December, 2000:
Merry Christmas, Dear Ones!
I hope you are all well, and I look forward to hearing from you during this holiday season.
2000 was an interesting year for me. I'll get right to the punch - I'm joining the Peace Corps! I'll leave in May 2001, for Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). I'll be there 27 months, working in urban planning with the mayor's office in a small city in Cote d'Ivoire.
For a couple of years, I've been exploring a desire to "do something good for the world." I had decided to leave Owens Corning and work in a non-profit setting. Finally the timing was right. I left OC in April, and took the summer off. I traveled, I slept late, I worked on my hobbies, I relaxed, I volunteered. I did not miss working, that's for sure! And then in July, I went on a ten-day retreat. The facilitators offered a final question - Why did God put you here, now? I got a very strong answer from my intuition - Peace Corps.
I'm not one to ignore a strong message, so I applied for the Peace Corps. While I had planned to be employed again last September, I've found the Peace Corps just can't move that quickly. By the time my paperwork was processed, the January classes were full, and have to wait until Spring to leave. I'm living with a friend, and I've stored my belongings in another friend's basement. I'm working at a couple of part-time jobs so I can eat. I am happy, healthy, and patiently (?) waiting for May to get here.
Part of my desire to go to a developing country is a need to explore a slower pace of life, so I'm not taking my computer or any other high tech tools. I'm planning to communicate old-fashioned letters, which will be posted on a website that I hope you will check often. www.semma.com/kateweb will have a link to my pages. Please please please send me some letters while I'm in Africa! And pictures of your kids, yourselves, your pets, and the US! I know I'll be homesick, so letters and pictures will be very important to me. I plan to have the website up by February 1. You can read about my assignment, find links to Cote d'Ivoire information, get my address, etc, etc... If you've ever hoped to travel to Africa, I'd love to have visitors!
As for the family, everyone is healthy and supportive of my Peace Corps decision (worried, but supportive). Mom moved to Atlanta this year when her company moved its headquarters. Dad is teaching marketing at the Univ of Missouri-Columbia. Diane has only another year or so to finish her PhD in economics at Princeton. Rick is still in St. Louis and happily helping his daughters grow up. Casey is nearly 16' Rikki is 7. Rikki's brothers, Roger and Ryan, are 10.
I look forward to the major changes that 2001 will bring for me. I'm so thankful for the influence, support, and encouragement of so many of you. You're really helped lead me to this decision. I hope you will keep me in your prayers as I continue on this journey to make a bit of a difference in the world. And, I truly look forward to hearing from you while I'm gone, and reconnecting with you when I return. Blessings to all!
Kate