CARBONDALE - Ella Phillips Lacey didn't retire as a community health educator. Instead, she broadened her emphasis to include the whole world.
Lacey, 66, recently received the President's Volunteer Service Award for her service in the Peace Corps.
A retired health education professor from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Lacey has dedicated the last decade of her life to helping others.
Although Lacey was honored for her aggressive work with polio eradication over the last seven years, it was her period in the Peace Corps that really began a strong pattern of service to others.
Lacey's two-year Peace Corps stint from 1995 to 1997 placed her in Malawi, Africa, as a child survival specialist.
Her responsibility was to ensure children could make it past the age of 5 without falling prey to malaria, malnutrition or measles.
Lacey arrived in Malawi on her 55th birthday. She discovered that the country is a startling mix of contrasts.
She spoke of beautiful Lake Malawi, which makes up 20 percent of the country's land. Poverty is another prominent fixture of the country, and one that is difficult to reconcile with what she described as "breathtaking natural beauty."
"There are some people who didn't wear shoes because they didn't have shoes, or they wear torn and tattered clothes because that's the only garment they have," Lacey said. "The poverty was such a striking contrast to the beauty."
Although Lacey was a sole volunteer in her particular health clinic, she was one of 96 Peace Corps volunteers who were stationed in Malawi. She describes the experience as life-changing, but there were times that being one person in a country of such poverty was overwhelming.
"There are days you feel like, 'What can you really accomplish?'" Lacey said. "There are others days that you can think, 'Wow, I'm really doing something here.'"
Christine Torres, public affairs specialist for the Chicago Regional Office of the Peace Corps, said Lacey is a good example of an older volunteer contributing immensely to the global cause.
"She's keeping that spirit of volunteerism alive and inspiring those around you to do the same," Torres said.
Since retiring from the Peace Corps, Lacey has spent her time working with Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP), an organization dedicated to eradicating the threat of polio.
She has traveled to Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sierra Leone and several times to India to educate about the importance of the polio vaccine.
Age restrictions by the World Health Organization will prevent Lacey from heading back into the field as a polio worker, but she's researching other options for service.
She hopes to go to Tanzania to work with women on economic development, but she's not ruling out any options. A second stint in the Peace Corps Crisis Corps is another option she's researching.
Lacey is also active in Southern Illinois, lending her considerable talents to Rotary, Delta Sigma Theta and the "I Can Read" program.
Going into the Peace Corps is a decision she doesn't regret, but she said it's not one that should be made lightly.
"A person has to look within themselves to see if they have that to give," Lacey said. "If they can give up their home and their home base and say yes to that, it's one of the greatest experiences they can have."
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Victory in orphan bid
A COUPLE will fly to Malawi next month to pick up the orphaned children they have been fighting to bring to the UK.
David and Elizabeth Lee will fly to the southern African nation on July 26 to collect their nephew and niece - Bruno Kajombo, nine, and his 11-year-old sister Stella.
The couple, of Erlanger Road, New Cross Gate, have won an asylum and immigration tribunal held at Croydon which granted the children UK visas.
This will end a battle which began just over a year ago.
Mr Lee, 45, an assistant headteacher at Horn Park Primary School, Alnwick Road, Lee, is overjoyed at the news.
He said: "We are really elated; we will be taking a nice holiday with the children when we get there and then fly them home.
"We were very surprised when we received the good news and also really relieved because we thought we were going to have to go through another step to get them.
"I am so happy for my wife. She was having a lot of trouble and was very distressed while this was going on.
"Thank you to all the readers for all the support and help you have given me throughout this ordeal."
"All I have to say is thank God for British justice."
The children's father died from Aids-related illnesses in 2003.
News Shopper has covered the Lees' campaign to get the children relocated since they were left orphaned by their mother's death.
Their mum Helen, 33 - Mrs Lee's sister - died in a car accident in May last year.
Since then the pair have been staying with relatives in Malawi and the Lees have been providing them with financial support.
Mr Lee applied for visas for the children from the immigration service at the British High Commission in Malawi in May last year.
This would allow them to move to Britain.
However, they were turned down because the authorities argued the children could be cared for by relatives in Malawi.
After reviews of this decision failed, the couple sought help from the Walthamstow branch of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
They went to an asylum and immigration tribunal in January and were given the news it had succeeded on May 16.
Housewife Mrs Lee, 35, says the tribunal victory has changed her life.
She said: "I was very unwell when we were refused custody of the children.
"Everything seemed surreal, bec- ause I had to face the chance they would not be coming here.
"When I found out the good news I felt much better; extremely happy."
