Iran RPCV Paul Barker named Lewis & Clark Distinguished Alumnus



During Barker's first Afghanistan tour, which ran from 1995 to 1999, the Taliban seized control of most of the country and quickly imposed severe restrictions. Barker, together with other CARE staff, successfully negotiated an agreement with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar that ensured the Taliban's acceptance of CARE's humanitarian and development programs.

Iran RPCV Paul Barker named Lewis & Clark Distinguished Alumnus

Newport High alum named Lewis & Clark Distinguished Alumnus

Caption: Newport High School graduate Paul Barker, center, shown meeting with refugees and returnees to the Shomali Valley, just north of Kabul in Afghanistan, has been honored with the 2005 Lewis & Clark College Distinguished Alumnus Award. (Photo courtesy of "The Friends Journal")

Paul R. Barker, a 1967 graduate of Newport High School and a 1971 graduate of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, has been honored with the 2005 Lewis & Clark College Distinguished Alumnus Award for his outstanding service toward the betterment of the human condition and "rendering superior performance in his chosen field and superior service to his chosen community."

Barker has worked with CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) International since 1984 and is currently director of CARE Afghanistan.

CARE International members work with poor communities in more than 70 countries worldwide finding and creating lasting solutions to problems related to poverty with a broad range of programs based on empowerment, equity, and sustainability. The organization focuses on strengthening the world's poorest communities' capacity for self-help and on providing economic opportunity, delivering relief in emergencies, influencing policy decisions at all levels, and addressing discrimination in all its forms.
During Barker's first Afghanistan tour, which ran from 1995 to 1999, the Taliban seized control of most of the country and quickly imposed severe restrictions. Barker, together with other CARE staff, successfully negotiated an agreement with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar that ensured the Taliban's acceptance of CARE's humanitarian and development programs.

Despite the Taliban's extreme stance regarding the restriction of women's rights - especially concerning education and employment - Barker won local acceptance of and permission to expand CARE's homeschooling program, which by the end of the Taliban regime was serving 48,000 children - 46 percent of whom were girls. He also negotiated the expanded employment of women in Kabul to manage an assistance program for widows.

Additionally, Barker is responsible for a winter employment program and for providing water to 20 percent of Kabul.

Barker earned a bachelor's degree in history and a master of arts degree in teaching from Lewis & Clark. He earned another master's degree in Islamic studies from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Prior to his current tour of duty, which is his second in Afghanistan, Barker worked for CARE in Ethiopia, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Egypt. Barker has also served as program director for the Lalmba Association in Sudan and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran. He and his wife, Nora, live in Kabul. They have three grown children: Joseph, Leila, and Eve.

Barker is the author of numerous articles and commentary pieces focused on security, reconstruction priorities, and counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan. His American home base is in Atlanta, Ga. A recent essay, "Queries from Afghanistan," is posted online at http://friendsjournal.org. More information about CARE International is available at www.careusa.org.

When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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