January 22, 2005: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Election Observers: Foster's Online: RPCV Trey Aven traveled to the Ukraine to monitor that country’s historic special presidential election
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Ukraine:
Peace Corps Ukraine :
The Peace Corps in the Ukraine:
January 22, 2005: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Election Observers: Foster's Online: RPCV Trey Aven traveled to the Ukraine to monitor that country’s historic special presidential election
RPCV Trey Aven traveled to the Ukraine to monitor that country’s historic special presidential election
RPCV Trey Aven traveled to the Ukraine to monitor that country’s historic special presidential election
Dover college dean plays role in historic Ukraine election
By BRUNO MATARAZZO Jr.
Democrat Staff Writer
Caption: Trey Aven, far left, was on hand as an observer for the Ukraine's recent elections. Courtesy photo
DOVER — A local college educator who traveled to the Ukraine to monitor that country’s historic special presidential election called his visit an "incredible experience."
Trey Aven, who is McIntosh College’s dean of design and technology, was an official observer for the Dec. 26 election that saw opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko defeat the country’s prime minister.
Aven went to the Ukraine as an observer through the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America — a New York-based nonprofit organization representing interests of Ukrainian immigrants.
"What I found was they were very serious about having this election done correctly," Aven said in an interview following his return to Dover where he lives.
Aven, who speaks Russian and Ukrainian, arrived in the Ukraine on Christmas Eve with observers from the United States, Canada and Australia.
Aven was told the observers had to be accountable, reliable and objective "in order to further the cause of democracy."
"The entire world will be watching what will be happening and that we were considered the guardians of democracy," he said.
Even though it’s a volunteer position and observers must pay for their trips out of their own pockets, that didn’t change Aven’s decision to play his part in Ukraine’s democracy-making process.
Citing massive fraud, the Ukraine supreme court ordered the special election after voiding results from the original runoff on Nov. 21 and revoking the victory of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, according to The Associated Press.
Following the Nov. 21 election, thousands of voters took to the streets, protesting possible irregularities and demanding a rematch.
The country was initially looking for 330,000 observers for each precinct but only 12,000 arrived.
That meant Aven and other observers had to shuttle between various precincts to oversee voting places.
Aven, who worked in the Ukraine as part of the Peace Corps and later served as an information specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Chisinau, Moldova, praised the outcome of the special election.
He predicts the Ukraine will be a "very different democracy," one more comparable to the early days of the United States.
© 2005 Geo. J. Foster Company
When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." |
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
| Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." |
| Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors. |
| The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Foster's Online
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ukraine; Election Observers
PCOL16179
18
.