agriculture, and community development. We did good work on both programs, and I enjoyed living and working in Zambia, but by September last year I felt it was time to move on.
I was looking forward to taking some time off in Venice, Florida where we had a nice cottage just 200 meters from a private beach. But before I could wriggle my toes too dee
ply into the sand, and before I could pop open very many cold ones, I was approached by AED to take on the role of Chief of Party of its new five-year program in Ethiopia, Improving the Quality of Primary Education Program (IQPEP)—not a very melodious acronym but an interesting and worthwhile program nonetheless.
IQPEP is engaged in a number of areas—pre- and in-service teacher development, planning and management, gender equity and participation, and research and assessment—that are designed in a synergistic manner to improve the quality of primary education in Ethiopia. IQPEP is a national program, working in 200 woredas (districts), 2,500 primary schools, and all 30 colleges of teacher education. We have offices in all nine regions of the country, with the headquarters office in Addis Ababa where I live, and approximately 100 staff, so IQPEP is a large, complex, and challenging program to manage. I arrived in Addis in late October last year and so far have found my colleagues to be welcoming, capable, and hard-working, so I am enjoying my work here so far.
I’ve included a photo of my family, which was taken recently at Lake Langano, a nice getaway a few hours from Addis. For those of you who might remember: Lauren, on the left, is 19 and will be a junior this fall at Northeastern University, studying development economics, with a minor in international affairs; Sophia, on the right, is 14 and has transitioned well to Addis where she likes her new school, the international Community School of Addis Ababa; Maureen, in front, is finishing her Master’s from UConn in humanitarian assistance, and will soon be starting work in Addis. We’re doing well, and continue to enjoy life’s challenges and opportunities.[July-10]
Flavia Ramos (M.Ed. 1989; Ed.D. 1999) framos@lsi.fsu.edu
After 12 years living and working in the DC metro area another change has come … I joined the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University in August as Visiting Associate in Research. Prior to this appointment, I was the project director for the Assistance to Basic Education (ABE-IQC) with USAID and director of Juarez and Associates’ office in Washington DC (2007-09). From 2002 to 2007, I served as assistant professor and director of the International Training and Education Program at American University (the program founded by Leon Clark); and visiting professor of international education at the George Washington University (2000-2002). For over twenty years I have been a consultant for governmental (USAID, USDOL) and NGOs implementing participant training programs in the US and conducting research and training in Latin America, Africa and Asia. I live in Tallahassee, Florida with my husband Hedi Mattoussi and ten-year old daughter Yasmine. [Oct 2009]
My life at CIE/UMass spans two decades! Below some recent publiscations:
Juarez and Associates, Inc. (2008). Interim Assessment of Impact/Results of the Short-term Technical Assistance and Training Task Order. IQC No. GEW-I-00-02-00020-00 Integrating Gender for Development Results: Women in Development. Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development.
Ramos, F. (2007). “Imaginary pictures, real life stories: The FotoDialogo method,” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 20 (2) March-April 2007, pp. 191-224. (Selected for full reproduction in the collection” edited by Barbara Harrison which will be published by Sage Publications as part of SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods.)
Ramos, F. (2007). Life’s Structures and the Individual’s Voice: Making Sense of Women’s Words. In “The structure and agency of women’s education,” edited by Mary Ann Maslak. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ramos, F. (2006). Helping Adult Learners Tell Their Stories Using Photo-Literature: The FotoDialogo Method. Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education, 8(1).
Rita
Raboin (M.Ed. 1997) ind_marajo@yahoo.com.br
Rita is a sister with Irma de Notre Dame based in Belem, Brazil. Rita recently described her activities.
I live in Northern Brasil in the State of Para on the Island of Marajo, the largest navigable Archipelago in the world. There are 16 islands and I live on the Island of Breves with two sisters. I'm currently the Diocesan Coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission in 9 counties. I also accompany other pastorals in the local community. From 2000-2006, I coordinated "The Pastor of the Child", a UNICEF inspired NGO supported by the Brazilian Bishops which provided nutritional supplements and support for mothers and their children to improve survival rates in . Congratulations on CIE's 40th celebration! [May 2009]
Mark Lynd (Ed.D. 1994) markrobertlynd@yahoo.com
I am currently living in Montara, CA, just south of San Francisco, with my wife, Anastasia Pickens, and two extremely spoiled cats. In 2002, I launched an NGO called School-to-School International with the aim of trying to improve the
quality of elementary education in developing countries. Our approach is to help kids get the basic things they need to learn - not just a couple books or a teacher who attended a couple workshops, but decent health conditions, pre-school support, and an organized and supportive learning environment at school. STS has been working in Guinea/Conakry, West Africa since 2002 and has been making slow but steady progress. We'd also be happy to put any Center members on our mailing list.
To pay the bills, I've also been consulting for the beltway bandits, mostly Creative Associates (with Margaret McLaughlin before she moved to Peace Corps), in areas such as teacher training, curriculum development, program evaluation, and most recently, assessment of student learning. All very fun and interesting stuff - much of it, the kinds of things I shunned while at CIE (I remember making fun of Chi squares, of all things!) but, as it turns out, very useful when trying to figure out how to help kids learn better. And it gets me around to places where I can visit Center members like Renuka Pillay in Uganda, Becky Bunnell - living and consulting in Kenya, and Jane Benbow in Cairo - and the old gang of Dave McCurry, Bonnie Mullinix and Tom Neilson at CIES and AREA meetings.
Oh, and to live up to Anna Donovan's original image of me running up and down the Pacific coast while I was applying to CIE, I've re-embraced surfing. Not a pretty sight, but much fun to splash about in the water.[12-08]
Ann Hartman (M. Ed. 1997) annhartman@hotmail.com
I continue to work as a Seminars Program Specialist at the East-West Center in Honolulu, where I have been since 2002. My main role is to coordinate short term professional development and exchange programs for younger leaders (aged 25-40) and for journalists from Asia Pacific and the United States. Like CIE, our programs are unique in that they
bring participants from countries across the Asia Pacific region and from the United States together for collaborative learning through dialogue, seminar sessions and travel.
I just returned from a fascinating exploration of China's development challenges with a group of journalists representing the U.S., China, India, Nepal, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan. We spent 17 days in China, traveling to Beijing, Chongqing, Fuling, and Lijiang and meeting with government officials, students, business leaders, factory workers, farmers, villagers relocated by the Three Gorges Dam, migrant workers and many others for a diverse and complex picture of China's development. Last year I had two equally interesting activities. I took another group of journalists to San Jose, Beijing, Shanghai, Bangalore and Chennai to gain perspectives on 'innovation offshoring and indigenous innovation' in the region and I had the opportunity to lead 16 emerging leaders from Asia Pacific and the U.S. on an enlightening programto study 21st education challenges in Asia, with visits to schools and universities in Honolulu, Hiroshima and Shanghai.
It's been an exciting year in which I have learned a lot about the Asia Pacific region not just from my travels but equally from the diverse participants in each program. In addition to work, I keep busy with my two children, Spencer (aged 2) and Maggie (aged 4). We live in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Hawaii is a delightfully diverse place, with a wealth of opportunities to learn about Asian cultures as well as the traditions and language of the native Hawaiian people. [6-08]
In June 2006 I packed up my faculty office at Monmouth University, jettisoned many of our belongings in our house in New Jersey, dropped off Scott and Scha at their respective colleges and headed south; resigning my tenured associate professorship was liberating in many ways. Bonnie and I, Kevin (now 13) and our cat Akina settled into our new home in Greenville, SC, at the base of Paris Mountain, surrounded by 100 foot tall loblolly pine, good progressive neighbors (well, most of them anyway),an active arts community, and we are quite happy.
After a year of home renovation projects, including a 14 foot koi pond and surrounding garden, I have returned to my artwork, enrolling in the low-residency intensive MFA program at Goddard College in Vermont. At the beginning of each semester, I get to spend eight days in a vibrant community of interdisciplinary artists, each pursuing their degree in a program committed to the social responsibility of the artist, and of the arts. My work now consists of integrating my background in social science research, ethnography and realist landscape painting, using my extended observations at the locations I paint as a means to inquire into cultural and historical elements of the Carolina Piedmont economic and cultural geography. I will be finished with this program in spring of 2010 and will have three more initials I can place next to the comma after my name. It is very interesting being a graduate student again, 12 years post doctorate degree.
