Bart Pogue, US Department of State Foreign Service Officer for USAID, discusses his posting in Guatemala.
 Bart Pogue (Photo Credit: Joe Couri) For Father's Day Weekend, Mac Pogue of PAWAC was able to show off how much of a "proud papa" he was: and for good reason! Bart Pogue, Mac & Connie's son, is a Peoria native gone international and featured as our expert speaker on Thursday, June 14, 2018, at the Lariat Steakhouse in Peoria. Bart received his Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education prior to starting his journey as a Peace Corp volunteer in Morocco, where he became proficient in Arabic. On returning to the United States, Bart moved to Washington, D.C. to work for American Councils for International Education. Bart received his Master of Arts in International Development Studies from The George Washington University. After passing USAID's Foreign Service Exam, he began language classes in preparation for his first posting in Guatemala. Bart joined USAID as an Education Development Officer. He, his spouse Sarah, and their son Teddy have lived in Guatemala since July 2017. Bart possesses unique insight into U.S. assistance in Guatemala, and with the help of Sarah, Bart shared with PAWAC his understanding of USAID and Guatemala’s current development challenges. Armed with data provided by USAID and the Department of State, Bart outlined the dire need for assistance in Guatemala. Guatemala’s median population age is an astounding 22 years old, and many of these young people lack both job and educational opportunities. Bart emphasized that around 60% of jobs in Guatemala exist in the informal economy, leading to widespread job insecurity. Access to education is a challenge for many Guatemalans. Because so many jobs exist in the informal economy, the Guatemalan government struggles to bring in enough tax revenue to adequately support its public school system. Families seeking a good education for their children turn to private schools. However, the cost barrier to send a child to a private school exacerbates the long-standing issue of income inequality in Guatemala. In Latin America, income inequality tends to favor Latinos over indigenous people due to a historical “caste” system once implemented by Spanish conquistadors and settlers hundreds of years earlier. USAID is dedicated to assisting the Guatemalan government in increasing access to quality education for indigenous Guatemalans. Bart works in this specific field, and one of his many assignments includes development in the Western Highlands where most indigenous Guatemalans live.  Around 65 people attended dinner, while an additional 25 joined us for Bart's presentation after dinner. (PC: Joe Couri) One USAID program has been a success in this regard. USAID helped the Guatemalan government develop a method to teach young indigenous children to read in their mother tongue before transitioning to read in Spanish in second grade. While USAID currently supports two of the 21different Mayan languages in Guatemala, the program’s promising results will hopefully become adopted in more languages. Bart addressed the issue of girls in school, and emphasized that the lens focuses on boys as well. Since 70% of the migrants who head north are male, finding ways to educate the boys as well as the girls and to provide opportunities to use that education in Guatemala is of particular interest to USAID. A couple of the interesting questions asked by PAWAC members and friends concerned the role of the U.S. military and remnants of the influence of the CIA. While the U.S. military is still present in Guatemala, Bart was clear to point out that their mission now is helping improve the role and status of the Guatemalan military and the separation of the military from domestic policing. He also noted that there seems to be little to no residual fears of CIA influence, a positive step in the continuing improvement U.S.-Guatemalan relations. We loved learning more about Guatemala from part of our extended PAWAC family. Thank you to Bart Pogue and the Pogue family for sharing a wonderful evening with us!  Map of Guatemala and the Western Highlands (PC: Al Jazeera)  From left to right: Sarah Pogue, Mac Pogue, Bart Pogue, and Connie Pogue. (PC: Joe Couri) Summarized and adapted for web by Olivia Lu.
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PAWAC Reads discussed two books for their spring meeting. The first was Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, by Condoleezza Rice. This selection was a memoir of Rice's term as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor during the Bush administration. A prominent focus was helping developing nations grow democracies. Successes included Poland, Tunisia, Colombia. Failures included Egypt. The Iraq war demonstrated the difficulties growing democracy in a country with no such history; her analysis include the controversial decision to go to war and pitfalls in carrying it out. Despite huge resources allocated, Iraq remained a tenuous government.
Rice’s memoirs show that democracy does not have a straight-line growth pattern. There are setbacks and failures along the way. Progress can be painfully slow and pockmarked with threats. She clearly feels that continuous attempts to move the world in this direction is necessary. Foreign aid was discussed. Waste and fraud in the program has caused resistance to providing continued aid. Attempts to add accountability to aid has alleviated some of these concerns. PAWAC Reads discussed how in truth, the Foreign Aid program is less than 1% of our national budget and offers major humanitarian assistance, The other book was How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die points out how fragile democracy can be and how America’s democracy is not free of risk. Attacks on democratic institutions come in many forms. Leaders have tried to pack judicial courts or replace them, violated term limits, challenge the legitimacy of elections, denigrated political opponents, endorsed or accepted violence, threatened news media, and tolerated repressive measures elsewhere in the world. Other adverse developments include: replacement of mutual toleration and institutional forbearance with extreme partisanship, reciprocity and respect replaced by hostility. These developments have been coming for the past 30 years, but particularly so within the past decade. A major concern PAWAC Reads discussed was the U.S. State Department, our current diplomatic staff, and a loss of communication with the rest of the world. Our influence is weakened. Our response to threats from the world include military and personal interactions from the White House, but we have little input from diplomatic staff, whose input at the State department is much needed. The next Book Club will discuss a recently published book: War on Peace, by Ronan Farrow, July 29, Sunday, Peoria Public Library, North Branch. Blog post provided by Michael Shekleton and adapted for web by Olivia Lu  On April 25, 2018, PAWAC and the Institute of International Studies at Bradley University welcomed Ambassador William Taylor of the U.S. Institute of Peace to Peoria. Ambassador Taylor currently serves as Executive Vice President at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. He has also served as special coordinator for Middle East Transitions in the U.S. State Department, and he oversaw assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. Ambassador Taylor was the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2006-2009 and has served as an international observer of Ukrainian democratic elections. Dr. Shah Tarzi of the International Studies Department along with PAWAC President Michelle Eaton hosted a dinner with Ambassador Taylor before the main event - a presentation on the current situation of Ukraine in context of a liberal world. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has struggled to find her place between East and West. Anxious to set her own path which faces more toward the West, Ukraine still finds the ties that bind her to the East are strong. With the Maidan movement of 2014 and subsequent civil war and annexation of Crimea by Russia, figuring out how to help Ukraine along her path is as important for Western Europe and the United States as it is for Ukraine. Bradley students, along with members of the Peoria area, packed Bradley University's Marty Theater for a total of around 120 attendees at the presentation
Ambassador Taylor was an excellent speaker who understood how to deliver the complexities of significant international events in a clear, concise manner. We thank Ambassador Taylor for his generosity and we admire his enthusiasm for knowledge. The Peoria community gained valuable insight into another part of our world that night, and we hope we are lucky to meet Ambassador Taylor again in the future. Summarized and adapted for web by Olivia Lu.
The Peoria Area World Affairs Council held its Seventh Annual International Trivia Challenge on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at Itoo Hall, 4909 Farmington Road, in Peoria. Lee Wenger of Peoria Public Radio served as the emcee and the trivia contest featured silent auction, raffle prizes, a cash bar, and free international hors d'oeuvres. Proceeds from this fundraising event support the international education programs sponsored by PAWAC. In particular, this event helps the World Affairs Council send a local team of high school students to compete in the national Academic World Quest (AWQ) competition in Washington, DC.
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Peoria Area World Affairs Council | 1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61625
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director@pawac.org
Photos copyright Joe Couri/Kristin McHugh/Kristin McHugh for The Stanley Foundation
(309) 677-2454 (phone) | (309) 677-3256 (fax)
director@pawac.org
Photos copyright Joe Couri/Kristin McHugh/Kristin McHugh for The Stanley Foundation
In affiliation with the World Affairs Councils of America
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