by Eilene Rowley

Eileen Rowley and Lisa Aiken, met recently to strategize about increasing our volunteer base. We need your help! There are many small, manageable projects you might like to help with.

Are you comfortable making a few phone calls? Are you facile with technology... we would appreciate assistance with IT. How about finance? Marketing? Editing? Interviewing? There’s a place in Servas for you and your SuperPower!

Volunteer efforts really matter and are greatly appreciated. Please help us keep Servas a relevant and viable organization. Simply e-mail your area/s of interest, your name, address, e-mail, cell number to volunteercoordination@usservas.org. We will welcome you to our corps of volunteers!

with permission from Lost Coast Outpost

Phyllis Zweig Chinn

“Are you prepared to be a role model?” the interviewer asked Phyllis Zweig Chinn when she interviewed 50 years ago for a position at what was then Humboldt State University. Little did he know that she would become a distinguished mathematician (shown in this photo at a convention she organized on graph theory/combinatorics.)

“I said, ‘Well, I am a female and, by virtue of that, I am certainly going to be a role model to women students, but I don’t have a chip on my shoulder about it,’” Chinn recalled. “Which was kind of true until I got here,” she added, laughing.

Servas members have known for many years that Phyllis Chinn is a special person (see Open Doors Volunteer Spotlight article), but we did not realize that our petite dynamo was an academic trailblazer on many levels. This article is an abstract from California's Humboldt County ezine "Lost Coast Outpost" article posted August 8, 2024, under the title: Arcata Mathematician/Accidental Radical Phyllis Zweig Chinn Reflects on a Lifetime of Teaching and Trailblazing. We appreciate the Outpost's permission to use their article. You can read the full story HERE.

Chinn became Humboldt’s first female math professor in fall 1975. When she started, women could be fired for getting pregnant. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which allowed women to open bank accounts or lines of credit without a male co-signer, had passed just one year prior. Yet over the next 35 years, from a home base in Arcata, Chinn would go on to publish over 60 “highly-cited” works and collaborate with some of the most renowned mathematicians of the time. She also served as Math Department chair.

After graduating in 1962, armed with a master’s in teaching from Harvard, she took the clearest path available to women in mathematics at the time: educating children. Chin quickly realized that the junior high classroom was not suited to her goals, and she quickly jumped on an opportunity to teach at the university level the following year.

Chinn and her husband Daryl at their wedding. 

Chin felt an unspoken sentiment among male colleagues that women were unsuited for the field but when she received promotions, “there were certainly some people who said quietly that they thought it was because I was a woman,” she said.

In response, Lee co-founded a student group called WINS (Women in Natural Resources and Sciences) providing opportunities for women studying math, engineering, nursing and science to learn from women working in the field. Later, Chinn worked to coordinate Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Math, which hosted annual conferences for girls grades 7-12.

Chinn remained the only tenure-track woman in the Math Department for more than a decade, publishing on graph theory and combinatorics with preeminent mathematicians worldwide. On the scale Erdős numbers, which denote the distance between Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős and another individual, as measured by academic papers, Chinn scores a one – meaning she published a paper with the distinguished Hungarian.

Chinn with mathematician Paul Erdős (left) and HSU President Alistair McCrone.

But teaching prospective teachers was always Chinn’s passion. Chinn also taught classes in women’s studies, education and teacher preparation, science, interdisciplinary studies and religious studies. She spent the majority of her career with her husband Daryl, who chaired a human relations committee at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Chinn retired from Humboldt University in 2010. Today, she volunteers with the international peace organization Servas United States and the Red Cross. She also participates in a local support group for Parkinson’s and national studies of the disease.

“I felt that if I am going to have Parkinson’s, at least I can do everything I am able to contribute to the science of understanding and treating it,” she said. To learn more about Chinn’s life, listen to an interview with her daughter, opera singer Hai-Ting Allison Chinn.  Here is a link to the interview at StoryCorps Archive.

by Eileen Rowley

US Servas has been an all-volunteer organization since 2021. We no longer have an office nor staff. We are thriving thanks to the help of volunteers like the new team members below. The more volunteers we have the less time each needs to devote to Servas work, and the smoother things run. Consider volunteering (see below).

Lisa Aiken:  Lisa resides in Belchertown, MA, with her husband, Tom.  She is now the Co-Volunteer Coordinator.  She enjoys helping others and walks through the world leaving a small footprint.  She and Tom have converted their van and enjoy having travel adventures. 

Eric Roman: Eric hails from Puerto Rico and has joined the Tech Team.  For his day job, he migrates web pages for a business.  Eric has ambitious travel plans.  He enjoys helping others.

Rick Wolfe: Rick has joined Operational Finance.  He has been a Servas member for decades, and hails from California.  In the past, Rick has worked with Servas International, performing audits.

Stephen Edwards: Steve lives in Wasilla, Alaska and has joined the Investment Team.  His dad was a life-long Servas member and bequeathed a generous amount to US Servas. 

