Special Issue -- VfP Marks Third Anniversary

A Message from Jack Hawkins, Director, VfP Office

Dear Friends of Volunteers for Prosperity,

For three years, the Office of Volunteers for Prosperity at USAID (VfP Office) has been committed to carrying out its mission of promoting international voluntary service by skilled Americans. As interagency coordinator of President Bush's Volunteers for Prosperity initiative, established by executive order on September 25, 2003, the VfP Office set out to develop and implement a strategy that would encourage American professionals to answer the call to service by applying their talents and energy to helping others in developing countries, and, at the same time, show the world the true character and compassion of our nation.

Toward that end, our accomplishments over the past three years have included: creating an online presence for enabling American professionals to easily find international service opportunities; helping VfP partner organizations, America's leading non-profits and companies, generate the resources needed for deploying skilled American volunteers through the Federal grant making process and other means; sharing with the wider, global volunteer service community, the stories of American volunteers and our partner organizations; and promoting the President's Volunteer Service Award to honor Americans who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to international voluntary service.

Our efforts have resulted in transforming VfP from an executive order to a network of nearly 220 non-profits and companies that have sent over 20,000 skilled Americans-doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, business people and others--abroad in service to those in need.

Due to the hard work of our partners and the compassion of those Americans deployed as volunteers, tens of thousands of people in developing countries have received life-saving health care, access to clean water, improved education and valuable small business training, as well as other support to promote health and prosperity. You have made a difference in the lives of so many in need throughout the world.

The VfP Office is honored to have played a supporting role in such a noble cause, and we thank you for all that you have done. As we look toward the future, we reaffirm our pledge to helping more American professionals become engaged in international voluntary service.

Sincerely,

Jack Hawkins
Director, Office of Volunteers for Prosperity

Support International Volunteers!

The Office of Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP Office), at the U.S. Agency for International Development, has teamed with GlobalGiving (GG), an Internet-based service for international philanthropy, and established a public Web site to enable VfP partner organizations to generate resources on-line. The Web site, www.globalgiving.com/vfp.html, provides secure donation options for volunteer-led projects that support global health and prosperity. Initially, the site will include the option to donate to projects with five VfP partners, and will run as a pilot for six months.

The participating VfP partner groups are: Engineering Ministries International, Partners of the Americas, International Medical Corps, Coastal Resources Center, and Partners Worldwide. These organizations represent a cross-section of the VfP network, and GlobalGiving has vetted their volunteer-led projects according to its rigorous due diligence process so that donors can be confident about providing their support. Security of the site itself is provided by GG's technology. Donations to the volunteer-led projects listed on the site can be as little as $10 and are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers. GG is responsible for all processing associated with the donations, and providing tax receipts to donors. A link to the site is accessible at the VfP Web site, www.volunteersforprosperity.gov. Participating VfP partners' Web sites will also feature links to the site.

VfP MISSION: Volunteers for Prosperity promotes the energy and idealism of the United States through support of international voluntary service by highly skilled American professionals to advance the global health and prosperity goals of the U.S. Government.

VfP Partner Spotlight: CURE International

Located in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, CURE International, a faith-based, nonprofit organization, establishes and operates teaching hospitals in developing countries for the treatment and care of disabled children. Established in 1996, the organization manages and staffs hospitals with highly-qualified American and British orthopedic and neurosurgeons. The physicians are committed to training host-country doctors in the most modern surgical procedures and techniques to enhance the healthcare for countries with few medical facilities and skilled medical personnel. Last year CURE sent 509 American healthcare professionals as volunteers for short-term, service assignments to its work locations in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

For contact information and more details, visit http://www.cureinternational.org/.

Volunteer Profile: Jen Martin, Pediatric Oncology Nurse

Jen Martin with a patient at CURE Hospital in Kenya A few years ago, as a pediatric oncology nurse, Jen Martin never imagined herself in Africa establishing infection control programs. However, that is exactly where her volunteer journey led her in June 2006.

An Infection Control Coordinator at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Jen spent 18 days last summer volunteering with the CURE (see profile above) hospitals in Kenya and Uganda to set up infection control programs. During her visit, she focused on developing solutions to improve safety and reduce risk of infection by focusing on five areas: clean hands, clean practices, clean products, clean environment and clean equipment. Jen developed several infection control policies for the hospitals and provided the nurses with copies of both the policies and her educational presentation materials. She said that she felt blessed by her experience, both personally and professionally, adding, "I now know that this is something that I want to be a part of in any way that I can."

NEW FEATURE ON THE VfP WEB SITE

Do you want to know where VfP partners work around the world? The VfP Office has added a global map to its Web site with the following regions: Africa; Asia, Middle East & Near East; Central Europe, Russia & the Former Soviet Union; and Latin America & the Caribbean. Just click on a region and a country to find out where VfP partners deploy their highly skilled American volunteers! Learn more...

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