Nicaragua RPCV Jessica Trimble maximizes her love for helping others by coordinating and leading medical service trips for the Timmy Foundation, a non-profit organization in Indianapolis



Nicaragua RPCV Jessica Trimble maximizes her love for helping others by coordinating and leading medical service trips for the Timmy Foundation, a non-profit organization in Indianapolis

International aide
Central American stint inspired Peace Corps volunteer to do more.
By Kimiko L. Martinez
kimiko.martinez@intakeweekly.com

Caption: Service job: Jessica Trimble works for the Timmy Foundation, a local organization that dispatches medical service trips to Latin America. -- Pond Thaiprasithiporn / INtake

Upcoming trip
The Timmy Foundation is organizing a medical trip to Honduras for the week of March 12-19. Several area high school and college students will travel as members of a medical brigade, serving as translators for a team of doctors. The trip will also focus on construction and other public health initiatives. To learn more about the Timmy Foundation, check out its Web site at www.timmyfoundation.org

Jessica Trimble spent five weeks last year in South America and the Caribbean. She'll spend a month this year with groups of college students and high schoolers in similar sunny locations. But this isn't vacation.

The 25-year-old returned Peace Corps volunteer maximizes her love for helping others by coordinating and leading medical service trips for the Timmy Foundation, a non-profit organization in Indianapolis. The organization supports health and education initiatives by partnering with community-based groups in Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa.

Medical professionals, lay people and high school and college groups throughout the state, and even some non-Hoosier schools, lead groups of volunteers to serve in medical outreaches throughout the world. It's an invaluable experience that changes not only the lives of those they serve, Trimble said, but the lives of the volunteers as well.

"It's so hard to tell people what to expect," she said. "It's a reality check for people. Any time a volunteer comes back who hasn't had an emotional experience, I wonder why."

After spending nearly two years in Nicaragua with the Peace Corps, Trimble is used to seeing the impoverished conditions that many of our international neighbors live in.

But many Americans just can't fathom the depths of poverty -- the lack of food and clean drinking water, the barely sufficient shelter, the complete lack of necessities that we take for granted.

"We always hear, 'These people are so happy with so little,' " Trimble said. "Then they come back and think, I just spent $30,000 on a new car, when $30,000 could fund a clinic a year, it's hard for people to process. We don't know how to cope with these emotions."

Forever changed

Trimble ended up bawling at the mall after returning from Nicaragua, while trying to decide between two pairs of $40 shoes.

When her parents suggested they just buy both, a flood of emotions took over.

"It was too overwhelming," Trimble said. "I just felt guilty for being able to afford these shoes, when I thought, 'This is more than my best friend in Nicaragua makes in a couple of months.'"

Students and professionals who take the one-week trips with the Timmy Foundation get a small taste of what Trimble experienced in Nicaragua.

Most come back with similar feelings and want to continue their service even though they're back in the United States.

She encourages them to keep in touch with those they met during their trips, to hold fund-raisers to benefit the local groups, and to contact government officials to try to help change foreign policy.

"Everyone would have a different perspective about what it is to be an American if they lived outside the U.S. for a while," Trimble said.

When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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Crisis Corps arrives in Thailand After the Tsunami in Southeast Asia last December, Peace Corps issued an appeal for Crisis Corps Volunteers and over 200 RPCVs responded. The first team of 8 Crisis Corps volunteers departed for Thailand on March 18 to join RPCVs who are already supporting relief efforts in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and India with other agencies and NGO's. 19 Mar 2005

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March's Feature Stories - only on PCOL Dream Come True - Revisiting India after 34 years The Coyne Column: Read Winning Vanity Fair PCV Essay Tomas Belsky's paintings inspired by service in Brazil RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years RPCV reviews "Los Heraldos Negros" by Cesar Vallejo Photo Essay: Taking it to the Streets

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March 19, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News New Jersey RPCVs host exhibit in Maplewood on April 2 20 Mar Maryland RPCVs eat crab cakes in Annapolis 17 Mar Illinois RPCVs present "Life on the Big Red Island" 13 Mar San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs held fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories RPCV points out catalytic effect of Iraq 19 Mar PCVs set up Basketball pool in Ukraine 19 Mar Sam Farr introduces bill to monitor ocean fisheries 18 Mar Bridgeland does not rule out run for Congress 18 Mar Jim Doyle promotes Institute for Discovery 18 Mar Newspaper says Bangladesh is safe for PCVs 18 Mar Joan Ruddiman revisits Peter Hessler's "River World" 17 Mar Mark Schneider says Save Haiti from more violence 17 Mar Troy Johnson joins delegation to Indonesia 17 Mar Chris Shays says baseball not exempt from the law 17 Mar "Hurlyburly" benefits gypsy women in Romania 15 Mar Chris Matthews interviews Schwarzenegger 14 Mar Fred Burke dies in NJ, trained early PCVs 13 Mar Mike Honda introduces Student Privacy Protection Act 13 Mar FT details Cheney-McPherson relationship 13 Mar Tucker McCravy reports on Tsunami Reconstruction 10 Mar Dennis Braddock retires with record of accomplishment 9 Mar

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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Add your info now to the RPCV Directory Call Harris Publishing at 800-414-4608 right away to add your name or make changes to your listing in the newest edition of the NPCA's Directory of Peace Corps Volunteers and Former Staff. Then read our story on how you can get access to the book after it is published. The deadline for inclusion is May 16 so call now.

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

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