Turkmenistan RPCV Dorothy Baiza helps Gulshat Tureshova gain her hearing



Baiza knew that health care in the former Soviet republic was so poor, Gulshat probably would never be able to hear or learn to speak. She also knew that some simple medical steps might allow Gulshat to hear her family's voices. A plan to bring Gulshat to the midstate for medical care would be riddled with obstacles, Baiza thought. It didn't matter. "If you have a chance to help a child, you have to take that chance ," Baiza said. "I couldn't just leave her in Turkmenistan deaf."

Turkmenistan RPCV Dorothy Baiza helps Gulshat Tureshova gain her hearing

OPENING A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Turkmen girl gains hearing with midstaters' help

Sep 4, 2006

The Harrisburg Patriot

Dorothy Baiza hears calls for help from far away. In response, she travels great distances to care for people less fortunate than herself.

This year, she heard a call from a child 6,000 miles away in Turkmenistan. Gulshat Tureshova, she learned could not hear.

Baiza twice served in the Peace Corps and frequently volunteers for medical and dental missions. But this time Baiza didn't travel to those in need. This time, she brought them to her home in New Cumberland.

It didn't matter that Baiza had never met 3-year-old Gulshat. To Baiza, it was as if the little girl was her granddaughter.

Ten years ago, Baiza, then a teacher with the Peace Corps, lived with the Tureshov family in Turkmenistan. The family practically adopted her, she said.

After off-and-on e-mail exchanges with the girl's aunt, an embassy employee in Turkmenistan, Baiza learned that Gulshat could not hear.

Baiza knew that health care in the former Soviet republic was so poor, Gulshat probably would never be able to hear or learn to speak.

She also knew that some simple medical steps might allow Gulshat to hear her family's voices. A plan to bring Gulshat to the midstate for medical care would be riddled with obstacles, Baiza thought. It didn't matter.

"If you have a chance to help a child, you have to take that chance ," Baiza said. "I couldn't just leave her in Turkmenistan deaf."

The phone calls began: calls and e-mails to the American Embassy in Turkmenistan. Calls and visits to hearing experts. Calls to local physicians. Calls to arrange travel with Miles for Kids in Need, an American Airlines program that donates frequent flyer miles to children.

Baiza hacked through red tape and wrestled hefty paper work.

This spring, Gulshat, along with her father and grandmother, traveled to Baiza's home, a tidy blue Cape Cod with a purple door, for their three-month stay in the midstate.

Soon after arriving, Gulshat saw Richard Kreiger, director of PinnacleHealth's Speech & Hearing Center. Kreiger determined she had ear infections, which were cleared with antibiotics. The family noticed immediate improvement in her hearing. Then Kreiger tested and found Gulshat's hearing could be significantly improved by amplifying sound.

By July, Gulshat noticed the noise of airplanes rumbling overhead, awoke frightened by sirens at night and received her first hearing aids.

"She just went wild with all the different noisemakers, tambourines and sounds," said Kreiger, describing the girl's first reaction soon after being fitted with her hearing aids.

"All of a sudden, a whole new world opened up."

Like Baiza, the New Cumberland community wanted to help Gulshat, even though they had never met her and knew little about her country.

A northern neighbor to Iran and Afghanistan, Turkmenistan is an arid, mostly Muslim nation ruled by a dictator. Yet, Baiza had no difficulty rallying her church, family and friends for help.

"There are no differences, basically," Baiza reflects about people, "Take away all the material things and it comes down to caring for the family."

Gulshat's father, Bayram Tureshov, took risks to care for his family. "Nothing is too much. I always had faith it would happen," Tureshov said through an interpreter.

Earlier this year, he resigned his university teaching post and packed his bags.

"Hearing will be the spark to ignite Gulshat's intellect and imagination," he said of the youngest of his four children.

Shortly before their return to Turkmenistan, Tureshov witnessed the start of his daughter's transformation.