Elaine Ellsworth: Elaine lives near Charleston, SC.  She is helping coordinate visits for our SYLE program (youth from 18-30 years old) wanting to improve their language skills by having four, one week stays with various members.  To learn more contact SYLE@usservas.org

You, too, can join our volunteer community!  To learn more, simply contact eileen.rowley@usservas.org

by Bill Magargal & Eileen Rowley

Now that we are an all-volunteer organization, did you ever wonder who issues your LOI eStamp, manages your renewals, changes your travel status, or answers questions raised by members? Well, meet the Member Help team. This team has the distinction of being the largest, longest running, and most active team since we migrated to the new US website in 2021. This is due largely to the efforts of David Hills, who set up procedures for doing these tasks and performed them alone for the first few months on the new system. David is also a slick recruiter who got this article's coauthor, Bill Magargal, to join him in November of 2021. He also established a system for training new volunteers by starting them out on simpler tasks, then mentoring them to other functions as their time, talent, and interests allowed.

Today, the Member Help team consists of twelve people. This distributes the workload and allows time for team members to travel and do other things.  Although the website allows team members to perform tasks more efficiently than previous Servas systems, the fact that we must coordinate information between two websites increases the workload. The US website keeps track of member contact and membership information. The International website stores all travel-related data, making it searchable by all members world-wide, thus eliminating the need for paper host lists... Yay!

Here are the current Member Help team members (listed alphabetically by first name).

Meet a guy who has it all... skilled, giving, humble, seeker, kind, hardworking, good looking, entrepreneur, author, and more. Dan Bare has been a key, behind-the-scenes US Servas volunteer since 2015 when he helped plan and host the National Conference in Portland, OR. He currently leads the Technology Team, which is a vital function now that we are an all-volunteer, computer-based organization. We thought we’d like to invite readers to celebrate him and learn a bit more about this patient, highly skilled guy. He is an embodiment of the Servas ethos, and he checks all the boxes...

World traveler? Check -- around the world – 3 times! Dan's first journey was inspired in part by a blind French Servas host, one of the most traveled people he’d ever met, and who trusted others when traveling.  Dan began his membership with Servas Britain-Ireland in 2005. Worldly host? Check – hosted on the beach in Australia, moved to Chiang Mai and invited all he’d stayed with and met in his travels to visit!! Most well-traveled host? Could be -- has visited 47 states and 76 countries! Travel expert? Check – co-founded a travel company, co-authored a best-selling travel book, taught multiple college classes and thousands of students about the Secrets to Using Technology Abroad!!!

Dan grew up in Michigan and left in his early 20s for New York City. He moved to the greater Portland, Oregon area in 2013, and currently lives just north of Seattle, WA with his wife of 24 years, U.S. Servas Board member, Shyla Esko Bare. He first volunteered with US Servas as part of the team planning/hosting the 2015 national conference in Portland, Oregon. He also gave a talk at the conference on Using Technology When Traveling.

Over the next several years, Dan regularly co-hosted local Servas events in Portland as well as co-interviewed candidates with his wife, Shyla. In 2021, Dan was asked to help with technology for US Servas. He was a part of the team that launched the new website. In 2022, he became the lead of the US Servas Tech Team. Also, that year, he led a team of international volunteers doing Tech Support at the Servas International conference in India. 

Dan’s numerous accomplishments include a long career in IT, primarily as a programmer for companies in the US, Canada, and the UK. He combined these skills with his love of travel to co-found Wild Spirit Travel. Wild Spirit has a unique focus on helping people travel smarter and safer. He has taught Secrets to Using Technology Abroad at ten colleges/venues to thousands of students in the Pacific Northwest. Dan also co-authored the best-selling travel book Before You Go Abroad Handbook (in which Servas is mentioned several times!

In his free time, Dan enjoys exploring new places, wine-tasting, and outdoor activities like kayaking or hiking. Be sure to visit Dan & Shyla when you are in the Seattle area!

by Eileen M. Rowley

Meet Daryl and Phyllis Chinn, two of the behind-the-scenes volunteers whose contributions make US Servas so awesome!

Phyllis and Daryl joined Servas in 1995 and soon thereafter became interviewers.  When the US Servas office lost their lease for the NYC office due to subway reconstruction, Phyllis suggested to the Board that the office be moved to Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA.  Daryl personally loaded the office files onto a truck and drove them from New York City to Arcata. For 15 years he then oversaw the Arcata office finances.  

Both Daryl and Phyllis previously served eight years on the US Board of Directors.  Daryl now serves on the Finance Committee, is Chair of the Complaint Resolutions Committee, and has been Chair of the Key Persons Committee for the past six years. These are low visibility, but very important functions. Phyllis has served numerous positions, among them as a key advisor to several of our national conferences, including the last three. Also, for the past twenty years she has sent personal handwritten thank-you notes to members for their donations to US Servas.

