November 29, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Woonsocketcall.com: Heather Senecal's two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS in Togo

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Togo: Peace Corps Togo : The Peace Corps in Togo: November 29, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Woonsocketcall.com: Heather Senecal's two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS in Togo

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-13-244.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.13.244) on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 2:42 pm: Edit Post

Heather Senecal's two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS in Togo

Heather Senecal's two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS in Togo

Heather Senecal's two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS in Togo

Raising Awareness
MICHAEL HOLTZMAN, Staff Writer
11/29/2004
Email to a friend Voice your opinion Printer-friendly

NORTH SMITHFIELD -- If a local teacher of school-age children submitted a wish list for a classroom, it might contain items like computer software, paperback story books and art supplies. Maybe it would include laptops and Internet access.

That’s hardly the case in the tiny west African country of Togo, a former French colony between Ghana and Nigeria, where the cost of school is $4 a year for primary education, $8 for middle school and a still-nominal $50 for a year of high school.

Advertisement
Even so, of the country’s 5.2 million citizens, only about 1,100 children -- three-fourths of them boys -- attend school at all, says Heather Senecal, 23, whose two-year Peace Corps assignment is to teach health and how to prevent AIDS.

Senecal, a daughter of Alan and Helen Senecal of 800 Black Plain Road, knows a bit about educational success. She was the 1999 class salutatorian at North Smithfield Junior-Senior High School and went on to graduate in 2003 from Providence College. At PC, she concentrated on French, political science and women’s studies, volunteering during college for Habitat for Humanity, an internationally acclaimed self-help, home-building program.

"She became interested in helping others," her mother recently wrote a teacher at her high school alma mater.

Maybe it’s when a young alum is on the other side of the planet in an isolated Third World country, working in tiny villages without electricity or running water, where schools are old cement block buildings or benches under a thatched roof, that high school students can appreciate a truly great need.

In schools called Tokpo, Kpando, N’kupe and CEG Kolo, the students’ books are either from the 1980s or consist of notes taken from their teachers’ lessons. For those teachers, the "wish lists" are for books in French costing about $10 each, world maps, notebooks and pencils, Heather Senecal said recently.

Her mother, recalling how the high school Student Council a year ago raised several thousand dollars to help build a classroom in Kenya, looked to the resourcefulness of young school leaders to aid her daughter’s project. In the next couple of weeks, the Peace Corps Partnership program will be posted on its Web site, stating its goal of raising $5,700 for schoolbooks in Togo.

North Smithfield High’s Student Council has responded eagerly to the partnership, said Natalie O’Brien, its advisor. Already, a student "lock-out -- an overnight with sleeping bags, movies and games -- raised $500, with businesses donating food for the event. Seventy students turned out.

On Dec. 14, students and school staff boarding buses for the annual holiday shopping pilgrimage to Boston will pay $5 a head, with all funds earmarked for Togo books.

The main fund-raising event will be a Jan. 6 concert in the high school auditorium featuring Brass Attack and Stefan Couture and the Camp Fire Band. Tickets are $10 and available at the school or from any Student Council member.

Tickets are being sold during parent-teacher conferences on Monday and Dec. 6.

"Our goal is to raise $3,000," said O’Brien. "My kids love it because of the connection to someone who went to school here ..Last year I thought what we had done (for Kenya) didn’t get the reception we thought it would from the community.

"But with the connection through Heather, as a graduate, I thought what we are doing would be great," she said. O’Brien, who teaches social studies in addition to coaching the girls and boys tennis teams, noted a portion of the high school’s mission is to promote global awareness. She sees the project as an opportunity to follow through on that mission.

On an even more personal level, Senecal will return to her hometown for a break on Dec. 23, having already been in Togo for 15 months. She’ll remain here until Jan. 13, and plans to speak with O’Brien’s economics and women’s history classes.

In addition to her academic success at the high school, Senecal played flute in the concert and marching bands, ran cross-country and played on the softball and baskeball teams.

From all indications, Senecal will bring stories and lessons and even significant current events that town students probably have never heard before. Just a week ago, the European Union lifted sanctions for human rights violations against the dictatorship under President Gnassingbe Eyadema; a celebration in the capital of Lome then resulted in 18 people being trampled to death.

"At first her father and I were very nervous about this whole experience," Helen Senecal said about their oldest of two children. With no hospitals in the five villages where she lives and works and the government outlawing personal motor vehicles, there are many formidable obstacles. Senecal "gets around her county (Kolo) by bicycle," her mother said.

Generally, the family speaks with her every two weeks and receives periodic e-mails when Heather can go to the capital city and rent Internet time.

The family’s concerns for her health and safety have eased, however. They said the training by the Peace Corps has been outstanding.

"Right now I’m fine with it," Helen Senecal said. With their limited resources, she said, "I’m in awe and just amazed how she’s been able to do it and do it all quite well." Her daughter believes health care education "needs to start with the children," she said.

In July, her parents and younger brother, Justin, plan to visit Heather in Togo before her 27-month Peace Corps stint ends in December 2005. In the meantime, they await her first Christmas home in two years, when they and the town’s high school students will hear directly about her adventures.


©The Call 2004





When this story was posted in December 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Our debt to Bill Moyers Our debt to Bill Moyers
Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

December 10, 2004: This Week's Top Stories December 10, 2004: This Week's Top Stories
Dodd says Rumsfeld's answer was unacceptable 9 Dec
RPCV Blake Willeford runs classic movie theatre 9 Dec
RPCV says education is key to curbing AIDS 9 Dec
RPCV Dannielle Tegeder opens exhibition 9 Dec
Shalala 1st Woman In Touchdown Club 9 Dec
"Today we have a new country" says Toledo 9 Dec
DDN wins Investigative Reporting Award 8 Dec
Celeste on Panel to study Colorado finances 8 Dec
RPCV leads Rotary Club medical team to Togo 6 Dec
Vasquez to speak at Hawaii, Wisconsin commencements 6 Dec
Tom Murphy warns Pittsburgh on budget abyss 2 Dec
Venezuela RPCV Martha Egan runs Pachamama imports 30 Nov
more top stories...

RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack
RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the U.S. consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia survived Monday's attack on the consulate without injury. Five consular employees and four others were killed. Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman to hold the position, has been an outspoken advocate of rights for Arab women and has met with Saudi reformers despite efforts by Saudi leaders to block the discussions.
Is Gaddi Leaving? Is Gaddi Leaving?
Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors.
The Birth of the Peace Corps The Birth of the Peace Corps
UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn.
Vote "Yes" on NPCA's bylaw changes Vote "Yes" on NPCA's bylaw changes
Take our new poll. NPCA members begin voting this week on bylaw changes to streamline NPCA's Board of Directors. NPCA Chair Ken Hill, the President's Forum and other RPCVs endorse the changes. Mail in your ballot or vote online (after Dec 1), then see on how RPCVs are voting.
Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying
Congressman Norm Dicks has asked the U.S. attorney in Seattle to consider pursuing charges against Dennis Priven, the man accused of killing Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner on the South Pacific island of Tonga 28 years ago. Background on this story here and here.
Your vote makes a difference Your vote makes a difference
Make a difference on November 2 - Vote. Then take our RPCV exit poll. See how RPCV's are voting and take a look at the RPCV voter demographic. Finally leave a message on why you voted for John Kerry or for George Bush. Previous poll results here.

Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Woonsocketcall.com

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Togo

PCOL15129
87

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: