JULY - AUGUST 2001
The GCC Connection
The lost is found! Emiliano de Lillard (Paraguay), recently married, got in touch to say he and wife, Yrene, are settled into their new apartment after a honeymoon in Hawaii.
It's mighty fine to hear from Emiliano, especially because we miss his smiling face, and because he wants to update the GCC web page.
By the way, Emiliano writes that he will be entering a Master's program in MIS (Mgmt. Info. Systems) at UH-Clear Lake in the Fall.
Congratulations, Emiliano and Yrene. Happy, full life of adventures.
Other old friends, Missy and Gavin Morgan (Kyrgistan), are once again moving, this time to Chicago (see, " We Get Letters").
It goes without saying that they will be missed, but we know they'll be back...they're Texan's to the heart!
Safe travel, but don't forget your Texas roots.
Ken (Korea) and Cathy Fraley's daughter, Raina, may have a celebrity classmate while studying Spanish in San Miguel, Mexico this summer.
Seems Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to study at the same school while on vacation with his family.
Papa Ken plans to join Raina in a few weeks and perhaps soak up some of the language as well as the Latino aura while there.
Shiny, new PC trainees Peggy and Don Laverentz (Romania) have sent three updates already and appear to be taking to it all like ducks to water.
The day they arrived in Romania they sent an email home to family and the GCC to say they were waiting for their host family to pick them up.
Times have sure changed since I was in Sierra Leone 10 years ago...how I envy them their laptop!
See article " Laverentz' Arrive...." for more on their Romanian adventure.
GCC Special Events coordinator, Andrea Hansis Diarte (Paraguay) says she will be travelling back and forth to Vancouver this Fall to collect data for a cervical cancer project she is presently working on.
In January '02, Andrea plans to join husband, Nelson (who just graduated from TX A&M with a Master's in Ag. Development) in Paraguay where he will have just finished up a 3-month commitment as Peace Corps ag trainer for newly arrived volunteer trainees.
Then, Andrea hopes to be hired as PC health trainer for another incoming group in January.
3-cheers to both!
Runners Alert: fleet of foot GCC Veep, Bob Schamus (Nepal) is off to Montana this month to run in the Bear Tooth 12-mile race.
Wear your Peace Corps " T " and win one for us, Bob!
Proud mother, Shawn Murphy (Colombia) announced that son, Kris Rodriguez married his highschool friend Geneva after a long-after reconnect, on June 9th followed by a honeymoon in Hawaii.
Seems " reconnects " come in many happy forms.
Congratulations to Shawn and her family.
Among this summer's travellers are the Willis' who have left for Mexico for the summer.
Robert (Colombia) promised that he'll resurface after the kids are back in school. That means we'll SEE him at the Reconnect in August for some Salsa dancing!
--- Melinda Hutchings
We Get Letters
21 June 2001
Hi,
Thanks for keeping us connected to everything there in Houston by including us on your mailing list.
I just wanted to let you know about our latest adventure - Gavin and I are moving to Chicago on July 2 (yep, back to the Midwest). I was accepted to Loyola University Chicago's Doctoral Counseling Psych program (with a full scholarship). Gavin got a job in the City of Elmhurst, which is west of downtown Chicago. We will be living in Evanston, IL.
The program lasts 4-5 years, so it will actually be the longest we've lived anyplace since we were married eight years ago! We're looking forward to it.
Hello to everyone in the group. Be well. Keep in touch.
Our new address will be:
1327 Brummel #2-F
Evanston, IL 60202
gwm_mlm@tisd.net
Missy & Gavin Morgan
___________________
New RPCV Home from Thailand - by Melinda Hutchings
Just back from two years in
Thailand, Allison Briggs looked us up on the web. She's a native Houstonian and is now looking for a job (sure sounds familiar).
