February 25, 2006: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Youth Work: Daily Record: In March, Rut Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ukraine: Peace Corps Ukraine : The Peace Corps in the Ukraine: February 25, 2006: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Youth Work: Daily Record: In March, Rut Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-25-123.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.25.123) on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 12:08 pm: Edit Post

In March, Rut Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine

In March, Rut Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine

On Friday, Mulero's last day, approximately 30 children waited eagerly for their beloved volunteer to arrive. Along with assistant program director Marie Perkins and teachers' aide Charlotte Miles, they gathered in the corner of the spacious room around a throw rug emblazoned with a map of the world. Yellow and blue streamers, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, were twisted together and hung from the ceiling to give the room a festive look.

In March, Rut Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine

Kids bid farewell to beloved mentor

Boonton preschool volunteer to work with kids in Ukraine

BY TEHANI SCHNEIDER
DAILY RECORD

Caption: After-school program volunteer Rut Mulero, above center, reads an oversized farewell card from her students during a party on Friday at St. John's Episcopal Church in Boonton. Photo: TYSON TRISH / DAILY RECORD

BOONTON -- Rut Mulero knew from a very young age that her career as an adult would involve working with children.

And for the 27-year-old Parsippany resident who always loved children, that passion has matured into adult ambition.

In March, Mulero will leave her volunteer duties at St. John's Community Development Corp.'s after-school program and head for the plains of Ukraine.

As a member of the Peace Corps, she'll embark on a two-year journey that will test her skills and strength as she works with Ukrainian youth.

Although she'll be half a world away from home, her passion and energy for doing what she loves best will remain the same.

"Children keep you young,"Mulero said. "I mean, I know I'm not that old," she added quickly, chuckling, "but I just love their imaginations."

A graduate of Parsippany High School, Mulero earned an undergraduate degree in political science at Rutgers University before heading out on her current career path.

She applied for the Peace Corps in April. Aside from the general age, educational and U.S. citizenship requirements, she said it is mandatory to have experience in an aspect of what you want to do.

She asked for placement in community development, and her wish was granted.

She'll land in Kiev on Thursday and will undergo the standard three months of training. She said she doesn't know where she'll be staying in the country, but she hopes to be in a warmer climate near the Black Sea, rather than the in the colder area near the border with Russia.

Her experience will earn her yet another stamp on her passport, for world traveling is not a novelty for Mulero. She spent six months in Seville, Spain, as well as time in Hungary and in the Czech Republic.

Mulero's year-long stint at St. John's after-school program has consisted of working with Boonton children in grades K-6 who attend the School Street School and John Hill School.

The children gather in the parish hall of St. John's Episcopal Church on Cornelia Street after every school day.

There, Mulero and other volunteers and teachers' aides help them with their homework, both tutoring and mentoring. And of course, there's plenty of time for games, story time, and arts and crafts. A playground outside the church, a computer laboratory and an art room downstairs keep the youngsters occupied.

The after-school program, now in its sixth year, was created to keep young children from low-income families off the streets, said Tim O'Donnell, director of St. John's Catholic education program.

"Many of the parents of these kids have to work two jobs, and many at low wages. They can't afford day care," O'Donnell said.

"This program helps fill that gap when a parent can't be there," he added. Both adult and student volunteers from area towns help out, he said.

Bridget Burke-Weiss, director of the after-school program, said Mulero is "wonderful" with the children.

"She's been invaluable, especially with helping out our English as a second language students,"Burke-Weiss said.

"She's bilingual, and that has helped them tremendously."

On Friday, Mulero's last day, approximately 30 children waited eagerly for their beloved volunteer to arrive. Along with assistant program director Marie Perkins and teachers' aide Charlotte Miles, they gathered in the corner of the spacious room around a throw rug emblazoned with a map of the world. Yellow and blue streamers, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, were twisted together and hung from the ceiling to give the room a festive look.

When Mulero entered the room, the children jumped up collectively and rushed to envelop her in a group hug. Visibly touched, Mulero embraced each of the children individually as tears welled in her eyes.

