On February 27th, 2010, the East-West Center Southern California Chapter organized a gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year’s and discuss about the participation of the chapter on the 50th Anniversary conference of the EWC in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sushma and Vijay Trehan graciously offered to host the EWC South California Chapter party, where everybody contributed a dish to a typically fantastic EWCA Pot Luck.

Dr. Bonita Chamberlain did a presentation on Afghanistan during the gathering. Dr. Chamberlain (degrees in anthropology from SDSU and a doctorate from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, taught at Thunderbird School of Global Management) was working in Switzerland on assignments to assist Middle Eastern countries in development projects during the 1970s. After completing projects in Turkey and then in Iraq, she took off time to spend 4 months traveling with one of the nomadic tribes in Afghanistan. She has returned annually to Afghanistan for 25 years, and in 2002 created an income-generating jewelry mining / designing project providing jobs for women and men. This project generated $850,000 for humanitarian projects in Nuristan, Afghanistan.

Jenny Miller Garmendia, EWC Southern California Chapter Leader, was also present at the gathering.

Links:

• Contact the EWC Southern California Chapter