When asked to give us an idea of what she did in the Peace Corps, she wrote the following:
" I was responsible to the Office of the National Primary Education Commission during my service in Thailand....in the Education Supervisory Unit in Mae Hong Son province in the north bordering Burma. In my district I was responsible for 54 schools which meant helping with anything from teaching teachers new techniques or methodologies, teaching community members English or helping build a new library and classroom at a school. "
" I wrote proposals, fundraised, developed teacher curricula, taught Health, Hygiene, Safety, Social Studies, English and created various other projects. " WOW!
After leaving Thailand last April, Allison travelled around southeast Asia before returning to the USA in June.
Now faced with the reality of work in the private sector, she hopes to begin teaching in the Fall.
Although Allison has already received two offers, one in Pearland and one with HISD, she's still hedging her bets until mid-July when she'll make her decision. (John Long, take note!)
She adds, " I'm also looking forward to meeting all the (GCC) RPCVs here in Houston at the next gathering. See you soon! "
You betcha, Allison. See you poolside at the Long's on July 27th.
___________________
Laverentz' Arrive Safely in Romania - by Melinda Hutchings
New PCV trainees, Peggy and Don Laverentz have only been in-country for a month and they've already sent home three updates! To wit:
17 Jun 01....After spending their first night with their host family, they explored the neighborhood and found an internet cafe and a MacDonald's. Their resourcefulness is definitely a plus as Peace Corps volunteers..
Their host family includes a mechanical engineer father, a mechanical designer mother, and two musically-talented college-age daughters. So far, the only (slightly) down-side to their new home are the four flights of stairs to the apartment.
They arrived in a group of 44, with 15 of them over 50 years old, including the oldest who is 82!, two lawyers, and a woman who, after six years of rehab following a bad car accident " was finally following her dream. " Of the three couples in their group, one couple joined after their children served in the Peace Corps.
So now, armed with a Brita water filter (because of rusty water pipes), P & D have settled in for 10 weeks of training located within walking distance of their new home.
27 Jun 01....P & D have been sending back photos scanned into the computer.
Seems Don is taking to the Romanian language without breaking a sweat; Peggy claims she was exhausted by the second day, but remains undaunted having been reassured that PC hasn't sent anyone home yet for not learning the language.
Recently they received an emergency travel kit and an emergency plan in case there is a nuclear disaster or an earthquake...all in a day's PC training.
Their host family took them to the symphony (for US 75 cents) and the conductor was from Chicago. On the 4th, the group is planning a hamburger cook-out and games. They've seen Gypsies in town, and taken a train ride in the country.
Makes an RPCV feel very nostalgic.
4 July 01....P & D sent a photo of their apt. building. Hugh. The cookout, with hamburgers and hot dogs from the Am. Embassy in Bucaresti, is highlighted by a beautiful day in the 30s C. (They " do not miss the Texas weather. ")
Later in the week, P & D will find out what their assignment is and where their site will be and begin to make plans for a site visit.
Well, that's a thumbnail sketch of Peggy's and Don's letters home, which really don't do them justice. It would have been more fun to include them in their entirety, but space won't allow. So, keep tuned for more of the Romanian adventures of our intrepid trainees in the Fall Peace Prints.
Peace Corps/ NPCA Update
If you're reading this and haven't registered for the NPCA Conference/Peace Corps 40th Celebration in Washington, DC yet, you've missed the early-bird discount rate, but it's not too late to register at the regular rate.
To get all the details and register on-line, use: http://www.customconference.com/npca/
You can pay by credit card.
Highlights of the Conference are:
Thursday (9/20), is Advocacy Day and COS reunions.
Friday (21st), Keynote Speaker (unconfirmed): The Honorable Alejandro Toledo, new President of Peru; career fair; symposiums; the Awards Ceremony, followed by World Music
Saturday (22nd), Volunteer Day; symposiums/workshops; Presidents' Forum; annual general meeting; RPCV readings; COS updates; Embassy receptions/COS dinners; World Music at the Washington Monument
Sunday (23rd), Procession across Memorial Bridge with COS flags (a spectacular sight); Arlington Cemetery Memorial Service; picnic & games on the Mall; Gala at the Kennedy Center.
See you there!
msh
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