Mulero read the farewell card signed by all the children as assistant teachers' aide Glorivee Lopez placed a large sheet cake on her lap. It read "Miss Rut ... Have Fun in the Ukraine!"

The children watched expectantly as Mulero opened their gift, a framed group photo. Another child presented her with a red construction paper heart that read "I Love You" in glittery silver letters.

Mulero quickly pinned the heart on her brown cardigan as 9-year-old Alecia Bailey handed her a white wicker basket brimming with a spring floral arrangement of pink hibiscus and crocuses.

Alecia's brother, Keron, said he was going to miss "everything" about Mulero, especially her hoop skills.

"She played basketball with me and Ghizam," the 8-year-old said, gesturing to Ghizam Sultan, a Boonton High School senior volunteer.

Most of the children, like 7-year-old Damara Benton, said they would miss how nice she was.

"I'm going to miss how she makes us laugh,"chimed in 8-year-old Amy Zaniewski.

For Mulero, the feeling was mutual.

"I'm going to miss everything," she said wistfully as the children dug into the sheet cake, chocolate with creamy white frosting.

"I know their little habits, their quirks ... you always know who's fighting with who. These kids are just amazing."

Mulero said she found volunteer work at the after-school program through the Volunteers Management Center of Morris County, and she wanted to work with children.

As the daughter of a Colombian father and a Puerto Rican mother, she stressed that the diversity of Boonton was one of the reasons she was eager to come back to the town where she was born.

"We have a big Latino population in (Boonton) ...and I have such a rapport with the kids. It's good to be able to communicate with them in their own language," she said.

"But I enjoy working with the ESL students because they need to learn (English) to survive here."

Mulero added that it's a great period to be involved in a child's life, and she calls her experience at St. John's "priceless."

"This is their developmental stage, when they develop good habits and good behavior to become solid adults," she said.

"It's priceless for me that I've been able to be a part of that."

Tehani Schneider can be reached at (973) 428-6631 or tschneider@gannett.com.





When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

Top Stories: February 2, 2006 Date: February 4 2006 No: 783 Top Stories: February 2, 2006
Al Kamen writes: Rice to redeploy diplomats 20 Jan
Peace Corps mourns the Loss of Volunteer Tessa Horan 1 Feb
RPCV pursues dreams in America's Heartland 1 Feb
Sargent Shriver documentary to be shown in LA 30 Jan
W. Frank Fountain is new board chairman of Africare 27 Jan
Abbey Brown writes about acid attacks in Bangladesh 26 Jan
Christopher Hill Sees Ray of Hope in N.Korea Standoff 26 Jan
Jeffrey Smit writes on one man diplomatic outposts 25 Jan
Joe Blatchford's ACCION and microfinance 24 Jan
James Rupert writes: A calculated risk in Pakistan 23 Jan
Sam Farr rips conservative immigration bill 21 Jan
Americans campaign for PC to return to Sierra Leone 20 Jan
Kinky Friedman supports Gay Marriage 20 Jan
Margaret Krome writes on Women leaders 18 Jan
James Walsh leads bipartisan US delegation to Ireland 17 Jan
Mark Schneider writes on Elections and Beyond in Haiti 16 Jan
Robert Blackwill on a "serious setback" in US-India relations 13 Jan
Kevin Quigley writes on PC and U.S. Image Abroad 13 Jan
Emily Metzloff rides bicycle 3,100 miles from Honduras 9 Jan
Charles Brennick starts operation InterConnection 9 Jan
Lee Fisher tells story of Pablo Morillo 7 Jan
Nancy Wallace writes: Was PC a CIA front after all? 4 Jan

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Date: February 3 2006 No: 780 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.

Military Option sparks concerns Date: January 3 2006 No: 773 Military Option sparks concerns
The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger Date: October 22 2005 No: 738 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 Date: November 9 2005 No: 749 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.

Robert F. Kennedy - 80th anniversary of his birth Date: November 26 2005 No: 757 Robert F. Kennedy - 80th anniversary of his birth
"Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change."

Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Date: October 22 2005 No: 745 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 Date: March 27 2005 No: 536 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 Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 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: Daily Record

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ukraine; Youth Work

PCOL25182
39


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: