Group honors six for their volunteerism abroad

For 19 years, Nam Nguyen, has followed his partner, Bryan Dalton, a Foreign Service officer, around the world. Until recently, the former investment banker struggled to find work while traveling without a diplomatic visa, which was not issued to same-sex partners of diplomats until 2009.

In recent years, however, Nguyen discovered “an alternative to a permanent career” by diving into international volunteer work.

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At a ceremony Tuesday at the State Department in Washington, Nguyen was recognized for organizing the first month-long Pride celebration of gay, lesbian, bisxeual and transgender rights at the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai, India, where his partner was posted from 2008 to 2011.

He was one of six Foreign Service officers and family members awarded the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide, a nonprofit group that has represented Foreign Service spouses, employees and retirees for more than 50 years.

More than a hundred men and women who have done tremendous volunteer service in their host countries have received the award since it was created in 1990 with the encouragement of then-Secretary of State James A. Baker and his wife, Susan. Recipients also receive a $2,500 cash grant.

Matthew Meredith was honored for creating the League of Tunisian Women Voters, a nongovernment organization that educates rural women about the political system and encourages them to vote.

Chong O. Farquhar was recognized for volunteering at an Armenian orphanage for special-needs children, where she coordinated the renovation of a dilapidated playground to create the first safe environment there for children to develop their motor skills.

The American family member is just as essential to the Foreign Service as the officers, said Meete Beecroft, the AAFSW State Liaison who helped coordinate the ceremony and the wife of a retired ambassador. “You can’t just have the formal side,” she said. “It’s important that people see us, informally, too.”

For example, one of the people honored, Maria Del Carmen Miller, said volunteering helps communities abroad realize that Americans care about them. That’s why she co-founded the first charitable organization based at the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, while her husband, Christopher Miller, was stationed there as a Foreign Service officer.

So far the charity, Quito Cares, which is composed of dedicated Foreign Service spouses, and Ecuadorians, has raised more than $10,000 to support community-based organizations working with pregnant women who are at risk, abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS, and the elderly.

“When you help the needy in the country you’re changing people’s views of Americans,” said the former school psychologist who gave up her career to follow her husband abroad for the past nine years.

Being associated with a U.S. Consulate helps spark change in such places as Chennai, which is considered more conservative than other major Indian cities, including Mumbai.

“I forgot the gravitas that we come with when we represent the U.S. abroad,” said Nguyen. He said his ties to the consulate helped the community become more receptive to his organizing around gay rights.

What’s essential, Nguyen said, is that something sustainable is created that can continue beyond the typical three-year Foreign Service officer’s term in a country.

Nguyen’s next move with his partner is to Bulgaria, but he is hopeful that what he started in Chennai will continue without him. That’s why working with community-based organizations was so important, he said.

“Hopefully, next year there will be more of the same and the local community will be proud and organize themselves,” he said.