Rajeev Goyal bags
Peace Corps award
WASHINGTON, April 28 2005
IANS
Rajeev Goyal, a Peace Corps volunteer from New York,
is being recognised with the organisation's prestigious
Franklin H. Williams award.
The New York Regional Office of the Peace Corps announced
Tuesday that Goyal is being recognised for his continuing
volunteerism and work in the US to support projects
in Nepal.
The award is in memory of Franklin H. Williams, a
foreign and domestic public servant until his death
in 1990, who was a Peace Corps regional director for
Africa and the US ambassador to Ghana.
The Peace Corps annually recognises 12 Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers of Colour who have carried on William's
spirit of volunteerism and commitment to the Peace
Corps' third goal - "To help promote a better
understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans."
Goyal's first assignment was to prepare students
for national examinations in Nepal. He was responsible
for securing scholarships for 15 low-caste middle
school girls and six college students.
He is also credited with playing a critical role
in a secondary project for bringing clean drinking
water to a community of 100 families.
A law student at New York University who will graduate
in May 2006, Goyal has thus far initiated and organised
two law lectures for fellow students and the general
public that deal with critical issues for Nepal: "The
Dark Side of Shangri-La: Human Rights Abuses in the
Kingdom of Bhutan" and "Perspectives from
Five Leaders of the Women's Rights Struggle in Nepal".
As a volunteer for the Seattle-based Living Earth
Institute, Goyal works as Nepal Project Manager, Secretary
and East Coast Fundraiser, to initiate and organise
fundraising events, including one that raised $13,565
for five drinking water projects in eastern Nepal.
The son of Ravindra and Damyanti Goyal of Manhasset
Hills in New York, Goyal has received several awards
in the past.