Of course, being a full-time artist, especially one starting so late in my life, is economically challenging. To that end, I work part time for the TLT Group, producing a series of online webinars, workshops and an informal “Friday Live!” event for institutional and individual member subscribers (mostly deans, assoc. deans, VPs, librarians and faculty). This has put me back into an academic community where the continued discourse on the transformation of teaching and learning, and the role of ICT in all that, is quite familiar. Bonnie and I also launched Jacaranda Educational Development this year as a location for our consulting activity, more of which is highly welcomed. Come on down and visit us. [11-08]
Mantina Mohasi (Ed.D. 2000) mohasivm@yahoo.com
Mantina Mohasi returned to the Lesotho Institute of Extra mural Studies (IEMS) in 2000. IEMS is one of the teaching institutes of the National University of Lesotho whichoffers undergraduate and graduate (Masters) programmes on a part time/open learning basis. Dr. Mohasi is a senior lecturer academic staff member in the Adult Education Department of the Institute. She presently coordinates the B. Ed Adult Education Programmes. The Institute has also introduced Masters Programme in Adult Education in 2007/2008 academic year and Dr Mohasi is one of the key facilitators
She has occupied several administrative positions as head of the department from 2000-2003 October, and a
cting dean of the Institute from November 2003 to October 2004. She facilitates undergraduate courses such as Introduction to Distance Education, Practicum in Adult Education, Psychology in Business. At Masters degree in Adult Education she facilitates Social Psychology and Conflict Resolution. She further supervises adult learners’ research projects.
Dr Mohasi’s research work focuses on indigenous knowledge, Open and distance learning, gender issues and community development. She presented papers to different conferences that were organized in countries like Botswana, Uganda, San Francisco and Austria. One of her highlights of her career came when she was awarded the prestigious Cyril O’Houle Scholarship in Adult and Continuing Education. This was an honors programme for emerging scholars and leaders in this field. This progamme culminated in a scholarly publication: Global Issues and Adult Education in which Dr Mohasi contributed an article on “ Mainstreaming Marginalized Populations through Adult Education Programs: The Herd boys in Lesotho.”
Apart from her academic work, Dr Mohasi is also a very keen community development practitioner. She has participated in non-formal education programmes for traditional healers in the area of HIV and AIDS. She also developed material for these traditional healers on mentoring processes and skills.[5-08]Jane Benbow (Ed. D. 1994) jbenbow@air.org
Jane is currently living in Cairo Egypt severing as the Chief of Party
of a $90 million dollar USAID education project. The project is called the Education Reform Project (ERP) and works with schools, communities,
teachers and administrator to implement a School Based Reform (SBR)
approach to reinventing the whole education system of Egypt. The project
also supports Adult Literacy and Scholarships for girls. At the request
of the 
Ministry ERP will eventually be working with all the Idarra
(districts) of Egypt to institutionalize the ERP approach to School
Self Assessments, School Improvement Planning and Active Learning. The
project will continue to work with individual schools to support
innovations such as Teacher Learning Circles, Subject Area Learning Hubs
and approaches to Early Reading.
Jane says this work is exciting, interesting and demanding. If she had
known how great being a COP could be she would have taken it up
earlier. "Who knew being the boss and having a little power was much
fun?" she said. "All those years at CIE I was taught to reject and
mistrust power - what a miseducation.". Jane is still
employed by the American Institutes of Research (AIR) in Washington DC.
Before becoming the COP of ERP Jane served for 2 years as the Director
of the EQUIP 1 program.
Just after leaving CIE, Jane spent 10 years with CARE, USA. During that
10 year period Jane established CARE's world-wide program in Basic and
Girl's Education.
In spite of these accomplishments and maybe because of them she is still
looking for a man who can dance! She has lowered her expectations,
however. Instead of looking fo a rich elderly gentlemen with a short
life span she now wants someone with a good retirement plan who is healthy
enough to keep up with her.
Jane continues to be a staunch supporter of CIE, working CIE graduates like Hassan Mohamed in Afghanistan, Doc Coster in Egypt, Debbie Fredo for work in Mali, and Jenny Campos. She is also active in recruiting with three former CARE employees who have gotten degrees from CIE. [5/08]
Bonnie Mullinix (Ed.D. 1995) bbmullinix@gmail.com
Bonnie currently works as a Senior Consultant with the Teaching, Learning and Technology Group, a national organization that works to support TL&T in Higher Education. This position allows her to work out of Greenville and continue to build other educational research and consulting efforts domestically and internationally.
Most recently, she and Dave McCurry established Jacaranda Educational Development. The first activity undertaken by this consulting firm was Bonnie's work with CIE/UMass helping with the development of a M.Ed. for faculty responsible for secondary teacher education throughout Afghanistan (beginning in a snowy January return to Amherst and continuing through 6 weeks in Kabul February - March
2008. It was wonderful walking the Halls of CIE, visiting with everyone, and working with all the interesting and dedicated Center members, HEP Project personnel and Afghans associated with this wonderful project!). As for the website and consulting firm, we are offering several CIE friends and colleagues a web-presence with us and welcome CIE members to think of us if you need consultative help.
Prior to these most recent endeavors, Bonnie concluded two years as Assistant Academic Dean at Furman University (2005-2007) where she worked intensively to establish the Center for Teaching and Engaged Learning (CTEL) and create a unique, interesting and worthwhile set of programs to support both faculty and students. This position is what brought them to Greenville, SC (where they are happily settled an hour north of Dave's parents).
Before this, Bonnie served as Associate Professor of Higher Education at Drexel University and spent seven years serving in various capacities at Monmouth University and established a Faculty Resource Center, designed a Center for Teaching and Learning and redesigned the educational counseling program. These positions gave her a chance to write, research, connect with various professional communities and build familiarity with new technologies. The international connections came when she worked with the MU Social Work International Community Development Concentration and got Monmouth its first federally funded international institutional partnership grant - with Latvia.
All of this University-based teaching and faculty development work is situated in the context of what is now 25 years of work in international development - that is now calling her back. A brief retrospective: Namibia NGO Capacity Building and Training of Trainers (1995-98); World Education - LSI, domestic literacy/numeracy, Kenya, Mali, (1992-1998); Malawi Adult Literacy (1988-91); CIE (1983-1995); and before that The Gambia Peace Corps Secondary Science and Adult Literacy (1980-83) - with lots of consulting in between.[4-08]
Michael Marzolla (M.Ed. 1996) ammarzolla@ucdavis.edu
It is hard for me to believe that I have completed twenty-five years with the University of California and that I started
my graduate studies at CIE back in 1978, thirty years ago. I continue to lead the 4-H Youth Development program in Santa Barbara County and four years ago I assumed the leadership of our Counties Master Gardener program. I have also participated in various international assignments in Bolivia and more recently in Serbia. In 2006 I was able to visit to Cuba to study their sustainable agriculture efforts. Currently, as the Co-Chair of the North American Association for Environmental Education's International Commission, I am organizing a learning and exchange visit to Cuba with a focus on environmental education scheduled for November 29th through December 8th of this year-(I would love to have CIE faculty, alumni and students join our delegation!). Cuba is a wondrous and stimulating country. I have attached a more recent photo of yours truly at the La Foridita Bar in Havana next to a stature of Pappa Hemingway... [1-08]
Since leaving CIE over ten years ago, Don has worked both internationally and domestically. He worked in Cambodia, and has also held various positions in Lowell, MA (little Cambodia) and bordering towns. Since his days at CIE, he has integrated two important concepts into his life and work experiences (intent and the inner teacher).
As a visiting professor at a business college in Phnom Penh, Don's primary duties were to develop a four level ESL curriculum, and the syllabuses for about 20 different undergraduate courses. He was also involved in external staff development training for local businesses, such as the floating casino. Don taught an undergraduate course called Working Internationally as well. He was about to be promoted, when his wife Phanna asked him to return to Lowell.
