Administration

Communications

Informative session by Peace Corp and Non-Profit veterans hosted on campus
Monday, November 26, 2012

The Political Science Department and the student group, IDEAS, are hosting a seminar featuring David and Merry Fredrick on campus Thursday, Nov. 29, Meaders Dining Room at 1 p.m. David is retired Foreign Service Officer who has served with the Peace Corps and State Department, and Merry is the executive director of Self-Help International (SHI).They will speak on a host of topics, including international careers, Peace Corps, turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East, not-for-profit organizations, women's micro-lending, and development issues.
David Fredrick holds an M.A. in economics plus doctoral studies in resource economics. He retired as a Foreign Service officer after 28 years of service, having been posted in Thailand, Senegal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Yemen Arab Republic, Morocco and Washington, DC. He recently retired from Wartburg College after 14 years as director of International Admissions. He has been in 78 countries and speaks French, Arabic and Thai. He travels and volunteers for tasks for SHI in both Ghana and Nicaragua, as well in the United States. His strengths and experiences are in agricultural economics, sustainable development, long term planning & budgeting and risk/vulnerability assessment.
Merry Fredrick has personally led mission trips to Nicaragua in association with Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the United Methodist Church. She coordinates with the Wartburg College Community Builders Program to bring together adult volunteers, and students to facilitate hunger and poverty awareness through SHI projects. In addition to facilitating scores of student internships in recipient countries, she has collaborated with Dr. Norman Borlaug, “father of the ‘Green Revolution’” and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and with Surinder Vasal, World Food Prize Laureate. She also worked extensively with the Think Tank for the Country Specific Development Project in Africa.
Self-Help International is a non-profit organization based in Waverly, Iowa. Its mission is to alleviate hunger through self-reliance by providing beneficiaries with education, tools, and opportunities to improve quality of life with dignity. SHI works with poor farm families at the grass roots level in Africa and Central America, and is especially active in Ghana and Nicaragua, initiating remarkable projects devoted to sustainable development and the eradication of malnutrition, such as the Quality Protein Maize and the Women’s Micro-Credit programs.
The purpose of this program is to provide students interested in worldwide charitable work with resources and firsthand accounts. The event is free and open to the public.