2007.05.13: May 13, 2007: Headlines: COS - Suriname: Older Volunteers: Flickr: WKYC: Grandmother Barbara Bennett will head to village in Suriname in dug out canoe
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2007.05.13: May 13, 2007: Headlines: COS - Suriname: Older Volunteers: Flickr: WKYC: Grandmother Barbara Bennett will head to village in Suriname in dug out canoe
Grandmother Barbara Bennett will head to village in Suriname in dug out canoe
She's heading to the rainforest, south of the Atlantic coast, and the only way to get there is by dug out canoe. You can forget about golf carts, Barbara prefers kayaks. "Kayaking is what you make it. You can white water or you can flat water. It can be exciting or it can be quite spiritual." But Barbara will have to avoid becoming prey, and not the spiritual kind, as she paddles through the tributaries of the Amazon in the country of Suriname.
Grandmother Barbara Bennett will head to village in Suriname in dug out canoe
Grandmother joins Peace Corps, heading to the Amazon
Caitlin Kollar
Created: 5/13/2007 10:01:12 PM
Updated:5/14/2007 12:39:54 PM
Caption: Crossing the rapids on the upper-Saramacca river (Suriname). It takes a few days by such a boat before you reach the first road again. Along these rivers are Maroon villages, i.e. villages of descendants of 18th Century run-away slaves. Unlike in Brazil or Jamaica, some 20,000 Maroons are still living in Suriname 's rainforest having retained their most original and traditional Afro-American culture. Photo: Ahron de Leeuw Flicr Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
CLEVELAND -- This was the last Mother's Day one local woman will get to spend with her kids and grandkids, for a couple years at least.
She's going half a world away and up a river full of piranhas, in what one senior calls "retirement."
Barbara Bennett's bags are packed. She's ready to hop on a plane. But unlike other seniors she's not sitting on a sunny beach. This grandmother is retiring to the jungle.
She's heading to the rainforest, south of the Atlantic coast, and the only way to get there is by dug out canoe. You can forget about golf carts, Barbara prefers kayaks.
"Kayaking is what you make it. You can white water or you can flat water. It can be exciting or it can be quite spiritual."
But Barbara will have to avoid becoming prey, and not the spiritual kind, as she paddles through the tributaries of the Amazon in the country of Suriname.
Barbara joined a growing number of American's who volunteer in the Peace Corps, later in life.
Now this mother of three and grandmother of seven who shared her wisdom on many family excursions will now share life experience with people who live in areas that may not even have electricity.
She'll be there almost two and half years. She expects to be working with village groups on whatever they make or manufacture.
Barbara's son, Vince says it's no surprise, she's always been on the go, always had a sense of adventure.
Her sense of adventure began with Sophie, Barbara's mother.
Barbara's church held a brunch in her honor on this Mother's Day.
Her family says she'll be missed while she's gone, but they're sure she'll be fine. She leaves early Wednesday and her kids say they will make the long trip to visit her.
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Headlines: May, 2007; Peace Corps Suriname; Directory of Suriname RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Suriname RPCVs; Older Volunteers; Creative Commons; The Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps History; Bulletin Board; Recent Peace Corps News
When this story was posted in May 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: WKYC
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Suriname; Older Volunteers; Flickr
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