Pink hearing aids in her ears, Gulshat stood on her tiptoes, pointing toward a phone ringing in Baiza's living room.

She then bounded in to the kitchen to hear the answering machine. Not long ago, she would not have noticed.

Just days before leaving last week, Baiza found Gulshat on her back porch and, speaking in broken Turkmen, asked the girl: "Where is your daddy?"

Gulshat pointed to her father weeding in the lawn. INFOBOX: WHO HELPED

* Starkey Foundation donated hearing aids

* PinnacleHealth donated professional services

* Miles for Kids in Need (American Airlines foundation) donated travel

* United Methodist Women and Baughman Memorial United Methodist Church contributed to medical and hearing treatment and living expenses.

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




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

---

---

The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

---

Chris Shays Shifts to Favor an Iraq Timetable In a policy shift, RPCV Congressman Chris Shays, long a staunch advocate of the Bush administration's position in Iraq, is now proposing a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops. How Mr. Shays came to this change of heart is, he says, a matter of a newfound substantive belief that Iraqis need to be prodded into taking greater control of their own destiny under the country’s newly formed government. As Chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, he plans to draft a timetable for a phased withdrawal and then push for its adoption. A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War who said that if drafted he would not serve, Chris Shays has made 14 trips to Iraq and was the first Congressman to enter the country after the war - against the wishes of the Department of Defense.

---

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

---

Gates charity races to spend billions Warren E. Buffett’s gift of $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation means that for tax reasons, starting in 2009, the foundation must distribute $3 billion annually, or a little more than twice what it distributed last year. PCOL Comment: The Foundation says that "preventing the spread of HIV is the most durable long-term solution to the AIDS epidemic, and a top priority for the foundation." Peace Corps Volunteers and Returned Volunteers have been doing just that in AIDS Education for the past 15 years. Why not consider a $100M annual contribution to the Peace Corps to put 2,500 additional volunteers in the field to expand AIDS education worldwide?

---

RPCV Ron Tschetter to head Peace Corps President Bush has nominated Ron Tschetter to serve as Director of the Peace Corps. Tschetter, 64, is the president of an investment firm based in Montana. He volunteered with his wife to work as family planning advisers in India and is a former Chairman of the National Peace Corps Association. PCOL Comment: Congratulations to the Bush administration for an inspired choice for Peace Corps Director. Ron Tschetter is not only an RPCV but was Chairman of the NPCA. Best wishes to Mr. Tschetter on his future tenure as Director of the Peace Corps. Latest: How Ron Tschetter was selected as Peace Corps Director.

---

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "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." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

---

Support the US-Peruvian Trade Pact Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, the Peace Corps President, has been lobbying both Democratic and Republican legislators to support the US-Peruvian trade pact before July 28, when his term ends and a US congressional recess begins. If President Bush fails to get approval before Congress goes on recess, it will be a case study proving that the United States does not reward its friends. Please call your representatives.

---

Changing the Face of Hunger In his new book, Former Congressman Tony Hall (RPCV Thailand) says humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism. An evangelical Christian, he is a big believer in faith-based organizations in the fight against hunger. Members of Congress have recently recommended that Hall be appointed special envoy to Sudan to focus on ending the genocide in Darfur.

---

PC will not return to East Timor in 2006 Volunteers serving in East Timor have safely left the country as a result of the recent civil unrest and government instability. Latest: The Peace Corps has informed us that at this time, the Peace Corps has no plans to re-enter the country in 2006. The Peace Corps recently sent a letter offering eligible volunteers the opportunity to reinstate their service in another country.

---

Chris Dodd considers run for the White House Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress.

---

First Amendment Watch Maine Web Report hit with Federal Lawsuit Website wins trademark suit against Jerry Falwell

---

Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position — on March 2 — the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security.

---

PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

---

History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

---

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

---

Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

---

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

Read the stories and leave your comments.