October 20, 1998 -- Environmental contaminants and linguistics as power are the foci of research for the two 1999 Theressa Hoover Community Service and Global Citizen Awardees announced Sunday at the Women’s Division board of directors meeting.
Phyllis Williams of Jackson, MS, and Sally J. Andrews of Lincoln, NE, received the annual award "for study, exploration, learning, research and/or observation in a subject area of the recipient’s choosing in harmony with the current interests of the Women’s Division."
Phyllis Williams, 34, is employed as an environmental engineer in training with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality with a focus on groundwater and its protection from landfills, land farms, and solid waste management facilities.
"As United Methodist Women our focus is mainly the Christianity, health, welfare and well-being of women and children," says Ms. Williams. "Contaminated groundwater used as primary drinking water and for other purposes such as cooking and bathing tend to have the most effect on women (our child bearers) and children (underdeveloped immune systems)."
With this in mind, Ms. Williams plans to look at communities throughout the Mid-West, the contaminants of ground water, and how these pollution sources affect the economically challenged, women, and children. From the data she collects, Ms. Williams will develop an educational booklet and film as a model that any community or church can use to develop strategies to address environmental problems.
Ms. Williams graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1990 and a B.S. in Mathematics from Jackson State University in 1988. Prior to working in environmental quality, she served as a lecturer of mathematics and algebra for ROTC students at Jackson State University. Among other community activities, Ms. Williams is involved with the National Society of Black Engineers, Anderson United Methodist Women, and as a Sunday school teacher.
Sally Andrews, 23, presently works as a Volunteer in Mission at the Instituto Americano in Cochabamba, Bolivia, as a high school English teacher and at Emmanuel Methodist church’s daycare and community-based health-care program. She previously worked for the Lincoln, Nebraska, public schools arranging teaching positions for substitute teachers and as a bi-lingual youth coordinator for Trinity United Methodist Church in Madison, Nebraska.
Ms. Andrews plans to travel to Israel, formally and informally study Arabic, and research how language is used to dominate another group of people. She plans to examine in which situations Arabic or Hebrew is used and how the speakers control those situations. "By studying the use of Israel’s principle languages, I will examine the Israeli’s attempts to include or exclude, support or block the Palestinians," says Ms. Andrews.
With her findings, Ms. Andrews plans to submit articles to secular and religious communities and include the information in Spanish linguistics and Soci-linguistics graduate work. (Many Spanish words originate from Arabic.) As women and children universally strive for equality and liberation in many situations, she sees her work as paralleling emphases of the Women’s Division.
She has a B.S. in Education from the University of Nebraska and has studied at the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain and the Instituto Tecnologico y Estudiados Superiores de Monterrey in Queretaro, Mexico. She’s a licensed secondary educator and member of the Nebraska Foreign Language Association.
The Women’s Division, presenters of the award, represents United Methodist Women, a one-million member organization whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. Members raise more than $23 million a year for programs and projects related to women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.