| FOG
Elections 2002
Friends Of Guinea is holding elections to renew its Board of Directors
and fill certain other postions described below. If you are a member
of FOG you may vote in this election or be nominated (or nominate yourself!)
to serve. (To join FOG, visit www.friendsofguinea.org.) Positions are
to be held for a period of about one year, at which point they are open
to re-election. Nominations for all officer positions are underway and
will continue until October 1. If you would like to nominate yourself
or someone else for a position, please send the nomination to fogelections(at)yahoo(dot)com.
by October 1. Elections will be carried out electronically and will
take place over the period from October 1-8. Send your vote to fogelections(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Board Members
Below are the FOG board member positions which are currently openopen.
It is very important that all these board positions be filled. Without
key board members, FOG cannot continue to function and provide services.
If you wish, you may direct questions about any of the positions by
contacting the current holder
through our website. All board members will be given a FOG email account
which they should be able to access on a bi-weekly basis.
Position: Financial Officer
Monthly Commitment: 5-10 hours
Description: Maintain financial records and FOG bank account.
Currently Held By: John Dowaschinski
Position: Membership
Monthly Commitment: 5-10 hours
Description: Maintain membership records, send
invitation and renewal notices, communicate with NPCA.
Currently Held By: Rebecca Konrad
Position: Listserv Admin
Monthly Commitment: 2 hours
Description: Maintain FOG listserv.
Currently Held By: Stephanie Chasteen
Position: Projects
Monthly Commitment: 5-10 hours
Desription: Designate yearly projects and act as
coordinator of projects efforts.
Currently Held By: Empty
Position: Secretary
Monthly Commitment: 5-10 hours
Description: Maintain FOG records and keep meeting minutes, as well
as coordinate Board meetings and elections.
Currently Held By: Stephanie Mullen
Nominees: Stephanie Chasteen
Stephanie Chasteen’s Nominee Statement: “While I have enjoyed
administering the Guinea List listserv, I would prefer to pass that
torch on to someone else while I address more organizational aspects
of FOG. Many of the secretarial duties are duties which I am
already involved in, in some capacity. Thus, I would like to fully embrace
the position, and apply my organizational skills to the position of
Secretary.”
Position: Web Admin
Monthly Commitment: 5 hours
Description: Maintain FOG webpage
Currently Held By: Stephanie Chasteen
Nominees: Stephanie Chasteen
Stephanie Chasteen’s Nominee Statement: “I have served as
web admin since I left for Guinea in '97, although the page was but
a pitiful shadow of what it has become today. Because I wouldn't wish
my convoluted filing system on anyone else, I will be happy to serve
in my capacity as Web Admin for another year.”
Position: Newsletter
Monthly Commitment: 4 hours
Description: Compile and produce quarterly newsletter.Currently Held
By: Woody Colahan
Nominees: Woody Colahan
Woody Colahan’s Nominee Statement: "I think good communications
with members and the pro-Guinea community at large are key to F.O.G.'s
success. I hope to contribute to our collaborative effort by continuing
with this particular responsibility."
Position: Advocacy
Monthly Commitment: 5-10 hours
Description: Coordinate advocacy goals, support
lobbying efforts, and network with other groups.
Currently Held By: Brian Farenell
Nominees: Brian Farenell
Brian Farenell’s Nominee Statement: “I want to
continue to be involved with Friends of Guinea because my soul has become
part Guinean and I care passionately about the people there. I can not
separate myself from what happens in that country merely because I am
no longer living there. My best friends live there and what affects
Guinea affects them. What affects them affects me. I want to be involved
in supporting the Guinean people and organizations which are helping
them. This is what I want the primary focus of Friends of Guinea to
be.”
Members at Large
Members at Large serve in a more limited capacity than FOG Board Members.
The more Members at Large we have, the easier the job of the Board Members.
Members at Large are elected for a specific project or advisory role.
While they are not required to have bi-weekly email access, they should
fulfill their role n a timely and responsive manner. More than one
person can fill any role, but it is better if nominees are spread out
among the roles.
Title: Health
Description: Advise, research and coordinate
health-related projects
Reports to: Projects
Nominee: Stephanie Mullen
Title: Girls Conference
Description: Coordinate fundraising efforts for Annual Girls Conference
Reports to: Projects
Nominee: Anne Redmond
Anne Redmond’s Nominee Statement: “This sounds very interesting
and like something I'd like to get more involved with. Though I wasn't
a part of the work last year, I'm a quick learner and hope to match
your success. I think I'll really enjoy this as an opportunity to get
back in touch with what's going on in Guinea!”
