Volunteer Post
The Couple Who Volunteers Together
Dwayne Deppe
On June 1st Mary and Bob Albrecht arrived in Guinea for their fifth joint volunteer trip with Winrock. This married couple has completed assignments together in Nigeria, Turkmenistan, and Guinea. Mary and Bob have volunteered separately in several other countries, but confess that they most enjoy working and training together. “It just works well for us,” says Mary. The Albrechts wrapped up their sessions in Coyah, Guinea this week. The assignments are part of Winrock’s Farmer to Farmer Program for Agriculture Education and Training. The Albrechts worked with the National Association of Poultry Farmers of Guinea (ANAVIG) and the National Union of Poultry Farmers of Guinea (UNAG.) Bob trained trainers on improving poultry enterprise creation and management. Mary worked on organizational capacity building of the two Guinean poultry organizations, to support the cooperatives’ transition from a model that functioned more like a loose farmers’ association, to a profit-making cooperative that offers bigger profits and quality market-driven services, like agriculture education and training, to their members. Bob summarizes their roles by saying, “Mary teaches the theory and I tell how it really works!” Perhaps the secret to a long, happy marriage is working together to help those in need. It seems to be working for Bob and Mary Albrecht. We’re glad they’ve chosen to volunteer with Winrock International.
