CARV’s 2020 May Gathering was unique in several ways. We were able to welcome home a number of area Peace Corps Volunteers who were recently evacuated from their sites due to the corona virus pandemic. Also due to the pandemic, we managed to do this virtually by teleconference.
Monica Hummerick shared her experience in Colombia and Heather Knorr told us about her time in Ethiopia. Each of them spent about a year in-country and obviously had made great connections with people in their areas. Monica worked in community economic in a coastal community of about 20,000 people She taught in the high school there, including entrepreneurial activities and traditional knowledge. She participated in many cultural events, especially music and dance. As was the case among all 7,000 PCVs, she had virtually no notice of the evacuation – receiving notification on March 15th and arriving back in Cincinnati on March 22, to begin her readjustment.
Heather served in northern Ethiopia as a community health educator. She had several water infrastructure projects, in which she used her undergraduate engineering training. She had gardening programs and established clubs focusing on water sanitation and hygiene . This included lots of hand washing, an activity that has gained new respect around the world. Heather loved the many celebrations in her town, where there were many Orthodox Christians. After having been told evacuation was optional, she was given 48 hours to leave her site. Heather has recently be admitted to a Masters program at New York University where she will study water sanitation and hygiene, a direct extension of her Peace Corps experience.
Several other area evacuees joined CARV at the May Gathering and the April Board meeting. We heard from those who were brought home from Tonga, Albania, The Gambia, Zambia, Namibia and other countries. We are so impressed by how resilient they have been, and how well they are coping with abrupt re-entry. We all remember how hard it was to readjust, even when we had months to prepare. We look forward to staying in touch and seeing presentations from all of them.
Thanks to technology, CARV was able to reconnect with several members who have moved away from Cincinnati. They joined us from as far away as Pittsburg, PA and Geneva, Switzerland. Great to see you again!