The youngsters will be granted two British visas when the Lees arrive in Africa.
It will be the first time they have seen each other in more than seven months.
They will travel to Britain in August to live with the Lees and their 12-year-old daughter Ekom and start improving their English.
Solicitor Kamla Adiseshiah, who represented the Lees at the tribunal, said: "This was the right decision. It is really fantastic and I am thrilled.
"The embassy is being helpful now. I would like to thank News Shopper for highlighting our case."
David and Elizabeth Lee will fly to the southern African nation on July 26 to collect their nephew and niece - Bruno Kajombo, nine, and his 11-year-old sister Stella.
The couple, of Erlanger Road, New Cross Gate, have won an asylum and immigration tribunal held at Croydon which granted the children UK visas.
This will end a battle which began just over a year ago.
Mr Lee, 45, an assistant headteacher at Horn Park Primary School, Alnwick Road, Lee, is overjoyed at the news.
He said: "We are really elated; we will be taking a nice holiday with the children when we get there and then fly them home.
"We were very surprised when we received the good news and also really relieved because we thought we were going to have to go through another step to get them.
"I am so happy for my wife. She was having a lot of trouble and was very distressed while this was going on.
"Thank you to all the readers for all the support and help you have given me throughout this ordeal."
"All I have to say is thank God for British justice."
The children's father died from Aids-related illnesses in 2003.
News Shopper has covered the Lees' campaign to get the children relocated since they were left orphaned by their mother's death.
Their mum Helen, 33 - Mrs Lee's sister - died in a car accident in May last year.
Since then the pair have been staying with relatives in Malawi and the Lees have been providing them with financial support.
Mr Lee applied for visas for the children from the immigration service at the British High Commission in Malawi in May last year.
This would allow them to move to Britain.
However, they were turned down because the authorities argued the children could be cared for by relatives in Malawi.
After reviews of this decision failed, the couple sought help from the Walthamstow branch of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
They went to an asylum and immigration tribunal in January and were given the news it had succeeded on May 16.
Housewife Mrs Lee, 35, says the tribunal victory has changed her life.
She said: "I was very unwell when we were refused custody of the children.
"Everything seemed surreal, bec- ause I had to face the chance they would not be coming here.
"When I found out the good news I felt much better; extremely happy."
The youngsters will be granted two British visas when the Lees arrive in Africa.
It will be the first time they have seen each other in more than seven months.
They will travel to Britain in August to live with the Lees and their 12-year-old daughter Ekom and start improving their English.
Solicitor Kamla Adiseshiah, who represented the Lees at the tribunal, said: "This was the right decision. It is really fantastic and I am thrilled.
"The embassy is being helpful now. I would like to thank News Shopper for highlighting our case."
Government explores VoIP
The Malawi government is looking to devise a fresh policy on how voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) technology could be applied in the country. At a seminar in Blantyre this week, organised by the Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Information Minister Patricia Kaliati told attendees that her ministry had come up with a policy, but Cabinet had not adopted it as it was ‘left wanting’. She challenged participants drawn from MACRA, the sole fixed line operator Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL), cellcos Celtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi, among others, to suggest how the policy could be ‘polished up’ to address the government’s concerns.
Kaliati said Cabinet had questioned how the policy was going to benefit the rural masses, something it did not currently cover. ‘Government wants to know how these technologies are going to assist people living in rural areas. That is why we are also appealing to private mobile companies to provide networks in as many rural areas as you can, villagers have handsets but the network is not available. We know you are trying, but you have to do more,’ she said. Turning to VoIP, she added, ‘Voice over IP technologies has revolutionised how telecommunications operators are able to deliver voice and data services. Where VoIP is introduced either on local traffic or international traffic, cost of delivering services has been reduced and savings have been passed over to consumers,’ and appealed to mobile phone operators to draw strategic plans on how VoIP could be applied on their networks. MACRA acting director general Mike Kuntiya said the transmission of VoIP had limitations in terms of capacity and speed as well as costs to consumers in the delivery of services. ‘This is a challenge for telecommunication companies as they try to sustain their incomes in the new environment,’ he said.
Kaliati said Cabinet had questioned how the policy was going to benefit the rural masses, something it did not currently cover. ‘Government wants to know how these technologies are going to assist people living in rural areas. That is why we are also appealing to private mobile companies to provide networks in as many rural areas as you can, villagers have handsets but the network is not available. We know you are trying, but you have to do more,’ she said. Turning to VoIP, she added, ‘Voice over IP technologies has revolutionised how telecommunications operators are able to deliver voice and data services. Where VoIP is introduced either on local traffic or international traffic, cost of delivering services has been reduced and savings have been passed over to consumers,’ and appealed to mobile phone operators to draw strategic plans on how VoIP could be applied on their networks. MACRA acting director general Mike Kuntiya said the transmission of VoIP had limitations in terms of capacity and speed as well as costs to consumers in the delivery of services. ‘This is a challenge for telecommunication companies as they try to sustain their incomes in the new environment,’ he said.
