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Volunteer Bios - ICO World Communities
...above all, we are friends working together, if the task gets before relationships or friendships, do not do the task... ICO Volunteer Bios, sorted by ICO Groups BIO SECTION BEING UPDATED  Sarah AlamFacilitator Young Persons Centre ICO World Communities Sarah is pursuing her Masters degree in Mass Communication with specialization in Electronic Media from University of Karachi. She received her bachelors degree in International Relations from University of Karachi. Sarah has worked as a Student Facilitator and an Academic Facilitator as well as a Youth Representative for the International Assembly of International Education and Resource Network for over six years. She has been working for more than two years as honorary Secretary General of Young Social Reformers a non governmental organization working for youth empowerment. She also had the opportunity to work as a Higher Education Program Coordinator for a leading school system of Karachi on a short term contract. Her areas of interest are International Relations and Social Services as well as writing, debates and reading. Sarah is based in Karachi, Pakistan  Kathy CosterFacilitator Support - Guatemala Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Kathy was born on Long Island, NY, raised in rural New Hampshire, attended the University of New Hampshire and Institut de Touraine, Tours, France. She lived and traveled in Europe for 2 years and is fluent in French. After living in the San Francisco Bay area for three years, she married and settled in Vancouver in 1969. She moved to Duncan, Vancouver Island two years later. In early 1972 she opened Volume One Bookstore, which after many transformations, both personal and professional, was sold in 1999. Her son, Andrew, was born in 1977. Being "at liberty" has allowed her to participate more in community organizations, activities, elections, and women's groups. She has devoted much time to travels in Mexico and Central America, mainly focusing on learning Spanish. Tutoring English, making pottery and observing elections (in El Salvador) were also highlights of her trips. Last winter she spent 3 exciting months volunteering (stove project, school supplies etc), learning about and connecting with villagers in Guatemala. She looks forward to returning this winter to continue with these projects. Kathy is based in Duncan, BC, Canada  Mitzi DeanPresident ICO World Communities Mitzi comes to ICO with an extensive and impressive background, having worked in the fields of child abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, and addiction. She has spent several years placing much of her energy in these directions, both in the UK and in Canada. While still in the UK, she earned her MPhil, Master's Degree and professional diploma in social work. In addition, she was development manager for children's services with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and published research in the area of child sexual abuse. Mitzi has extensive experience of global traveling, living and working as well as mountaineering and other outdoor pursuits. Voluntary work experiences have also included working in a Romanian orphanage and a women's refuge in the UK. Mitzi and her husband Alan, moved to Victoria, BC, Canada in 2005, and in January of 2007, Mitzi became the Executive Director of the Pacific Centre Family Services Association. Victoria provides terrific sailing opportunities for Mitzi and Alan, who both hold Royal Yachting Association Yachtmasters' certificates.  Jess DexterFacilitator - Gganga Uganda Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Susan Gage Co-ordinator ICO Guatemala Communities ICO World Communities  Nilantha IlangamuwaCo-ordinator ICO Sri Lanka Community ICO World Communities  Richards (Victor) KarunairajanAmbassador for South Asia ICO World Communities Volunteer community work has been a part of my life as a parallel activity with my profession as a journalist. My main areas of concern have been focused on children, young people and their families. Apart from these, as a journalist I have done a great deal of work with organic agriculture, appropriate technology, rural communities, temperance and drugs, and community social volunteerism and that in Canada is very much involved with the problems of Tamil migrants in Ontario, especially Toronto. I have actively worked in Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the Philippines where I did a diploma programme in Rural Social Leadership, the Republic of Seychelles, Sweden and Canada. In 1972 I set up with my own funds a rural community project (Serendeebam) mainly to provide early childhood education but also to be actively involved in grass root community programmes like Home Farms, Biogas Technology, Free Legal Services etc. In October 2007 I am joining up with a project working with orphan children in India as a resident volunteer. This is an educational complex that has also encouraged non-orphan children to participate in it along with the orphans who are residential. My main task would be to help with the teaching of English and for this encourage young university graduates and undergraduates to be volunteers for terms of six months to an year from Canada, USA, the United Kingdom and Australia mainly from the South Asian Diaspora. The volunteers will be encouraged to do their own research in various areas of their interests focused wherever they are doing their volunteer work. I love Indian classical music and dances and recently published a book titled Dances of India. I have two more books almost ready for publication, one of which is "Essays for children and young people." I have just reached the 71st milestone and quite healthy and active and I intend to die with my boots on! Victor is based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada  Mary LynchFacilitator - Guatemala Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Mary grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but left there at age 18 to go to the Canadian east coast. I got my BA in English Literature from Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After working for 5 years as a Social Worker in Toronto, and a year of travel in Europe, I headed west in 1976 with my husband. We "landed" in Victoria, where I started a 25-year career as a Social Worker with the government, working with families whose children had special needs. My husband, Andrew, became an owner and the publisher of "Monday Magazine." (We later divorced.) I have two great kids who, like their mum, love to travel, but who are now settled in Victoria, starting their teaching careers. I took early retirement in 2001, and was able to at last indulge my passion for travel. However, I soon realized that it was far more meaningful if I also got involved in the culture and contributed in some way, so I volunteered at an orphanage in Bolivia for 4 months. Then in 2006 I joined Jacqueline Mealing in Guatemala, helping her on the "stove project" in the Mayan villages around Lago Atitlan for a week - but I stayed a month! I returned the next year with more friends, and will continue to go back as often as I possibly can. I feel such a connection with the people, and believe that what we are doing there - not only with the stoves, but the water filters, school supplies, medical supplies, etc. - is really making a significant difference in their lives.  Jacqueline MealingCommunity Support Centre ICO World Communities In Jacqueline's words... I am a retired school teacher living in Kaslo B.C. Over the last 14 years, I have been fortunate to find a great purpose, and fulfillment in my life, through the organization of Hand to Hand Cooperative, working around the Lago de Atitlan area of Guatemala. I enjoy the challenge of discovering a needy situation in a village, doing a lot of listening, then working together with the people, on a plan to bring back vitality and prosperity. This requires finding creative ways to help people overcome obstacles, and to discover the creative passion in each person, that will ultimately become the energy force that empowers. My teaching background in art enables me to see the potential often hiding in the individual. My greatest joy is to see the light in the eye when the individual discovers the confidence that makes the difference. I am eternally grateful for the gift of love I have been given by these people. Jacqueline is based in Kaslo, BC, Canada  Rob McConachieCo-ordinator ICO Vancouver Community ICO World Communities  Heather MurphyAdmin Support Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Heather is a retired Executive Administrative Assistant having worked mostly with the British Columbia Provincial Government. In 2002 I had the privilege of touring  Isaac Andrew MusakeCo-ordinator ICO Busabaga Community (Uganda) ICO World Communities James Robertson Facilitator - Colombia Community Support Centre ICO World Communities John Robertson Facilitator - Colombia Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Vicky Simpkins Co-ordinator ICO United Kingdom Community ICO World Communities  Udara SoysaFacilitator Support Sri Lanka Community ICO World Communities Udara is originally from Sri Lanka and is undertaking an undergraduate scholarship from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In Sri Lanka he was involved in numerous voluntary activities with non-government organizations including UNICEF, UNAIDS, ILO, Sri Lankan Education Resources Network, Takingitglobal Sri Lanka, World Summit In Information System - Youth Caucus and Idea International. He is currently the President of Rotaract Club of Oglethorpe. Udara is also a free lance journalist, an editor, an international correspondent for several Sri Lankan and foreign online newswires. He is the author of the non-fiction book "The Lost Cause". Udara is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA Linda Stanton Facilitator - Guatemala Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Josefina Sukadana Facilitator Support Community Support Centre ICO World Communities Brian Tilley Facilitator Support Sea Support Centre ICO World Communities  Lesley WicksCo-ordinator Victoria Community ICO World Communities Lesley hails from Portsmouth, in the UK. After graduating from the London School of Economics, she became a solicitor with a national firm, specializing in personal injury litigation, principally for Trades Union members.She resigned from her position as equity partner in 1987, to join her life partner in France, where they restored an old farmhouse, close to Aix en Provence. Just under a year later their son, Alexandre, was born. Lesley felt he needed a more "English language influence" so she started a bi-lingual pre-school, which she ran until 1993, when the family set sail on what was intended to be a world cruise. They got as far as the Carribbean, thought "nice ere in" and spent the next 3 years cruising, Venezuela,Tobago and Trinidad, where they applied for, and were granted, immigration to Canada. Upon her arrival in Victoria, Lesley developed a passion for our native flora, becoming involved in a rehabilitation project to remove invasives and replant with native species. She also started a small organic farm, at her home in Central Saanich, growing vegetables and figs. For the last couple of years, since her partner's death, Lesley has been waiting for something to turn up. Over the 2006 winter she was working in Guatemala on various projects, with the group which has now become the "ICO Guatemala Communities". I'm really excited to be a part of this amazing network of hearts and minds, and even though the techie aspect terrifies me, I can see the vast potential it offers to help "bridge the gap". Lesley is based in Saanich, BC, Canada |
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