March 25, 2005: Headlines: COS - Thailand: Tsunami: Crisis Corps: Norwood Bulletin: "Though time has passed since the disaster was first in the news, people do still care about what's happening over there," Kerry Broe said a day before departing for Thailand with the Crisis Corps
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March 25, 2005: Headlines: COS - Thailand: Tsunami: Crisis Corps: Norwood Bulletin: "Though time has passed since the disaster was first in the news, people do still care about what's happening over there," Kerry Broe said a day before departing for Thailand with the Crisis Corps
"Though time has passed since the disaster was first in the news, people do still care about what's happening over there," Kerry Broe said a day before departing for Thailand with the Crisis Corps
"Though time has passed since the disaster was first in the news, people do still care about what's happening over there," Kerry Broe said a day before departing for Thailand with the Crisis Corps
Profile of the Week: Heading into devastation, Broe to help tsunami relief effort
By Zach Miller
Norwood Bulletin
Norwood, Mass.
March 25, 2005
She remembers the beautiful beaches when she taught school there more than a decade ago. And, like the rest of the world, she was horrified when the devastating tsunami destroyed so many lives in December.
After the tsunami hit, it didn't take Kerry Broe long to decide that she had to go back to Thailand. In fact, two days later, she already had signed up with the Crisis Corps, part of the Peace Corps.
"Though time has passed since the disaster was first in the news, people do still care about what's happening over there," she said last Thursday, a day before departing for the Southeast Asian country.
Broe, a Norwood native who now lives in Newton, will spend the next six months in Thailand, helping to rebuild lives as part of the Peace Corps.
"It's a beautiful country," she said. "It's so sad about the devastation."
Broe, a medical researcher, recalled her stint as English teacher as a member of the Peace Corps from 1990-92.
"I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn about another country," she said. "Having lived in a Thai village for 2 1/2 years, it isn't something you forget."
When Broe first heard news of the tsunami on Dec. 26, she immediately called her sister who had visited her in Thailand while she was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. Though Broe worked in the northeastern part of Thailand, near the Laotian border, she and her sister had visited the Thai beaches which were so badly devastated by the tsunami.
Instead of teaching English this time around, Broe, 38, will assist the local government of one of the southern Thai districts hit hardest by the tsunami. She said her primary duties in Thailand will involve helping to prioritize relief efforts and assess what areas have the greatest needs. She and the other volunteers also will put together a local staff to ensure progress will continue after the Crisis Corps team departs.
"I'm going to help get the help to the right people," she said.
"The Peace Corps' efforts go beyond meeting the immediate needs," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. "The Crisis Corps volunteers will help to provide sustainability and resilience to the relief and rebuilding efforts. We know the emergency escalates as public interest wanes, and our goal is to establish an infrastructure that aids the people in rebuilding not just their homes, but their lives, their outlooks, their businesses and their prosperity in the future."
Broe added that because the tsunami killed so many people and affected so many lives, most often the local aid workers have a strong emotional attachment to areas they are serving, which has put a mental strain on them and their families.
"The people in the Thai government are exhausted," she said.
She explained that it might be easier for those who aren't Thai to deal with the devastation, although she readily accepts that the amount of destruction would weigh heavily on anyone's heart.
While the last time she was in Thailand, she was trying to get others to learn English, now she is trying to quickly reeducate herself to the Thai language.
"I literally just found out about this four weeks ago, so I've been studying Thai like crazy lately," she joked.
Broe will be taking a leave of absence from her job at Hebrew SeniorLife in Roslindale, where she's worked for eight years conducting research on osteoporosis. She said that her friends, family and co-workers have been incredibly positive about her hiatus and the volunteer work she'll be doing.
"My boss and everyone there have been very supportive of me," she said.
Broe attended St. Catherine's School in Norwood, before graduating from Milton High School and Wheaton College. She later went to Boston University to get her masters in public health.
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Story Source: Norwood Bulletin
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Thailand; Tsunami; Crisis Corps
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