Title: Education
Description: Advise, research and coordinate
education-related projects
Reports to: Projects
Nominee: None
Title: Environment
Description: Advise, research and coordinate projects related to environment
and conservation
Reports to: Projects
Nominee: None
Title: Micro-Enterprise and Small Business Development
Description: Advise, research and coordinate projects related to Micro-Enterprise
and Small Business Development
Reports to: Projects
Nominee: None
Title: FOG Directory
Description: Maintain FOG Online Directory
Reports to: Web Admin
Nominee: Scott Sackett
Title: PC Guinea Liaison
Description: Maintain contact with Peace Corps Guinea, share newsletter
items, etc.
Reports to: Secretary
Nominee: Nancy Fleisher
Nancy Fleisher’s Nominee Statement: “I am happy to support
FOG this year by pulling together and maintaining communications between
FOG Board members/volunteers and the Peace Corps office in Guinea. Hopefully,
centralizing communication will make the exchange of ideas and information
more
efficient and more reliable. As a PC mom, I like the idea of making
this small indirect contribution to the work my PCV son is doing in
Guinea.”
Title: PCV Parents Advocate
Description: Coordinate a separate listserv for new PC parents.
Reports to: Secretary
Nominee: Marilyn Pearson
Marilyn Pearson’s Nominee Statement: “Stephanie has provided
a tremendous service with the Friends of Guinea website. Now we're adding
the ability for parents and friends of each new Peace Corps Volunteer
group to support each other through a listserv and/or email system.
I'm excited to help pass along information, tips, and emotional support
for this unique experience.”
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Advocacy
Report
Brian Farenell
Advocacy Director
Advocacy Web pages Under Construction I have spent a bit of time working
on a new FOG advocacy web site. I still have to make a few modifications
to it but hopefully this should all be ready some time in
August. I receive many announcements on issues like
health, education, the NPCA and sustainable
development; too many to forward to the listserv.
However, the advocacy web site will archive this
information for your use and interest. Watch the
listserv for an announcement and for the link.
Wanted: Volunteer Contacts We are looking for
individuals who are willing to volunteer a little bit
of their time to serve as liaisons with various
places. These places include: PC-Guinea,
PC-Washington, the National Peace Corps Association and the EDNA (Africa
humanitarian and development Egos coalition). The PC-Guinea and PC-Washington
contacts are particularly important. PC-Washington so that incoming
volunteers know about us and can tell their friends/parents about us;
PC-Guinea so that current PCV are aware of various ways they can work
with us. If you are interested in the possibility of being a liaison
to one (or any combination) of those places, please contact me at: fog
advocacy(at)yahoo(dot)com. . Also Wanted: Your Input on Anything Advocacy-Related
Ok, so this is vague, but intentionally so. What do you think FOG should
be doing on the advocacy front?
Do you have an issue which interests you but are
looking for a way to pursue it? If so, send me your
thoughts. I (and all the other directors) would love
to have more people involved so that we can cover more ground as an
organization.
Membership Report
Rebecca Konrad
Over the past 12 months, FOG has doubled its
membership and raised more than $1,000 in membership fees and donations.
We now have more than 120 members in both individual and family memberships.
RPCVs and PCVs continue to make up around 50% of the membership base
with the remaining 50% split equally between R/PCV parents and others
interested in Guinea and Peace Corps Guinea. In order to show appreciation
for FOG's founding members, the officers have decided to extend memberships
for all members who oined in 2001 until November 2002. Beginning in
November, renewal notices will be sent out as memberships reach the
end of their respective terms. We encourage you to continue to support
FOG by renewing your membership in the coming year. We have enjoyed
providing you with news, information, and connections related to Guinea
over the past 18 months and hope to continue to do so in the future.
I have enjoyed serving as the membership director for FOG.Unfortunately,
personal and professional
obligations require me to turn this position over to a
new person during the elections process. Here let me
describe what the position has involved so far, and
what remains to be done:
Duties Accomplished
• Maintained FOG membership database
• Communicated membership stats to officers as needed
• Received membership applications and mailed welcome letters
• Sent invitation emails to guinea-list soliciting members
• Answered member questions
• Researched incorrect member information as needed
• Maintained list of potential member sources/contacts
Duties Not Accomplished
• Maintain communication with NPCA
• Register FOG/NPCA members with NPCA
• Verify membership records with finance records
(I am hoping to take care of these last two duties
before handing off
responsibilities.)
Please contact me through the FOG website if you are
interested in undertaking the Membership position or
if you have any questions about it.
What has FOG Done?
Stephanie Chasteen
Friends of Guinea (FOG) was created in 1997 by a
group of recently returned Peace Corps volunteers. We
were incorporated as a nonprofit in North Carolina in
1998, and incorporation as a nonprofit in California,
and subsequently as a 501.3(c) organization is
pending. Since our inception, we have accomplished the
following. If you are interested in any of these projects, or in creating
one of your own, please contact us.