WFP approves school feeding project for Malawi
The World Food Programme (WFP) has approved a 59.8 million U.S. dollar project for Malawi through which 635,000 school-going children would be provided with a daily meal in their schools for four years.
A statement issued Tuesday by WFP local office in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe, stated that the project,Support to Primary Education Development Project for Malawi, would be implemented from January 2008 to December 2011.
The WFP said in the statement that the Malawian government would contribute 19.6 million dollars towards the project for staff salaries and monitoring costs while WFP would cough up 40.2 million dollars, mainly for food, transport and other associated costs.
"The idea of working with the government directly is to support national ownership, and we anticipate that the government will eventually take over the school feeding program,'' WFP's Country Director in Malawi, Dom Scalpelli, said in the statement.
Scalpelli said the project would have a huge impact on education and development in Malawi by increasing enrolment rates and reducing drop out rates, particularly among girls and orphans, and by promoting regular attendance.
"The project will also help improve the children's ability to concentrate and learn, especially that around 70 percent of children go to school without having breakfast," the WFP Country Director said.
WFP said the in the current project, community participation would also be an integral part as communities in the targeted schools would be required to sign a community contract, defining the responsibilities of each party before the project starts.
WFP has since 2002 been feeding close to 210,000 primary school children in Malawi's 10 districts as one way of encouraging those children that were in school to remain and also attract those that dropped out to come back.
A study commissioned by UNICEF in Malawi in 2002 found that food shortages increased student absenteeism and dropout rates, particularly during the lean season.
Malawi's traditional lean season runs between December and April when maize is scarcest. During the same period, the price of maize usually rises until the March/April harvest.
The average national dropout rate is 16.1 percent and it is higher for girls than boys.
In the current project, the food agency would be feeding the 635,000 children in 672 schools spread across the country's 14 of all the 28 districts. The children would be provided with a bowl of porridge on every school day throughout the year.
WFP stated that the approved project would enable around 21 percent of Malawi's primary schoolgoing children to enjoy a nutritious meal every day.
"About 114,300 girls and orphaned boys in school will also receive a monthly take-home ration of 12.5 km of staple maize during the lean season, providing an additional incentive for their parents and guardian to send them to school,"the food agency added.
A statement issued Tuesday by WFP local office in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe, stated that the project,Support to Primary Education Development Project for Malawi, would be implemented from January 2008 to December 2011.
The WFP said in the statement that the Malawian government would contribute 19.6 million dollars towards the project for staff salaries and monitoring costs while WFP would cough up 40.2 million dollars, mainly for food, transport and other associated costs.
"The idea of working with the government directly is to support national ownership, and we anticipate that the government will eventually take over the school feeding program,'' WFP's Country Director in Malawi, Dom Scalpelli, said in the statement.
Scalpelli said the project would have a huge impact on education and development in Malawi by increasing enrolment rates and reducing drop out rates, particularly among girls and orphans, and by promoting regular attendance.
"The project will also help improve the children's ability to concentrate and learn, especially that around 70 percent of children go to school without having breakfast," the WFP Country Director said.
WFP said the in the current project, community participation would also be an integral part as communities in the targeted schools would be required to sign a community contract, defining the responsibilities of each party before the project starts.
WFP has since 2002 been feeding close to 210,000 primary school children in Malawi's 10 districts as one way of encouraging those children that were in school to remain and also attract those that dropped out to come back.
A study commissioned by UNICEF in Malawi in 2002 found that food shortages increased student absenteeism and dropout rates, particularly during the lean season.
Malawi's traditional lean season runs between December and April when maize is scarcest. During the same period, the price of maize usually rises until the March/April harvest.
The average national dropout rate is 16.1 percent and it is higher for girls than boys.
In the current project, the food agency would be feeding the 635,000 children in 672 schools spread across the country's 14 of all the 28 districts. The children would be provided with a bowl of porridge on every school day throughout the year.
WFP stated that the approved project would enable around 21 percent of Malawi's primary schoolgoing children to enjoy a nutritious meal every day.
"About 114,300 girls and orphaned boys in school will also receive a monthly take-home ration of 12.5 km of staple maize during the lean season, providing an additional incentive for their parents and guardian to send them to school,"the food agency added.
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