Phanna , his spouse, had been a bilingual teacher for about 17 years with the Lowell Public Schools. To make a long story short, Phanna and about thirty other nonwhite teachers were fired. In order to achieve justice, Don and Phanna had to match the superintendent's and the school committee's will and intent. Basically, Phanna won an intense 12 day arbitration hearing. Her case is still under appeal, but she has returned to work.
Currently, Don runs a GED/Basic Skills Program for several homeless shelters in "Little Cambodia". He has several unique qualifications for this position: 1) went to high school for three months, and enjoyed that experience so much he returned a year later to stay for another three months; 2) has a Ge.D to go with his Ed.D. and 3) during the 60s lived in his walk-in van for six months.
In addition to his academic work for Tewksbury Public Schools, Don taught Kouk Sundo (Korean Yoga) and Tai Chi Ball at the high school for five or six years. Don has written an article based on his studies of Kouk Sundo, entitled The Teacher is Within and Findable. The following quote is from that article.
I still need to reach that point where I can trust my own inner center, in order to become a good external teacher. “My greatest surprise was the discovery that I had an inner teacher,
an inner center of wisdom, which has been with me all along, but not developed.”
The struggle to find one’s inner center is beneficial, but the realization that we have an inner teacher comes before finding the inner center. The struggle to find that inner center is also a good teacher. Once you begin learning more and more through practice, and receiving more benefits, you become more inspired to be a teacher.
Don believes that we all have an inner teacher, and that we can apply it to our own calling. Phanna is now just three years away from retirement. Don is not looking to retire, in fact he recently purchased the new 24 inch IMAC, and it is his "intention" to discover something that will allow him to reinvent himself, as he enters the "final chapter". [12-07]
Adama Konate (M.Ed. 1990) adamakonatex@yahoo.fr
I am now living in Abidjan. I retired from the civil service in 2003 and since then I have been devoting my time to writing English textbooks and teaching English in enterprises. I have contributed to the writing of a series of English textbooks entitled: English for Success which are currently in use in some secondary schools in West Africa. I am presently completing the writing of a novel in French, which I hope will be published soon. [12-06]
Mary Comeau-Kronenwetter reports on her current activities.
Hi CIE family! Here is my update…
I am working as the Education Director at The John Hay National Wildlife Refuge in Newbury, New Hampshire. I am primarily focused on ecological and conservation education for children. My CIE training in nonformal education has been very helpful in developing curricula for youth and adult programs. Developing awareness and fostering activism on preserving our natural environment is very rewarding and I often bring my young son Shaun, a junior naturalist in training, along into the woods with me. Winter weekends find me teaching adaptive skiing to children with developmental and physical disabilities. I also occasionally teach as an adjunct at some local colleges in the education or humanities departments and teach ecology in my son’s school as a volunteer. In the last few years I have been writing and speaking on mentorship and civic participation, adaptive recreation, and NH natural history. I am too busy to get cold up here north of Amherst! Best to all and thank you all for your important work! [5-07]
Since the birth of her son Noah in 2002, Joanie has been piecing together consulting work around Massachusetts and internationally. She continues to work with the MA Department of Education Even Start Family Literacy Program providing program evaluation services and TA, and she has also been involved with nonprofits in capacity building efforts in Holyoke and Springfield. Joanie is in her second year of teaching the undergraduate course in International Education at CIE as well.
Since last spring Joanie has been consulting for the Bernard Van Leer Foundation and the Caribbean Child Support Initiative to develop family literacy programs in four Caribbean countries: St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Grenada.
Tim, Joanie and Noah vacationed in St. Lucia last summer and hope to visit another island in 2007! [1-07]
I used to say to all my friends that I am slowly moving South - started in
Vermont in 1985 but got stuck in Amherst Massachusetts for 10 years and another 10 in Connecticut. With that pace, I would be long dead before I
reached Florida for the warm weather. But then, I not only made a move - I
leaped from East to West, leaving University of Connecticut for the sunny
Southern California. Subarna (my wife) and I have settled in East Highland,
California - about an hour East of Los Angeles, 40 minutes from Palm Springs
and about 2 hours North of San Diego. Mountains, desert and beaches are all
in close proximity, we love it here. I was named Dean of the College of Extended Learning at California State University, San Bernardino in August 2005. My College is the continuing education and outreach arm of the university serving the Inland Empire that consists of San Bernardino and Riverside counties - the largest in the country. It is the fastest growing area of the United States.
My College has a very strong international program component which takes me
to many Asian countries. We conduct training 
programs for mid to high level
managers, teachers, and professionals from both the public and private
sectors. China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are key countries but we are
expanding to Thailand, Philippines and other South East and South Asian
countries.
I do miss East coast where I have many friends and family but so far life is good in California. I want to keep in touch with CIE friends but I don't know who lives/works around here. If you happen to be here please give me a call. [1-07]
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After leaving CIE, I spent several years teaching Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Massachusetts and consulting on health and literacy projects. For the past eight years, I have worked at SABES (System of Adult Basic Education Support) which provides staff and program development for ABE practitioners in the state of Massachusetts. I also currently work under a Massachusetts Department of Education grant as the Staff Development Facilitator for Volunteer Services programs in the state. As a long-time quilter and fabric artist, I recently tried my hand at focusing more on my art but decided my passion is in adult education (but I will still keep my art and craft as a side activity!).
I live in Shutesbury with Mark Protti and our son, Luke, who is in first grade. Through Mark’s work with ITD, we have the opportunity to interact with and host folks from many different countries, which has been both exciting and enriching. In March 2007, we will be moving within our town to a home in a community where there are 20+ acres for skiing and hiking. We will have a lot of room to welcome any CIE folks who are looking for a place to stay as they pass through Amherst. Please contact us if you are visiting! [11-06]
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My partner, Evangelina Holvino, and I continue to run our organization consulting business based in Brattleboro, VT. As you will see from our website, at Chaos Management we try to sustain a practice in four areas of work:
- Building organizational capacity
- Enhancing management, leadership and networking skills
- Advancing diversity for organizational performance
- Creating personal and organizational future
An example of our work in capacity building is a project that Evangelina has been engaged in to increase competencies in the use of organizational change models for gender equity, and identify best practices on institutional change for gender equity in six universities in sub-Saharan Africa. The project provided technical assistance, research, and documentation and dissemination of successful change efforts for university change agents. Change agents were supported in the design and implementation of institutional change programs so they could provide more effective training, strategic planning, and implementation of change interventions within their institutions.
This project was funded by a Carnegie Corporation grant to the Center for Gender in Organizations.We have also gone into partnership with another organization to bid on AIDSTAR, a USAID project designed to address all aspects of HIV/AIDS in the developing world. If successful, Chaos Management’s role would be to provide support to institutions in the following ways: 1) organizational assessments of local institutions and networks 2) leadership and management training; 3) stakeholder workshops 4) training in functional collaboration for organizations in an HIV/AIDS network.
We also do work for corporations. Nine years ago we started working with Bell Atlantic, and now Verizon, to do leadership development workshops for Hispanic managers and we are endeavoring to find other clients for programs specifically targeted to improving the situation of Hispanics in organizations.
We have just started a project to put together what we know about the concept and practice of collaboration. It would be great to hear from CIE colleagues who are also interested in exploring that topic.
In my “spare” time I do Tai Chi, supervise our never-ending on-going project to renovate our house, and continue developing the problematic moment approach to managing differences and increasing collaboration in groups. The photo was taken July 22, 2006 at the local hospital’s annual fund raising event. I am with Evangelina. [7-06]
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I miss the old days at CIE and wish we could all do another Summer Institute for Literacy Professionals for old times sake. I almost started writing my application for the faculty position and then I remembered all my ties and obligations to my current position.