Organization
• Created a board of directors and job descriptions
for board members
• Incorporated in the state of North Carolina
• Affiliated with the National Peace Corps Association
(NPCA) as an affiliate group
• Established a membership of over 120 members, and
doubled our membership in the past 12 months
(7/01-7/02).
• Maintained membership records and recruited new
members
Finances
• Since our inception on 10/14/00 through 8/2/02 FOG
has garnered a total income of $4,643.39, and incurred
expenses of $663.54, for a total income of $3,979.85.
• Most income was generated through membership dues
and donations ($3,379.74), and a majority of the
remaining income through sales of the Peace Corps
calendars ($1,120.00).
• Expenses include incorporation fees, NPCA
affiliation fees, bank fees, web development & domain
registration, and a donation to Guineenews.
On the Web
• Created and maintained the Guinea List listserv
dedicated to things Guinean, with over 200 faithful
subscribers
• Created, maintained, and expanded this website
(including a version in French) which gets about 1000
hits a month
• Acquired the domain name, friendsofguinea.org, and
moved the page to a permanent server at klatha.com
• Created, maintained, and re-vamped a comprehensive
database of RPCVs and other friends of Guinea.
Projects & Accomplishments
• Helped fundraise $7,000 for the 2002 Girls
Conferences
• Sold the 2001 and 2002 Peace Corps Calendars as
fundraisers
• Donated $200 to the small site, Guineenews, which
provides news and information on Guinea to those
living outside its borders
• Publish the almost-quarterly FOG newsletter of
events and information, Ca Va?
• FOG is part of the ADNA, a coalition of organizations who do
work or are otherwise interested
in Africa
In the Future
• A FOG Advocacy website
• Work on creating a Friends of West Africa coalition.
• Incorporate in California, and as a 501.3(c)
• 2003 Girls Conferences
• Fund small PCV projects in Guinea
• Business cards and letterhead and a new look for the
newsletter
On the Web
Stephanie Chasteen
The deafening silence of 268 subscribers can be heard
on the Guinea List listserv. Don't be afraid to post!
The website, at www.friendsofguinea.org, gets about
1000 hits per month. I update it frequently, and just
added a new link with information on "What has FOG
Done?" I'm always looking for new photos for the Photo
of the Month!
New Improved RPCV Database
We just finished an extensive (and expensive) upgrade
of the growing RPCV and friends database. The database
is now sortable and searchable, and users can put in
much more information about themselves. The database
is at http://friendsofguinea.org/registry.shtml
(username "rice", password blank). Thanks to Walter
Hasenmueller (65-66) for helping us make the
conversion to the new system, and to Scott Sackett
(96-98) who is now maintaining the database. And
thanks as always to my friend Dave Loebell, who hosts
the site, who always does a little more than he's paid
for.
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Thanks from Guineenews
Ed. note: We recently received the following message from our friends
at Guineenews, thanking us for a small donation we had made to help
them continue their work. Guineenews is a mostly-French language web
site run by volunteers with news, features and discussion
on Guinea. http://www.boubah.com.
Dear Friends of Guinea;
We acknowledge with thanks your donation to
Guineenews in the amount of $200.00. We are grateful for the contribution
and we assure you that funds will be used to improve our news services.
Kind regards,
Mamadou Barry
Treasurer
Guineenews
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Le
Griot Nous Dit...
Shirley Woodward just left to begin life anew in
Guinea, working as Coordinator for Sexual and
Gender-Based Violence for the American Refugee
Committee in Kissidougou. She's managing about 50
people in a program aimed at retraining sex workers to
do other work, and providing support for victims of
sexual violence. She writes, "I'm constantly struck
by how this world and the one I just left can exist
simultaneously in the universe."
On July 6, Scott Matthews (Math, Dalaba, 97-99) and
Ronda Wohlers (originally from the San Francisco Bay
area) were married in New York City. The deeply
moving ceremony took place in the Rustic Shelter near
Strawberry Fields in Central Park, with Scott’s
father, a Lutheran pastor, presiding. After the
reception at Columbia University (where they had first
met while at Teachers’ College), the newly wedded
couple and twenty of their friends and family piled
into a vingt-deux-place (in Guinea, I believe that
would be a pickup truck, but in this case it was a
stretch limo) and toured the city. Kudos are due them
for their hospitality in the days leading up to the
wedding, as up to seven guests found respite from the
heat and humidity each night in Scott and Ronda’s
two-bedroom condo, turning their abode into the
Conakry house in miniature.
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