May 12, 2008
Volunteers Recognized at VEGA Ceremony
Leading "citizen diplomats" were honored April 30 at a ceremony and reception in the elegant rotunda of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington. Retired food technologist Art Fischer, agricultural economics professor emeritus Jerry Nolte and food science and nutrition professor Poul Hansen were recognized for their ACDI/VOCA volunteer service.
The event was the fifth anniversary celebration of Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA), a consortium of leading economic development organizations that utilize volunteer experts in program implementation. The event coincided with National Volunteer Week, April 27-May 3. Awards were presented to 22 individuals by USAID Acting Deputy Administrator James Kunder and VEGA Board Chairman Spencer King.
Kunder spoke appreciatively of the volunteers' service, saying, "If you really want to help people in the developing world, you’ve got to take advantage of federal dollars, but you also have to look at private investment flows." Referring to the $61 million worth of service contributed by VEGA volunteers from the private sector and academia in 17 countries, he said, "Leveraging—practically speaking—that's where the action is."
Art Fischer
Art Fischer (right, in above photo), of Duluth, Minn., a veteran of 33 ACDI/VOCA assignments, received the highest VEGA award, the President’s Call to Service Award, in recognition of his 4,800 hours of volunteer service through ACDI/VOCA since 1994. He was also one of nine volunteers to receive the VEGA Service Impact Award.
Fischer’s 40 years’ experience in flour production and quality control with General Mills, 20 of which were spent in Guatemala, Panama and Mexico, has made him a world-class expert in all aspects of the processing and use of flour. Most of his 2-3 assignments per year were in Russia, but he also served in Albania, Romania, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. He has been generous with more than his professional time—once using his own frequent flyer miles to travel to an assignment.
Fischer worked with clients to improve yield and quality of flour and bread, develop new products, train bakery employees and market. For example with the Bakers Guild of Leningrad he introduced new recipes, demonstrated improved baking techniques and adjusted formulas for optimal product appearance and flavor. He helped them produce three new varieties of bread. With the Babenko Bakery in Krasnodar he improved flour milling and more than doubled the product line. Today there are many bakers—and consumers—in a vast area of eastern Europe who are grateful for his technical assistance.
Poul Hansen
Dr. Poul Hansen also received the President's Call to Service Award in honor of his 4,408 hours of ACDI/VOCA volunteer service, though he was not present to accept it. Hansen is a native of Denmark who taught dairy technology, food science and nutrition for 30 years at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In the past 13 years he has served in 20 assignments in 11 countries. Two-thirds of these assignments were under the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program. Many were two to four weeks long, but some were eight weeks. On certain trips he traveled from country to country for sequential assignments.
Dr. Hansen has said, "It seems that all those years of work at Ohio State and before were spent preparing me to do be able to do this volunteer work today."
His most recent work with an Armenian cheese processor typifies his success. In an effort to penetrate the lucrative Russian market, Elola Dairy asked the Farmer-to-Farmer program for assistance in producing a cheese popular in Russia known as Oltermanni. ACDI/VOCA responded by sending Hansen, who helped Elola formulate the new cheese. However, after his departure quality and shelf-life problems developed. A follow-up assignment by Hansen in 2007 corrected the problems and rocketed sales to a 50 percent increase. During that second assignment he also taught Elola Dairy how to make Gouda, which soon became another hot seller. Overall Elola’s sales have increased 50 percent with 30 percent higher revenue.
The dairy has recently been able to secure a $150,000 business expansion loan from Converse Bank and was awarded a Diploma of Honor for the products exhibited at the country's main food show, ArmProdExpo, in Oct. 2007.
Jerry Nolte
Dr. Gerald Nolte (left, in above photo) of St. Paul, Minn., won the President's Volunteer Service Silver Award, designated for those who have served 250-499 volunteer hours for the same organization in one year. Following 30 years as a distinguished professor and then chairman of the agricultural economics department in at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Nolte began his "second career" as a volunteer consultant with ACDI/VOCA in October 2000 with a cooperative development assignment in Ethiopia. He has continued to volunteer twice a year, completing 11 more assignments.
Hosts in seven countries have benefited from Jerry’s assistance, but the Natabo Farmers Association in southern Sudan have perhaps enjoyed the greatest benefit. These farmers started working together as a loose band of friends practicing traditional agriculture. Through a VEGA program they received technical assistance from ACDI/VOCA volunteers in farming as a business and in marketing. When they were ready to officially form an association Dr. Nolte traveled to Sudan to help them organize and write their bylaws. Soon 30 members signed up, and the Natabo Farmers Association was registered.
They have had striking economic success and livelihood improvement. Farmers now typically grow more than one crop, staggering production to provide steady income. From 2006 to 2007 earnings have almost tripled. Members have been able to renovate their homes and educate their children.
Their chairman tells the story of a nonmember who asked what kind of charm was used to bring such improvement. Teasingly, he explained the charm was not available locally but rather was an American charm brought by valued friends from overseas.
For more information on ACDI/VOCA volunteer assignments, click here.