I am still in Provo, Utah working "part time" at Brigham Young University. I have become a rather interdisciplinary person with part-time contracts in no less than four departments: (1) The Center for Economic Self Reliance where I coodinate international development internships with NGOs and interact with faculty and practitioners from every sector as we seek to define economic self reliance. I also hang out with a lot of social entrepreneurs from the business world who are into microenterprise, (2) the Romney Institute for Public Management where I teach a class on Organizational Development for NGOs, (3) The David M Kennedy Center for International Studies where I teach a "capstone" class for students getting a minor in International Development, and (4) the Health Science Department where I am consulting on the educational design for a hygiene promotion project in Cape Town.
In addition to this, I am experimenting with community development and education with the growing Hispanic Immigrant Community in Provo Utah. I've been facilitating a very interesting collaboration of organizations that work with the low income and Hispanic community called the Timpanogos Community Network and I helped start an NGO called Centro Hispano. I think my "part-time" volunteer community work is even more full-time than my "part-time" university work. It takes so long to name what I do that I don't have time to describe the fascinating things I am learning from working in the collaborative world that lies in between the gaps of all the institutions. [2-06]
Cris continues to work for World Education as a Senior Program Officer. Currently, she is the 
Deputy Director of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), a U.S.DOE-funded center focused on conducting and disseminating research about how to best teach adults with limited literacy and English-speaking skills and adults without a high school diploma. Along with other CIE graduates (and the advice of Gretchen Rossman!) Judy Hofer, Marla Solomon, and Marilyn Gillspie, Cris directed a five-year study of how adult basic education teachers change after participating in professional development (See Publication). She also directs NCSALL's dissemination initiative, focused on how to actually get research findings into teachers' hands in ways that they can use the research in their classroom and program practice.
In the 1990s, Cris coordinated World Education's South Asia programs, including the Women's Economic Empowerment and Literacy program and the Health Education and Adult Literacy programs in Nepal, training programs for Friends of Women's World Banking and SEWA Bank in India, and advising on literacy and education programs in Bangladesh, Burma, and Thailand. Cris lives in Pelham with her husband Jon and son Pete, all of whom are devoted (fanatical?) Red Sox fans. [Nov 2005]
(top of page)Sushan wrote from Nepal to share some of her current activities.
Ri
Sumon Tuladhar told me that Fredi Munger is in town for ADB. I will try to catch up with her swhile she is here. [September 2005]ght now I am involved in a comprehensive research review of literacy/NFE in Nepal. It is preparatory work for UNESCO's LIFE program for the Literacy Decade. And I am sure it will also be very useful for the students there. The interesting aspect of this review is that we have finish it by September 15th. Immediately after that I will get involved in again the UNESCO sponsored qualitative study of the functioning and effectiveness of the scholarship and incentive schemes provided to the primary and secondary level students, esp. girls. We will review all the UN agencies' incentive programs including food for education and the Ministry of Education and Sports' incentives schemes. Due to security reasons for field visits we have to be very selective in deciding the districts though. And other times I am busy guiding M.Ed. and M. Phil. students working on their theses.
I left CDC in August 2002, and re-located from Atlanta, GA closer to family here in the great Pacific Northwest. My husband Russ and I bought a lovely 1917 craftsman bungalow in Tacoma, WA (about 40 miles south of Seattle), and I started working from my home office as an independent public health consultant. In 2003, I spent nearly 4 months back in Niger with the World Health Organization and CDC on the polio eradication program. Since then, I've worked as a curriculum developer for NW AIDS Education and Training Center (NWAETC), the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and most recently, the International Training & Education Center on HIV (I-TECH) at the University of Washington. My current I-TECH projects are in Namibia and include an HIV Rapid Testing course (for laboratory technicians, health workers, and community counselors) and courses for physicians on HIV Antiretroviral Therapy, Tuberculosis, and the Clinical Management of HIV.
In her recent travels she reports running into several CIE members - her pictures and comments below.
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In May, Michael Tjivikua and I spent time together in Windhoek, Namibia. Michael is now the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the Polytechnic of Namibia. I was in Windhoek for an HIV/TB training of Namibian clinicians with the International HIV Training and Education Center (I-TECH).
In June, I accompanied my husband on a business trip to San Francisco. While there, Ellen Licht drove down from the Russian River area to meet me in the city, and we had a wonderful visit! She had just finished producing a video for her work with ESL students in Santa Rosa.
[July 2005]
A recent communication from Phyllis on her current activities.
My husband Ethan and I are back in the Valley after having spent the winter on Maui and will be moving there in November with plans to return to the east coast in the summer months. I am teaching a workshop called "Emotional Intelligence and Handling Crisis at Work" for Maui Community College's Continuing Education program this winter. I discovered a gem in the Pacific this past winter in the form of the Director of Continuing Education. Lois Greenwood has joined her 30-year practice in Tibetan Buddhism and her workplace education training in emotional intelligence in doing leadership training with organizations and businesses in the Hawaiian Islands. Having done her dissertation on gender and development, those who know me can understand why Lois and I have become instant colleagues, companion spirits with big plans to develop some training programs together. Lois has wanted to move in the direction of more international women's leadership training and I am currently shaking the trees at places like the East West Center where I just found Anne Hartman (also a CIE member from the 1990s) doing great work in leadership with folks from the U.S., Asia and the Pacific Rim. I welcome any other suggestions from my colleagues and welcome any of you to our home on Maui. Aloha ! [October 2005]
I am a lecturer at the University of Botswana-Center for Continuing Education-Public Education Unit (UB-CCE-PEU). I develop, organize, and manage the provision of public education activities. To make them relevant to learners, I involve communities not only in organization of learning, but also in the education issues in which they need enlightenment. Because not every community member can participate at a given time in the determination of need for educational programs, communities collaborate with UB-CCE-PEU to establish Public Education Advisory Committees (PEACs) on their behalf to specify the educational programs that the communities need.
So, PEACs collaborate with the UB-CCE-PEU to implement educational activities. Public education activities include conferences, inaugural lectures, panel discussions, popular theatre - drama, songs, and dances- pubIic lectures, radio programs, short courses, symposia, talk-shows, television programs, think-tanks, and workshops. Besides organizing public education activities, PEACs also participate in education. They also participate in discussions of current issues. (June 2005)
In addition to working in Public Education, I carry out research, teach and co-teach with other University of Botswana faculty members, facilitate educational interaction between University of Botswana Faculties and the public, and create publications from such educational activities. (June 2005)
Nfila is active in education and a local newspaper reported recently on a meeting where he addressed distant education students at Meepong Community Junior Secondary School on Tuesday.
The Distant Education Unit of UB convened the meeting to brief part-time students on courses offered at the university. It also provided support and motivated distant learning groups.
Nfila said that education has opened up their minds and developed their critical and analytical skills and therefore they must approach life as well-informed and independent citizens determined to make the best out of life.
He explained that life is a problem itself and in order to survive, they must solve those problems, more so that problems themselves never end, adding that they should always think before they act.
Dan Gerber (Ed.D. 1996) gerber@schoolph.umass.edu
Dan has been an assistant professor at the Amherst UMass campus in Public Health and recently received two awards for his teaching. At the May 2005 undergraduate commencement Dan was honored with the Outstanding Teacher Award from the School of Public Health. In the previous year, he was honored with the Outstanding Teacher Award from University Without Walls. At the presentation the UWW Director said "He is a great supporter of UWW students, but he also challenges them to do their best and integrate theory and practice." Below Dan talks about his approach to teaching.
At the graduate level I now teach three courses: Group Dynamics; Community Development in Health; and the Theory of Community Health Education at U/MASS Worcester Medical School. All three courses are based on CIE's participatory class discussion, and the first two courses bring practice into the classroom through community service projects. The graduate students in our community health program are similar to CIE's Masters students in that they enjoy learning through discussion and experiential learning, it's the medical school students that are my biggest challenge. It takes several weeks of constantly asking them questions about what did they learn from the homework readings until they finally realize that I meant it when I said my course is not a lecture course. But once they internalize adult learning theories and principles the classes take off and the discussions get very lively. A common statement from students at the medical school is, "Paulo Freire might have some interesting ideas but he never had to tell a patient over and over again that they need to lose weight."