Phyllis and Daryl have attended Servas International conferences in Argentina, Poland, New Zealand and South Korea and Phyllis has been a voting member for one, as well as serving on the planning committee for US Servas national conferences in New York, North Carolina, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Oregon.  They have also attended at least ten national conferences.

Phyllis is impressed and pleased with how people have stepped up over the last few years to make US Servas an all-volunteer organization!

Thank you, Phyllis and Daryl Chinn!

Editor's note: I first met Daryl at the 2021 national conference in N. Carolina. He introduced himself and said, "Hello, my last name is Daryl Chinn ...with two 'N's." The mnemonic worked and I immediately remembered his last name, especially since he and Phyllis are often together... you know, the double Chinns.

by LeeRowley   

Volunteer-run organizations are like icebergs – 90% of them are never seen. I just completed my first year on the US Servas Board, and more than ever have a deep appreciation for our volunteers. US Servas has no paid staff, no brick-and-mortar office – SERVAS is our volunteers.    

I serve on the Board, but just volunteered to wear the hat of Volunteer Coordinator, too. I need your help! US Servas needs your help!!!   

All six branches of US Servas want your help! As a team member – there are six teams, or, to take on a task. Here are some areas where volunteers can make an enormous difference.   

Governance: Consider running for the Board.      

Finance: Do your talents lie in investment or accounting?      

Community: What about social media, publications, conference and event  planning?   

Peace & Justice: Participating in or planning activities for the UN International Day of Peace – Saturday • September 21st, 2024   

Member Services: Onboarding new members and renewing memberships? Consider the Member Help Team?   

Technology: Be part of the website redesign project...   

There are so many ways just a little of your time and talent can go toward making US Servas even better. Why not volunteer?     

Want to know more? Email me at  eileen.rowley@usservas.org. Please include your name, phone number, preferred email address and time zone. If you already know which branch for which you’d like to volunteer, let me know, and I will connect you.   

Can’t wait to have you join us! 

by Dan Bare 

Do you have an opinion on what could be better on the website?  What needs more attention?  What would look better? 

On January 23rd, the US Servas Tech Team kicked off a three-month project to discover and design a refresh to the website.  We need volunteers who would like to assist with content, design, look/feel, organization.  You do not need to be a techie to do this. In fact, it would be fabulous to have "normal" people working on it. We don't want the site to be something that only techies can understand and use. 
 
The website refresh group will meet twice monthly on the second and fourth Tuesday at 5pm Pacific / 6pm Mountain / 7pm Central / 8pm Eastern. We will send you a link to attend. 

For more information, please go to https://usservas.org/Volunteering (you will need to sign in) and let us know if you are interested. 

 

by Anne Cridler 

As a “vintage” Baby Boomer, I discovered Servas when I met a host while motorcycling   in Mexico in 1968. I've been with Servas ever since -- hosting and traveling for decades. In fact, my daughter’s LOI says she "was Servas born." When she was seventeen, she lived a dream and spent a year with hosts Andres and Lourdes in Spain playing futbol! 

In many ways, my connection to Servas also led to a lifelong commitment to volunteering which began with rebuilding the village of Ambar, Peru, after the 1970 earthquake. The crew included Cubans and Russians who brought generators which were very popular. My friends, former Peace Corps volunteers in Ambar, and I brought grit and muscle, which was also popular. Since then, I’vehad volunteer gigs in Mexico, Haiti, South America, Uganda, Ghana and South Africa. 

I lived on the Greek island of Lesbos for eight years where I assisted in welcoming refugees from North Africa. I did similar work in Pireaus, the port of Athens, with the Indian women’s group Amurtel while 4,000 families were stuck when EU countries closed their borders with Germany. I have also volunteered with All Hands and Hearts doing reconstruction projects in the wake of hurricanes in Louisiana, Florida, and the Caribbean.  

I spend the majority of the year volunteering, and Itreasure that time as well as welcoming travelers to share our common belief in celebrating diversity and humanity – building a better and more peaceful world. 

Two great projects relatively close to my base in San Diego are: 

Al Otro Lado.org which works to get justice for migrants with holistic legal and humanitarian support. 
No More Deaths.org (SW Arizona) provides humanitarian aid, search and rescue with the goal of ending suffering and deaths in the borderlands.   

Ed. Note – Might Anne be another Servas Peace Prize candidate? 

by Julie Emory 

We are looking for a Handful of volunteers to help with projects in the new year. These projects are part of the Tech Support team’s work. You don’t have to be a “techie” to make a difference. 

Projects: Refresh the membership website, analyze and archive correspondence data, document various team processes.  

Any level of tech skills will do. We’re looking for detail-oriented, organized, logical thinkers, with the ability to take direction and complete short assignments. It would be helpful if you are comfortable with standard office software (email, documents, spreadsheets) as a user OR an administrator. If you have experience with web design or programming, that’s even better,  but it isn't required!  

Time commitment: one or two hours a week, but not necessarily every week.   

Member level: must be Host/Traveler  

Questions? Interested? Click Volunteering to learn more about this or any other teams that could use some helping hands.