2006 News Archive

Ambassador Hodges visits Village of Dusmani in Glodeni Region:
Presents Presidential Award to American Farm Volunteer

March 24, 2006

Ambassador Hodges visits Village of Dusmani in Glodeni Region:Presents Presidential Award to American Farm Volunteer

Ambassador Heather Hodges traveled to the village of Dusmani in the northwestern Glodeni region of Moldova to present President Bush’s Volunteer Service Award to an 85-year-old American farmer-volunteer, Norval Dvorak. She also visited the successful calf breeding project Mr. Dvorak helped bring to life.

Attending the award ceremony were the Moldovan Minister of Agriculture, Anatolie Gorodenco, the Mayor of Dusmani, officials from the USAID Mission in Chisinau, Peace Corps Volunteers and dozens of villagers. Minister Gorodenko gave Mr. Dvorak a letter of appreciation from the Moldovan Government as well as a certificate of recognition from his own ministry.

Ambassador Hodges received a full briefing from Mr. Dvorak about his innovative method while she visited the calf raising project site on the outskirts of the village.

Mr. Dvorak, a retired American farmer from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has been helping organize and strengthen several cooperatives in Moldovan villages.  In Dusmani, working with an existing cooperative, he introduced a completely new method of feeding and raising calves.  He convinced the villagers that, rather than keeping calves indoors and selling them very early with little profit, they could successfully raise them outdoors, even in very cold weather.  He also taught them how to hand-feed the calves with locally-grown corn to help fatten them faster.  Now the grown calves can be marketed at a higher price for greater profit.  A U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer working in the Glodeni region, Ben Tirrell, was also instrumental in making this project a success.

USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program, through which Mr. Dvorak has been doing his volunteer work, has helped numerous farmers in Moldova raise their incomes.