At the undergraduate level I teach a large personal health course (460 students) in Mahar Auditorium behind the Newman Center. Fortunately, I also have ten graduate students (TAs) implementing small group discussion classes along with my twice a week lectures. The course covers the basic health issues (nutrition, physical fitness, sexual health, etc.) but I also have moved the lectures towards critical thinking of the media, our societies values, etc. One of the more surprising new components of the class was the introduction of eight hours of community service two years ago. The surprising part is on the first day of class when I explain that this class has a mandatory community service component you can hear the groan of 460 students over in the Newman Center, yet in every evaluation the community service component receives extremely high marks. The usual comment we see in the students reflection papers is, "Thank you for making me do some volunteering, once I started it I very much enjoyed doing it." The challenge for me now is moving the students from a "charity mindfulness" to issues of social justice and why is the world the way it is.
Anyway, part of my spirit is still craving for being overseas living and working in another cultural, and yet another part understands that there is plenty of work to be accomplished right here in the valley. I am happy to say Jen Dolan my partner, is still very happy as the health educator at Holyoke Community College. We have two incredibly active girls (Corey's almost five and Jessica "Jessie" is two and a half), and sometime this year we will be adopting our third child from an orphanage in the Philippines. Life is good. [June 2005 ]
Kevin works in the Division for Global Mission with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as Director for Global Mission Education. Kevin's main responsibility is in educating the ELCA about the changes in Global Mission in the 21st century. He is involved in producing resources, establishing networks, and facilitating events for the church. The educational resources, both printed and multi-media, are used by congregations, synods, and regions of the church in educational programs.
Prior to attending CIE, Kevin served as an ELCA missionary for eight years in the country of Papua New Guinea. For six years he was chair of the Religious Education Department at the University of Goroka in Papua New Guinea. His primary responsibility was to train future secondary school teachers in religious studies. Kevin also spent two years at Balob Teachers College in Lae, Papua New Guinea working as assistant to the chaplain and teaching Christian Religious Education. Prior to his ordination Pr. Jacobson was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia teaching at ZorZor Rural Teacher Training Institute. Originally from Blair, Wisconsin he grew up in a family with four sisters and five brothers, all of whom are in the field of education. Kevin is currently studying at Loyola University-Chicago for a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education. [June 2005]
Maria Keita (M.Ed. 1997) iep@datatech.toolnet.org
On
a recent trip to the states, Debbie shared the following information with
us about the work that she and Maria Keita are doing in Mali. Deborah
Fredo serves as Curriculum and Training Advisor for IEP. Currently
she is working towards publication of IEP modules and community school
curriculum and training trainers to use them with local youth and community
school teachers.
Maria
Diarra Keita serves as Director of the Institute for Popular Education.
Maria maintains a visible presence in international and national level
policy fora while continuing to work at the grassroots level in training
trainers for community education work with IEP modules and approaches.
She has been an Ashoka Fellow recognized for innovative social entrepreneurship
in the field of education in Mali.
The Institute for Popular Education (IEP) in Kati, Mali finds itself in the midst of a ten-year national program for systemic education reform. Founded by Maria Keita and Deborah Fredo in 1993, IEP has worked to develop models of alternative practice of education in Mali, starting with women's literacy and extending now to intergenerational community education with a special emphasis on quality issues in community schools. ( For a more detailed description of IEP see http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/ls3_coumba.htm)
Decentralization policies in place since 1998 have made it increasingly apparent that community schools will evolve into local government schools but having passed by the stage of parental control we are hopeful that parents' associations will be able to build on their experience and capacity to make schools the vehicle for their own participation in local government. IEP's evolving challenge to "make alternatives visible" is now endorsed by national education policy that makes the alternative, in a sense, the "conventional" even if still not entirely "visible". IEP promotes what we call "alterstreaming": bring the mainstream into the alternative as sanctioned by educational policy.
At present, IEP is registered as a national NGO with a staff of 16 and with programs in community participation through community schools, curriculum development and the training of local youth as teachers for community schools. IEP also has consulting capacity and we have worked on contracts to build capacity in girls' education, education policy, curriculum and teacher training. IEP runs a bilingual (national language/official language) "lab school" for curriculum development and teacher training in Kati which now has classes from pre-school to 9th grade. The curriculum is currently being tested in community schools in rural areas and has been submitted to the Ministry of Education for approval to be used on a wider scale as the education reform promotes use of national languages in primary education. We have developed a series of community education modules that IEP trainers use with youth leadership groups and parent associations to promote dialogue, analysis and action on gender, education, reproductive health, and HIV-AIDs issues. Our many collaborations with CIE and with CIE members since 1993 have been so vital to the development of IEP's practice. We continue to look for ways of extending those collaborations before this ten-year "window of opportunity" for making educational change in Mali closes! (July 2004)
Well,
after I left the Center I became heavily involved in a local community
cable access station in Turners Falls for all of Montague. I worked
on a documentary film for the Quakers about Aristide and the Liberation
Theology movement in Haiti. We did interviews in Aristide's old, burned-down,
church where lay priests were conducting the service while explaining
how the World Bank and International Monetary Fund kept the Haitians
miserably poor and oppressed. We also interviewed Paul Farmer, a doctor
who has built a hospital in the poorest region in Haiti and doing wonders
fighting tuberculosis and other health problems with a little money
that he gets from people in Boston. We did a long interview with Naom
Chomski from MIT who has a remarkable history and interest in Haiti.
Oh yes, we talked to our own Joanie Cohen-Mitchell, who was there
during the first overthrow of the democratically elected government,
contributed to the film.
In addition, Ron continues his work in the health field
with the chronically ill. (April 2004)
Cathie Bachy (M.Ed. 1993) catherinebachy@gmail.com
Cathy works with Starbucks' Corporate Social Responsibility Department, where she now manages the Starbucks Foundation We focus our literacy grants on early childhood literacy (from birth to
5), tutor/mentoring programs in elementary schools, and in creative writing
programs for youth (ages 12-21) that stimulate personal development and
encourage social commitment. One of the key criteria for grant eligibility
is that an applying literacy organization have developed a partnership
with a local Starbucks store. She lives in Seattle with her family. [1-08]
Valerie Haugen (Ed. D. 1995) valerie.haugen@synergydevgroup.com
Valerie is living in Sydney, Australia where she has been engaging in pro bono work raising money for a Vietnamese orphanage in Ninh Thuan (southern Viet Nam) and has been working with a Sydney businessperson to identify and import high quality Vietnamese household items to generate income in ethnic minority households.
On
a professional level, Valerie has been working as a freelance consultant
on education and community development projects. Most recently, she has
been contracted as a long-term technical assistance group member to provide
external M&E expertise and advice to AusAID on its Indonesia education
projects. [She is shown in picture with staff and parents from Indonesian
government school near Ngada, Flores, Nusa Tengarra Timur]
She has also been involved in numerous project design appraisals and project
reviews as well as proposal development activities for various Australian
organizations. She remains current and involved in language acquisition
and language education and conflict studies, her two areas of particular
interest. Of particular interest is the Local Capacities for Peace initiative,
for which she is a qualified trainer. LCP assists organizations providing
emergency aid to conflicted regions to critique their approaches to help
ensure that conflicts are not exacerbated and that the aid gets to the
target groups. (November 2003)
Rahela Kamyar (M.Ed. 1999) rsk110@hotmail.com
Rahela recently visited Amherst and left this note:
What a great surprise to have David Evans answer my phone call to CIE when I called to announce my visit! I left Afghanistan in 1994 for Laos and worked there until 1996 with the United Nations Volunteers Program. I joined CIE in 1996 and since then CIE has become like an extended family for me. Now I live in San Diego, California and work with a medical complex as an Administrative Assistant. I continue to look for work in humanitarian assistance as well. I am here in Amherst to visit some of the CIE members, my extended family, and to attend the graduation of my nephew from Amherst College. [May 2003]
Mark Protti (Ed.D. 1999) mark@itd-amherst.org
Mark recently brought a group of six Armenian educators to a CIE Tuesday maeeting where they discussed the task of developing civics education curricula for Armenia and the challenges that it faces.
