October 31, 2005: Headlines: COS - Colombia: COS - Sri Lanka: Tsunami Relief: Christian Children's Fund: Colombia RPCV Bob Loew works in Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Colombia:
Peace Corps Colombia :
The Peace Corps in Colombia:
October 31, 2005: Headlines: COS - Colombia: COS - Sri Lanka: Tsunami Relief: Christian Children's Fund: Colombia RPCV Bob Loew works in Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka
Colombia RPCV Bob Loew works in Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka
After watching the images on TV, following endless links on the Internet and seeing the photos of destruction in newspapers, Bob Loew was convinced. He needed to find a way to help with recovery efforts from the widespread destruction caused by the December 26, 2004 tsunami. After all, he is a former engineer and could use his skills to help rebuild.
Colombia RPCV Bob Loew works in Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka
A Generous Man Travels to Sri Lanka
Caption: Loew worked with CCF staff in Sri Lanka, helping supervise five projects in the southern district of Matara.
After watching the images on TV, following endless links on the Internet and seeing the photos of destruction in newspapers, Bob Loew was convinced. He needed to find a way to help with recovery efforts from the widespread destruction caused by the December 26, 2004 tsunami. After all, he is a former engineer and could use his skills to help rebuild.
“I was very personally impacted by the news of the tsunami as I think most people were,” Loew said. “I was stunned by the stories of destruction and personal suffering.” To Loew, a former Peace Corps volunteer, the solution seemed obvious — asking the Peace Corps if there was a way he could help.
“They told me they were looking for people with language skills who had served in Southeast Asia before,” said Loew. “I understood that. So I just put the whole thing aside.”
Loew simply resumed his job as a high school mathematics teacher, relatively content to watch the relief efforts through the media coverage. But in April Loew received an unexpected, yet welcomed phone call from the Peace Corps. The language requirements initially requested had been relaxed, and Loew was soon off to Sri Lanka, where he volunteered from July 1 until September 30, 2005. Through its affiliation with the Peace Corps, Loew worked directly with Christian Children's Fund on various projects in Matara.
Following the tsunami, the Peace Corps contacted a few other organizations, hoping to form a partnership in the heavily damaged country.
And in CCF, the Peace Corps found a perfect complement.
“This has worked out beautifully,” Loew said. “The Peace Corps has the skilled manpower and CCF has their feet on the ground in Sri Lanka already and has an established presence.”
Loew worked with CCF staff, helping supervise five projects in the southern district of Matara, one of five Sri Lankan districts in which CCF provides help. Loew was involved in the initial planning stages for three high schools - Rahula, Ilma and St. Thomas — as well as for the Matara General Hospital and a children’s park. He easily worked 10- to 12-hour days making sure the projects were designed and properly planned. It was all just an extension of his previous training.
“When this opportunity came up, I looked at it as my whole life and all my experiences converging on this one particular assignment,” he said. Loew visited each site every day or two to monitor the quality of the construction — often making visits during heavy rains to ensure proper drainage.
Ever since that December day when the tsunami crashed upon the unsuspecting shores of Southeast Asia, helping in some way is what Bob Loew wanted to do — and he got his chance.
When this story was posted in November 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| 'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here. |
| PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted. |
| 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 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
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: Christian Children's Fund
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; COS - Sri Lanka; Tsunami Relief
PCOL22725
77