February 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tonga: Obituaries: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Aspen Times: Peace Corps Volunteer Tessa Horan dies after shark attack in Tonga
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Tonga:
Peace Corps Tonga :
The Peace Corps in Tonga:
February 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tonga: Obituaries: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Peace Corps: Peace Corps Mourns the Loss of Volunteer Tessa Horan :
February 3, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tonga: Obituaries: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Santa Fe New Mexican: Shark attack kills Peace Corps Volunteer Tessa Horan in Tonga :
February 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tonga: Obituaries: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Aspen Times: Peace Corps Volunteer Tessa Horan dies after shark attack in Tonga
Peace Corps Volunteer Tessa Horan dies after shark attack in Tonga
In Tonga, Tessa wanted to build a library for the village. "One of the last things she asked me to do was to send her material on how to write grants," Jones said. After she died, her godfather decided to start a fund to help build the library. Already, people have donated more than $10,000, partially through a website: www.tessahoran.com.
Peace Corps Volunteer Tessa Horan dies after shark attack in Tonga
Former Aspen student dies after shark attack
Caption: Tessa Horan, center, a former Aspen High School student, died after a shark attack Wednesday in Tonga, an island about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. (Contributed photo)
By Joel Stonington
February 4, 2006
Print Friendly Print Email Email
A shark attack killed a former Aspen High student who was a Peace Corps volunteer on a South Pacific island.
Tessa Horan, a student at Aspen High School from 1996-98, died Wednesday near the tiny village of Tu'anuku, on the island of Vava'u in Tonga.
Horan was cooling off in the ocean after a soccer game with two boys from the village when she was pulled down by shark. When she resurfaced, most of her right leg was gone, and she died quickly from loss of blood. She was 24 years old.
It was believed to be the third shark attack in Tongonese history.
Horan's mother, Kristena Prater, used to own the Aspen Mercantile and splits her time between Aspen and Santa Fe, N.M. Her brother, Kevin Horan, recently graduated from Aspen High School, and her stepfather, Joe Burke, is a longtime resident of Aspen.
"She was just such a phenomenal person with so much grace," Prater said. "I'm going to miss her so much."
Prater said her daughter had a hard time being away from her family for any length of time, so the Peace Corps was a challenge for her.
"She just immediately created her own family in the village where she was," Prater said. "They fell in love with her. When she was struck by the shark and they got her into the canoe, she died very quickly. They carried her through the village in the rain and everyone was chanting."
Horan had been in Tonga since Jan. 18, teaching soccer, art, English and computer skills to children.
"She had gone through a lot of hard times when she first got there and was thinking about coming back," said her boyfriend, Scott Jones. "Everything turned around. She ended up getting placed in the perfect village, and the last few times I talked to her she was so happy. One of the last letters I received from her she asked me to join her, and I wrote her back and I said I would. The mail was so slow I don't know if she ever got that response. She said I would learn the man things. I said I didn't care about any of that and I just wanted to be with her."
Horan completed her sophomore and junior years at Aspen High School, then moved back to Santa Fe. Karen Angus, a counselor at Aspen High remembered her as kind, passionate and artistic.
"She was one of those people that cared about humankind," Angus said. "She was humble, subtle and not one to boast about any of her accomplishments."
One of Horan's teachers, Barbara Smith, said, "She wasn't interested in becoming something. She was always interested in giving something. It sounds like her being in the Peace Corps, that's exactly what she was doing. Last time I heard from her, she was very excited about going."
Horan's brother is a paraplegic so she spent a lot of time learning about adaptive ski programs and helping him ski.
Horan also worked on the ski patrol at Santa Fe Ski Area and with the Sante Fe Rafting Co. as a kayak instructor for seven years.
Cody Sheppard, patrol director for Sante Fe Ski Area, worked with Horan for seven years and wrote her a recommendation for the Peace Corps.
"Her actions followed her heart," Sheppard said. "Once you got to know Tessa, it didn't end at the end of the workday. She brought the sun with her. Always the bright star."
Another member of the Santa Fe Patrol, Jack Dant, remembered her well.
"Everybody's just tore up," he said. "People fall over crying at times, we all love her so much," he said. "She was small in stature, but her heart and soul was the most positive thing. She would be smiling and singing and dancing on lousy mornings. She was really legit, she wasn't into partying, and she didn't do drugs or drink. She was a pure soul out to do good for the world."
Horan graduated from the College of Santa Fe with a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education in 2003 and worked as a substitute for Santa Fe public schools for two years.
In Tonga, Tessa wanted to build a library for the village. "One of the last things she asked me to do was to send her material on how to write grants," Jones said.
After she died, her godfather decided to start a fund to help build the library. Already, people have donated more than $10,000, partially through a website: www.tessahoran.com.
"The dream she had to build this library," Prater said, "we're going to finish it for her."
Joel Stonington's e-mail address is jstonington@aspentimes.com
When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| 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. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| 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. |
| 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: Aspen Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Tonga; Obituaries; Safety and Security of Volunteers
PCOL25057
75