Michele
and I continue to live in the Pioneer Valley with our 3 year old son Luke.
My career seems to have come full circle as I have been recently hired
as a vice-president at the Institute for Training and Development here
in Amherst. (http://www.itd-amherst.org/)
As the vice president of ITD my responsibilities include program management, project direction, training design, facilitation and proposal development. Currently, we are working on Civics Education curriculum development projects in Armenia, Krygyzstan and Romania. The goal is to build the capacity of national curriculum development teams to produce and implement Civics Education courses for primary and secondary schools.
Prior to coming to ITD, I worked as the Director of Training for Heifer International. Heifer's mission is to reduce poverty and hunger in the world through small-scale, livestock development projects. Again the focus of my position was developing organization-wide systems to build capacity to fulfill Heifer's mission through participatory development. It was a tremendously challenging yet rewarding experience to be working in the organizational development department of an organization that has experienced exponential growth in the last decade. Together with colleagues, I grappled in practice with age-old questions like the role of a PVO in creating conditions for grassroots community development. A good indicator of Heifer's commitment to grassroots development is the fact that we used Jane Vella's Training through Dialogue as the basis for our training for trainers course. It's great to be working again with ITD and I look forward to interacting more with CIE in the upcoming months. [May 03]
Barbara Huff (Ed. D. 1996) BarbaraJHuff@aol.com
Barbara writes from Guyana where she is now based after leaving Washington DC at the end of 2002:
I'm working for Habitat for Humanity as the Caribbean Regional Trainer. I am responsible for staff development for all the countries in the region where Habitat works. So far, I love it. I'm based in Guyana but travel here frequently as it is the headquarters for the Latin America - Caribbean Area and our Area Training Center is here also. Costa Rica is beautiful although I spend much of my time here at the center! So far I've been to the Dominican Republic and Guyana. I will be going to Trinidad next, probably in May. Right now I'm planning an orientation for new National Directors. We are expecting five but one is stuck in Miami awaiting a vist. [February 2003]
Marilyn Gillespie (ED.D. 1991) gillespie@wdc.sri.com
Marilyn is an Education Researcher
at SRI International in Washington, D.C. Since leaving CIE, her work has
focused on research, planning and evaluation of literacy education, English
language learning, and workforce education. Since joining SRI in 2000,
her projects have included research and development of performance-based
assessment tools and processes for the National Institute for Literacy's
Equipped for the Future Project, design work on the Multi-Media CD-ROM
training kit for adult literacy staff development for the U.S. Department
of Education, and the evaluation of the PBS Project Connect for adult
English language learners. For more details see: http://www.sri.com/policy/cep/staff/gillespie.html
She
is also currently working as a team member on a research study of the
staff development needs of adult education teachers for the National Center
for the Study of Adult Literacy and Learning (NCSALL) along with former
CIE graduates Cris Smith, Judy Hofer, and Marla Solomon.(CIE's
John Comings directs NCSALL.)
Marilyn currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband Carlos
Martinez and her two young daughters Claire and Laurel Martinez.
Sherry Kane (M. Ed. 1996) SKANE@uniteunion.org
After leaving CIE, I moved to New York City, where I work as Communications Director for the largest affiliate of the garment workers' union - UNITE. We are involved in a variety of issues including making sure our members get decent wages and benefits (in the garment industry, that's always a challenge) and advocating for universal health care, affordable housing, child care, immigrants' rights (and presently anti-war efforts). Unfortunately, it has been a tough period for New York's garment industry and, although the union is trying different strategies to keep our members working, many New York City garment workers are not hopeful these days.
Aside from my work at UNITE, I co-lead labor delegations to the Texas-Mexico border for another organization where we meet with activist workers in the border factories. Aside from helping with translation, logistics, and leadership of the program, I've now become quite efficient at flying through fast-moving Mexican traffic with a van full of people. (A little like ITD but more dangerous.)
In the summer, I continue to volunteer for the Experiment in International Living (the organization that started SIT in Vermont) taking high school students to live with families on educational exchange programs (most recently to France and China). Some of my 'kids' from previous trips have taken their own groups which means I'm really getting old.
It's nice to hear from Center folks so drop me a line and come visit when you're in the 'big City.' [February 2003]
Malena
has been very active since leaving CIE. A recent email outlines some
of her activities.
Since I left CIE I have founded two sister NGO's centered on women's economic and political empowerment: The Center for Economic and Democratic Development, CENZONTLE focusing on education, technical assistance, organization and advocacy; and FODEM-CENZONTLE, a micro-finance organization that facilitates credit. I left the executive director position at Cenzontle in July of 2001 with the satisfaction of having received a prize for best practice in the Latin American region. We developed a methodology from practice that articulates both institutions, micro-enterprise and citizenship advocacy development for women through education & training, organization and access to credit with a gender perspective.
At this moment I am a member of both boards,
Cenzontle and Fodem-Cenzontle; I am an advisor to ASOMIF, the Microfinance
Association in Nicaragua, where we are trying to introduce a gender
perspective, and I also participate in other consultancies as they arise.
I would love to have the chance of sharing my experience sometime in
the near future with all of you at CIE! [January 2003]
Sue
Thrasher is currently the Coordinator of the Five College Public School
Partnership, a project of the Five College Consortium in Amherst. In
that capacity she is responsible for linking faculty at the five colleges
with teachers and administrators in the 44 public school districts of
western Massachusetts. Last year, she collaborated with the Sally
Habana-Hafner and the Horizons Project of CIE to organize a study
tour of SE Asia with eight teachers from Northampton, Springfield, and
Amherst. She recently rotated off of the Highlander Research and Education
Center Board of Directors but continues to work with the Center on its
historic archives. She is Co-Chair of the National Priorities Project
in Northampton www.nationalpriorties.org
Sue also was one of five women who wrote Deep
in Our Hearts: Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement in March
of 2002. The following is excerpted from the authors' preface.
We are all very different: southern and northern; rural and urban; state university and Ivy League; middle class, working class, and poor. We were moved to our radical activities in various ways: by Marxism, Christian existentialism, and immigrant folk wisdom; by our grandmothers and the Constitution; by Thoreau and Dumas; by living on a kibbutz; by African freedom fighters; and by a Deep South upbringing. . . . Our book is about girls growing up in a revolutionary time and place. It is about love and politics and the transcendence of racial barriers. We offer this work to enrich the chronicle of a social movement that forever changed the country and our lives.
Tony Savdié (M. Ed 1994) bobolop@yahoo.com
I am currently working on HIV prevention in Guatemala. The general idea is to make accurate information about AIDS accessible to people who meet UNAIDS and FAO impact and vulnerability criteria -folks in rural areas, prisons, the poor, the young, the usual, primarily Mayan but this past year we appear to have extended our brief and gone national.
In
order to broach the subject - sexually transmissible diseases are not
considered part of proper public discourse in Mayan society - we use
clowning and street theatre, clowns being universally allowed to act
and speak outside ordinary parameters (one of the clowns to the right
is Tony - your guess as to which one!). We follow up with a mixture
of intensive residential youth peer educator trainings and short (two
hour) workshops with selected groups in the communities we visit - evangelical
pastors, sex workers, high school kids, teachers, midwives, health workers,
firefighters, those sorts of people.
We receive funding from he Guatemalan government, the UNDP and three European outfits, a bunch of really good people and organizations whose attitudes, practices and professionalism are refreshing.
Anyway, life is good; I work with a dozen other clowns, Mayan and foreign, organized as a collective called Proyecto Payaso, we have covered over a hundred communities and estimated our number of direct beneficiaries at over 50,000, but these are very soft estimates, made with local health officials, and a systematic evaluation both of the process and the impact of the project will be a priority this year. Do you know anybody looking for a topic for a master's project? [January 2003]
Tony recently published an article entitle Sexual-health communication across
and within cultures: the Clown Project, Guatemala in Development in Practice, Volume 19, Numbers 4–5, June 2009
Hello
friends! I have been in Pakistan for the last year now. Since October
2001, I have been working with Aga Khan Education Service (AKES, P) in
the Northern Areas of the country. I am based in Gilgit and work as Education
Development Manager. AKES, P takes pride in providing access to girls'
education and 65% of the students in our 125 primary, middle and high
schools are girls. I have initiated a Qualitative Research Forum and our
staff is very excited as they explore different issues through case studies.
We plan to publish these case studies. If things remain calm in the region
we plan to hold a national conference on Non-Formal Education in Pakistan.
It has been a challenging job and given the violence, which is still continuing
in Afghanistan, the situation in Pakistan remain also tense.
I met by chance Fatimah Ihsan at her work
and Pamela Sequeira at the airport in Islamabad. They both are
well and work in Islamabad. My own family is well in Lahore and in Germany.
It has been nice to take a break and stop by the Center. I plan to stop
by David Kinsey's Garden at the Jone's library and take inspiration before
I return to Pakistan. [March 2002].
Andrew recently wrote to announce that recently I edited a book from
a project which I had designed and obtained funding from the Humanities
Council in North Carolina. This book is being used in high schools and
the university in NC. I had started this project when I lived there in
1998-99. Jilani, A. (ed.). (2002). South Asian Voices: Oral Histories
of South Asian Immigrants in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina.
The Chapel Hill Press, Inc. [April 2003]
Layton Montgomery (M. Ed. 1994) layton@alum.mit.edu
During the last few years, I have been doing web development and research into social aspects of the internet in less industrialized countries.
I
am currently in the write-up stage of a PhD at the University of Wollongong
in Australia (although I am in Washington DC) in social aspects of the
introduction and spread of the internet in Nepal. The PhD program is a
bit different from anything I have encountered in the US. To get accepted,
I had to submit a dissertation proposal to a professor and get him agree
to take me on as a PhD candidate. After that, the university application
process was just a pro forma activity. Once accepted, the only requirement
of me is that I submit a yearly progress report, and eventually submit
a finished dissertation for review by anonymous examiners. I have done
a fair bit of background reading, and two field research trips to Nepal,
so I really do have nothing left but to write up my results now. (08/02)
Carl C. Stecker (Ed. D. 1996) Cstecker@CatholicRelief.org
I
have been the Senior Technical Advisor for HIV/AIDS for Catholic Relief
Services (CRS) since Jan 2002. However, since March 2004 I became Chief
of Party for AIDSRelief: Providing Treatment, Restoring Hope, the Catholic
Relief Services consortium that was awarded $25 million Year 1 funds to
do antiretroviral treatment (ART) in 9 of the 15 PEPFAR (President's Emergency
Fund for AIDS Relief) countries, and a total 5-year funding commitment
from PEPFAR for $335 million, the largest grant CRS has ever
received. During the month of December 2003, I helped CRS author three
multi-country grant proposals for initial PEPFAR funds; CRS received two
5-year awards. In addition to the ART grant, we were also awarded $10
million for work with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in 5 countries.
Since March 2004, I have been extremely busy getting the ART project up
and running in all nine countries. We will have done orientation, startup
activities, and site activation in 8 countries by first week in August,
and people will be on treatment in Kenya and Uganda as a result of our
work by same date (other countries to follow
in August and September). Very exciting, very tiring!
Of interest on the home front: Chantal will be a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN) majoring in International Relations and Peace Studies; Alyssa just graduated from high school and will be going to Northpark University in Chicago this fall; Valerie is going into 8th grade and loves soccer; Paula just finished her internship year at a local Lutheran Church in Baltimore and will complete here 4th and final year of studies for a Master's of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and be eligible for ordination as a pastor in the Lutheran Church in May 2005. [August 2004]
Pan finished her doctorate at the end of 2001 and returned to Thailand. She wrote to CIE friends recently.
My life begins to take its shape and I start to feel more settled at the moment. I have become busier with lots of work and have less time for loitering again, which is somehow fun and fulfilling for me.
Upon returning I was assigned to be in charge of the NFE teacher training activities and a project on literacy for the tribal people in hill areas of Lamphun. This project emphasizes learner-centered and community participatory approach. The present Minister of Ministry of education and the new DG (direct general) of our department, including some high ranking people in the department, are thrilled about this 'new' approach. Its refreshing to find current officials so committed to the principles that the NFE community has been practicing. The DG has been pushing and valorizing community-oriented project. In mid-February I took a group of volunteer teachers and youth from the hill areas to visit a highland development project under the patronage of the royal family in Mae Hongsorn, a province about 120 miles north of where my project site is located. We hope the visit to this project will inspire the group to envision what an education and community development model that responds to their community can look like.
On the home front, Siggi starts his house renovation today with the help of two workers from the house of his German friend. They are halfway through working on replacing the roof on the west end of our house. After that, Siggi plans to redo all plumbing system, expand the guest bathroom and then the bathroom attached to our bedroom. We're keeping busy! [February 2002] top of page
R. Kavena Shalyefu-Shimhopileni (M. Ed. 1996) kshimho@yahoo.com
Kavena was a Chief Education Officer, heading the Department of Adult and Nonformal Education in Ondangwa Educational Region in Namibia, when she came to do her Masters in Adult and Nonformal Education at CIE from1994 to1996. Kavena did her Masters Project on Training and Research: Popular Theatre as a tool for Community Educational Development. Her model is now being used by the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture for literacy mobilization and to educate communities. After finishing her degree, she was posted as a Deputy Director of the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL), responsible for programs and material development in Distance Education. She later moved to the University of Namibia to help with the establishment of the Department of Adult Education and Community Development. As a standard at all universities, faculties are required to obtain a Doctoral Degree in order to be able to execute their duties effectively.
When she visited CIE to attend the regional meeting of CIES in October 2001, this is what she had to say:
While I was working at the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) and also at the University of Namibia (UNAM), I observed the lack of professionals with training in Instructional Systems Design and the effect it was having on the performance of the institutions. That realization urged me to engage in studies that will help meet the need. I thought of coming back to CIE, my second home, but Instructional Systems Design and Distance Education are not the focus of CIE. I looked at a few institutions and Pennsylvania State University seemed to have the right mix of programs that will help prepare me to meet this need. I now miss the CIE community, because of the safe environment it provides to expose your ignorance, arrogance and intelligence. You can never be the same after the CIE experience! I am proud to be a CIE/UMass graduate.
You are welcome to visit Kavena's Web Site at: http://www.personal.psu.edu/rks160. You will find references there for her site on African Studies materials for U.S. primary schools and other sites she has designed. [October, 2001] top of page
Haleh Arbab (Ed. D. 1995) bhcorrea@prodigy.net
I
am still in Colombia with Fundaec, the institution for which I have worked
for the past nineteen years. At the moment I am the Rector of Fundaec's
Centro Universitario de Bienestar Rural, University for Rural Well-Being,
which is a University approved by the Colombian government. We offer two
careers at the undergraduate and one at the graduate level. Although both
undergraduate programs are aimed at training teachers for the rural areas,
one puts more emphasis on the contents of the SAT program, Fundaec's secondary
education program, whereas the other emphasizes agriculture. For more
information on the program see: http://www.bcca.org/services/lists/noble-creation/fundaec2.html
I am directing my energy mostly towards our graduate program which focuses on education and development. This is a two year program for students who combine their studies with their work in the field of education and development. We are developing a system to deliver this course to professionals around the world by working with local institutions or individuals who are interested in forming study groups in specific areas. In addition to the groups in Colombia, we have groups in China, Zambia, Ethiopia and India.
I also collaborate with the Ruhi Foundation, the Bahai Institute in Colombia. There, we work with the junior youth, preadolescents (12-14). We also have a year of service program for youth who graduate from High School. We train them, and work with them for a year as they work in service projects in different localities.
My job includes writing materials, administering
programs, and giving classes. My two children, Hamed (13) and Bita (17),
who were with me in Amherst have grown. Bita is graduating from High School
this year. She is going to go to Bryn Mawr College to maintain the family
tradition. Before starting college though she is going to give a year
of service in Haifa, Israel. [September
2001] top of page
Francisco Anello (Ed.D. 1995) anellof@sps.springfield.ma.us
I am presently living in Montague, Massachusetts, but I work in Springfield, Mass. I work as a Vice Principal in an
elementary magnet school grades PreK to 5. School has kept me very active
with the parents and students and the most rewarding part of being at
school is having students energetic as our fifth grade has been by forming
a Shriners Community Service Club in which they have raised monies (even
though small in amount) for the Children's Hospital.
With our new Superintendent on board we can begin to build a "Culture of Achievement"as he stated in a recent meeting with school administrators.
My work with Universidad Nur (http://www.nur.edu/ingles/)
in Santa Cruz Bolivia continues. It has been 16 years now that I have
been an active founder in its inception along with my wife and brother
Eloy Anello. Bolivia has benefitted much from the external programs and
projects from non profit organizations that have collaborated with the
university to provide training in education, health and women studies. [June 2001]
Grant Suhm (Ed.D. 1996) g-suhm@tamu.edu
Marisa Suhm (Ed.D. 1999) grant-marisa@juno.com
Grant Suhm came by to visit with his 10 year old son Morgan in May. After finishing their course work in 1990 he and his wife Marisa spent six years as professors at the College of Micronesia..
After
they returned to the states in 1995 both went to work at Texas A&M University;
Marisa as a lecturer in the English Language Institute; Grant working as
a program development officer for the A&M System Chancellor's Office.
For the past few years Grant has been the Executive Director of the Texas A&M System/W. K. Kellogg foundation Change Initiative called Leadership for Institutional Change in Higher Education. He has worked in closely with public university leaders across the country to identify change issues and promote inter-institutional projects. At present he partnering and communication skills he developed while at CIE to oversee about 30 inter-institutional projects at universities across Texas. His programs have been identified by the Kellogg foundation as cutting edge and exemplary. (See http://texlinc.tamu.edu)
Marisa is devoting more and more time to her language center (see http://www.englishlanguagecenter.org) Grant says that despite its hick image, Texas is definitely a "happening" place, very receptive to innovation on a large scale. His motto, partly inspired by his international work reads "Texas has a lot to learn from other developing countries." [posted 6/01]
Ellen Licht (M. Ed. 1996)
Ellen came by CIE in June to visit. Ellen lives in Forestville, California, about an
hour
from San Francisco. She is now working two jobs, one teaching ESL at a
community college off-campus community site (mostly to Mexican workers),
and the other with the Institute Sanchez
Mendoza, a non-profit organization that does workshops in the community,
using popular theater in Spanish.
Ellen reflected on how her memories of CIE revolved around the amazing people she met and became friends with. In her own words:
I now grapple with trying to apply the concepts of popular education out there in the 'real world.' The other day, I sat in the David Kinsey Garden behind the Jones library in Amherst and thought about all the metaphors we use...how he truly helped us all to bloom and grow and to try to carry that out into the world. [posted 6/01]
Wilma Wright (M Ed. 1997) wnwright_2000@yahoo.com
I am just trying to touch base with my alma mater. At the moment I am a lecturer at the newly formed University of Belize, in the Faculty of Education. The Faculty of Education was formerly the Belize Teachers' College where I had worked for ten years. After three months of being one of the Chairs of the two units I decided to give up the post so that I can concentrate more on service and research. I also wanted something more challenging. Well I was given a challenge to work on a plan for the development of a distance education unit for the entire university. Now I have a challenge but I also have a little extra time on my hands to do more community work. For those who knew me well you know my main interest was in participatory research and I am now working with the staff of one of the primary schools in this area. I also conduct workshops in self-esteem, discipline and organizational planning.
I found my time at CIE very helpful in my work today and the exposure I got from being a member and the opportunity to participate in the University's activities taught me skills that no book can teach. By the way I am still a long way from becoming the Prime Minister but I would settle for a policy analyst one of these days. I would love to hear from my old friends if they are still around. [February 2001]
Hassan Mohamed (M.Ed.1992) mohamed@care.org
For the last three years I have been working with CARE International in Afghanistan as Education Program Coordinator. Though head office is located in Peshawar, Pakistan, our programs are inside Afghanistan. My wife and our three sons live in Peshawar and I frequently commute between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In
general implementing development activities in Afghanistan is an exteremely
challenging undertaking and almost impossible in doing education particularly
for girls. There is no universal primary education in Afghanistan. Education
facilities have been destroyed as result of more than 20 years of armed
conflict. Besides lack of infrastructure, one faces negative attitudes
towards educating girls and current Taliban policies that officially ban
girls' education and restrict employment of women teachers.
Despite such odds, CARE has been successful in supporting Community Organized Primary Education (COPE) initiative, which builds on indigenous education system in rural areas. For centuries communities have been organizing schooling (in the form of Koran schools) for their children. Teachers come from the community and school takes place in a mosque or a private house. Parents hire and compensate teachers in kind or cash. The project introduces secular curriculum, provides teacher training and school supplies, and builds the capacity of community through community-selected village education committees to find solutions to the impediments for educating their girls and boys and to take responsibility for school management and financing.
This approach has enabled communities to control of who teaches their children and where, thus ensuring that girls can be educated without compromising local traditions and making it possible for females to teach. Communities feel ownership of the schools and have resisted Taliban efforts to close them. As a result the Taliban have allowed such community-schools to operate despite the apparent contradiction with their policies. The project provides primary education to more than 16,000 children (41% girls) from grades one to six.
The years at the CIE have in part prepared me to
face such challenges and I am grateful for that experience. I have cherished
memories of the Center and the community. I arrived Amherst, and of course
CIE, in Fall 1988 as Masters student from Somalia. The tension and pain
of cultural adjustment in living in a big University like UMass was greatly
lessened by the sense of community and belonging that characterized life
at CIE. I remember lively discussions of the latest development theories
and practice in the classes and Center meetings, as well as the activism
in causes such as the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, El Salvador,
Haiti, etc. These causes provided the topics for academic discussions
in the classroom and stimulated the thinking and critical understanding
of the "development" work in the third world.
[Posted 12/31/00]
(top
of page)
Meria Nowa-Phiri (M. Ed. 1984; Ed. D. 1994)
During
a late evening dinner with DRE at the Capital Hotel in Malawi, Meria described
the trajectory of her career in education in Malawi as being like that
of a rolling stone. She has held many demanding positions and as she says
"I have accepted the challenge. It hasn't always been easy, but I have
tried to be innovative in each position." When she returned from completing
her doctorate she took up the position of Principal Secretary for Higher
and Secondary Education in the Ministry of Education. After a year in
that position she was appointed Director of the Malawi National Examinations
Board (MANEB), an appointment that she held until October 2000.
She is currently the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services and she now "regrets that she did not take the courses in adult literacy when she was at CIE." Malawi faces an uphill fight to improve adult literacy and the community service section of her Ministry is charged with that responsibility. Meria argues that "We need to make a difference. We need to rethink the approach that we have been using to insure that learners retain their literacy." She is now working with the staff to develop a strategic plan that contains a vision for where Malawi will be in adult literacy in five years. In addition, she has been active in the campaign against domestic violence, accompanying the Minister to functions in Malawi and to a recent conference in Lesotho.
She would love to hear from other CIE folk who
have ideas or experiences to share about approaches to adult literacy.
She can be reached at the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services,
Private Bag 330, Lilongwe Malawi. She doesn't yet have access to email
but hopes to soon once she gets settled into her new position and moves
her household to Lilongwe from Zomba.
[Posted December 2000] (top
of page)
Mee-Shik
(Kwon) Shin (M. Ed. 1985, Ed. D. 1992) shinms@ns.jsc.ac.kr
Mee-Shik Shin (Kwon) visited the Center with her daughter in August, 2000. She is now a Professor in the Department of Youth Culture at Juseong College in Korea. Mee Shik wanted to say to the CIE family that:
It is a great pleasure to return to CIE and see old familiar faces and places. Also, it is very sad to hear that David Kinsey passed away. I am glad to find out that the Center is still alive and even more vigorous than before. Since I have the Center Website address and E-mail address, I think I feel closer to the Center. I would like to say hello to the center members who know me.
(top of page) [August 2000]
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