October 7, 2001 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Larissa Jaffe who died while serving in Zimbabwe in October, 2001 at Age 63
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October 7, 2001 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Larissa Jaffe who died while serving in Zimbabwe in October, 2001 at Age 63
RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Larissa Jaffe who died while serving in Zimbabwe in October, 2001 at Age 63
Larissa Jaffe served in Zimbabwe and died in October, 2001. The cause of death was deemed to be Homicide. Returned Volunteers remember Larissa Jaffe and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Larissa Jaffe leave your memories and remembrances below at:
Larissa Jaffe served in Zimbabwe and died in October, 2001. *
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Larissa Jaffe served in Zimbabwe and died in October, 2001.
The cause of death was deemed to be Homicide.
Larissa Jaffe (F)
Died: 10/07/01
Age: 63
Serving in: Zimbabwe
Died in: Zimbabwe
Cause of Death: fx skull; subdur hmrr: homocide / assault
Cause of death category: homicide
Notes: PCV missing for a few days. Did not show up at work or return PC phone calls. APCD traveled to PCV site to look for her. Found her body beneath floor boards of her house on 10/ll/01. PCV had been dead a few days. Evidence suggests time of death was in evening.
For the Peace Corps Fallen
Read and comment on this article written by Swaziland RPCV Jack Conrad on the Memorial Service for the 254 Peace Corps Volunteers who have died in service held at Arlington Cemetery on June 23, 2002 at:
For the Peace Corps Fallen*
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
For the Peace Corps Fallen
This past Sunday was sunny and steamy hot in Washington, D.C. In the morning, hundreds of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers assembled beside the Lincoln Memorial. There they distributed among themselves flags from each of the countries in which the Peace Corps has served - 135 in all. They then marched, led by the flag bearers, in reverent tribute across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery. At the cemetery they mounted the large hill before them, veering to the right in order to pay their respects to the agency's founder, at the grave of President John F. Kennedy. Then they continued on to the top of the hill and the amphitheater beside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That's where the remembrance ceremony began.
A quartet of Washington, D.C. police officers, called "Prophecy," started the commemoration with gospel music. Then Pat Reilly, President of the National Peace Corps Association Board, stood at the podium, recalling her first encounter with the Peace Corps ("You can't send me to Sierra Leone. I don't speak Spanish! Besides, I wanted to go to Africa!"). Following the assembled volunteers' singing of America the Beautiful, a Rabbi and an Imam shared their prayers with the audience, prayers for the work of the Peace Corps, prayers for Peace. Pat Reilly returned to the stage to share a poem dedicated to those volunteers who gave their lives during their service. Presented below, it packed a punch. Then an unscheduled guest took the stage, newly confirmed Peace Corps Director, Gaddy Vasquez. He shared his brief remarks about the organization, its heightened importance, and again, reverence for those who never returned from their assignments - 254 individuals in all. He disclosed that he thinks about them every day---upon entering and leaving the Peace Corps Office---as there is a large panel with the names of the departed just beside the entrance ...
Next Congressman Christopher Shays from Connecticut (RPCV, Fiji) took the stage, striking just the right note when he asserted that "We walked their paths, rode their buses, bathed in their pools and spoke their languages ... We came home different and with a greater appreciation of our country."
A few other speakers followed, Michelle Forman, the national teacher of the year (RPCV, Nepal), Harris Wofford, instrumental in the founding of the Peace Corps, later a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and more recently a Clinton Administration task force member, and lastly the coordinator of the conference, Cori Welbourn Bassett (RPCV, Sri Lanka).
The ceremony ended with a final procession of the flags ...
I was honored to have the chance to depart the amphitheater carrying the flag of Swaziland. As I did, I thought about the five Swaziland PCVs who never returned from their service alive.
(1) Frederick A. Schwartz (1970)
(2) Janis Hyatt (1981)
(3) Brenda Crawford (1988)
(4) Juanita Quiton (1988)
(5) Laura Stedman (1996)
I *believe* I met Brenda and Juanita before I left Swaziland in 1987. They would have been among the latest trainees. I heard later, when I was teaching in West Africa in '88, that they had died in an auto accident, while traveling from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe, somewhere on the road between the two.
It would be interesting to hear about the personalities of these five volunteers and more about the circumstances behind their deaths. Did any of you know them?
For the Peace Corps Fallen
We who left you
Before our time
May return if you reach back
And carry a world
With us
Within you.
Let our monument
Be the mark you make
In the life you lead of peace and purpose.
Do, so that we may do
Act, so that we may act
Live, so that we may live
Again, through you.
---by Donald Maclean
Salani kahle, Bonkhosi,
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Zimbabwe; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Homicide
PCOL9147
61
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I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zimbabwe, and lived in the same town as Larissa. Mutare was a beatiful small city of about 125,000 people.
I returned to Zimbabwe in September 2002, and was shocked to hear of Larissa's death. I heard about it from the host of The Hide Safari Lodge, near Hwange National Park. She seemed embarrassed to tell me of the details.
A few weeks later, during my stay in Africa, I visited the city Mutare. Zimbabwe had deteriorated markedly since my service of only four years earlier. It seemed that people were desparate, and many had begun the slow process of starving to death. A number of people I knew were markedly thin. I remember the father of one of my students commented, "A desparate man is not a rational man."
I think about the circumstances that lead to Larissa's death, and know that the lawlessness which was encouraged by the Government of Zimbabwe must have greatly concerned her.
I have heard through sources in Zimbabwe that two people were held responsible for her death, and that after being held in jail for around a year, they were subsequently released.
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By Daniel (0-1pool136-25.nas12.somerville1.ma.us.da.qwest.net - 63.159.136.25) on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 12:55 pm: Edit Post |
John,
They were released?
Perhaps you could get the Dayton Daily to do a follow up story.
We have tried to get a memorial for Larissa and her service in Zimbabwe. Senator Bennett from Utah is on the Foreign Relations Committee and hearings are coming in the spring. We are requesting memorials and perhaps a fund to volunteers who have perished memorial funds so their work can continue with Peace Corps and within that village or country.
Since Larissa died in service we have been in touch with the two Senators from Utah trying to get the above and other policies changed at Peace Corps.
You seem to have a great deal of knowledge about her. my number is 978-462-3868.
Separated Peace Corps Veterans
Daniel