Hello all,
This is the first of the Asst. Director blogs so I would first like to thank you for reading. This blog will be used to let everyone in on what's going on in the life of RdC now.
Some big news now is that all of next year's volunteer have been selected. We have 12 great people getting ready to head down in August. We have Andrew DoRosario (Easton, CT), Danny Carlin (Milwaukee, WI), Tracy Kemme (Fairfield, OH), Colie Krueger (Appleton, WI), Gina Lubonovic (Lowellville, OH), Carolyn Lynch (Wyndmoor, PA), Lauren Mackey (Lancaster, PA), Kasia Mlynski (Hillsboro, OR), Karen Parkinson (Macon, MO), Amy Piepiora (Carver, MA), Elyse Raby (Southington, CT) and Melissa Viaene (Wilmar, MN). We wish them the best of luck as they prepare.
Although we are sad to see Kevin Roberts leave his post as in-country director in a couple weeks, we are thrilled to have Megan Radek start her tenure in that position. Upon his return to the States, Kevin will be in the Master of Education program in International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Megan joins us from Springfield, VA after just receiving her PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We wish them both the best of luck in their new positions.
St. John's Prep (Danvers, MA) recently held "Danvers to Duran", the overnight poverty fight, which is a fundraiser for RdC and Damien House. Over 400 people from all different schools attended to walk a combined 3200 miles (the distance from Danvers to Duran). We greatly appreciate their effort.
In the month of May we will host three immersion groups down in Duran. Emmanuel College (Boston, MA), St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia, PA) and John Carroll University (Cleveland, OH). We pray for them as they go through that experience.
I also invite you to read the volunteer blogs. The links are on the Message Board page of the website. They provide good insight into the actual happenings and feelings in Duran. Here is an example from Nate Radomski's blog:
"As far as the neighbors, i don't know why i go back and forth with wanting to visit and be out of the house. but this week, i've got the energy, so i'm taking advantage of it. in particular, i've been visiting edison, one of my favorite kids at semillas. he has three brothers, two of which go to semillas (ronnie, javier) and two sisters (nagelly goes). edison and i have had a funny relationship this year. for a while, we were best friends. when i was at semillas, we hung out and played. but then one day i took him near a couple of dobermans who barked a little too loudly, and he didn't forgive me for months. but now, after introducing him to a baby iguana, we're back as friends, and i've been letting him wear my bandana everyday he's at semillas. this week i've been going to his house to hang out with he and his siblings. (talk about a bad road. i thought ours was bad. they still have ankle-deep standing water in front of their house.) and the time i'm spending out of the house, while physically exhausting, has given me an internal energy that i'm hoping to hold onto these last few months."
Thanks for reading, and check again soon for updates.
Peace,
Dan
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