Virginia Beach, so we get around quite a bit. I hope everyone plans to travel to our reunion next September. I can't wait.
Spotlight on Amy Goers Rhodes '76 Making Service Her Mission
1976 ST. AGNES Melissa Ulsaker Maas mmaas@sssas.org
Elizabeth Bancroft traveled to Tanzania In July for a 12-day safari. She spent four nights in the Serengeti, where elephants and lions were lurking nearby each night. After the tour was over, she traveled to Cote d'Ivoire to visit cousins. The only way to get there required flying to Kenya and spending one night in Nairobi. She writes, “The airport and hotel security was daunting, but my entire trip motto was 'brave and intrepid' and many people were kind and watchful of me.” Travis Brownley writes, “My boys are 10 and growing fast. We still love the Bay Area. I am loving my work as head of school at Marin Academy. Liz works at One School House so we are fully ensconced in education. Hope everyone is well!” Jayne Carson says hello to everyone! She is still living in Old Town and working in the Defense sector. Cate Dean writes, “Life here in Mayo is moving forward with no major news. Husband Hill and I are well and staying busy. I am still running the hospital and enjoying work. The 'kids' are well and still in school, although I am
former parsonage of their sister church in Toa Baja so it can be used for community programs, and to work with Lutheran Disaster Relief (LDR) as they continue their work repairing homes that were damaged by Hurricane Maria. One of the stipulations of the grant LDR has from FEMA is that all work must be performed by volunteers. Different church groups go down during the year. For four weeks in the summer there is a larger outpouring of volunteer work, as they have 50 volunteers a week come down for a total of 200 volunteers.
Q: What were the conditions like when you arrived? A: We were not sure what we would find when we
arrived, because the largest earthquake had occurred earlier in the week and many powerful aftershocks were still occurring. In fact, we felt some tremors where we were, west of San Juan. Driving there, we passed many areas that were still without power.
Q: How much work had been done on the homes since Hurricane Maria hit? A: Immediately after the hurricane most of the schools
Amy volunteers with Reading Partners, Moms Demand Action for Common Sense Gun Laws, and joined members of her church to make a difference in Puerto Rico. Reading Partners is dedicated to helping children become lifelong readers in lower income schools in 14 cities in the U.S. and Washington, D.C. Amy meets with two students a week at the Whittier Education Campus, where there is a 21% English language learner population, 24% special education population and 100% economically disadvantaged population. “I truly enjoy this opportunity,” Amy said. “ I feel as if I'm making a difference in the lives of these kids, not only as their one-on-one tutor, but also as a secure and consistent presence.” Amy also gives her time to Moms Demand Action , a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. ”The day after the Sandy Hook shooting, I went into my first grade classroom and wondered how I would protect my students,” Amy said. “ If I threw myself over them how many wouldn't die—two? three? It was terrifying.” Amy goes to Capitol Hill and Annapolis to lobby and also testifies and attends hearings for bills they are supporting. She has canvassed, phone-banked and written postcards supporting gun sense candidates.
Elizabeth Bancroft '76 and her cousin, Rob, in front of the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix in Yamoussoukro, Cote D'Ivoire
In January 2020 she traveled to Puerto Rico on a mission trip with 13 members of her church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, for one week with two goals: to renovate the
on the island were used as shelters. The government wanted to get children back in school as quickly as possible, so they rushed to do what they could to make homes habitable by ensuring the foundation was stable and putting a quick seal on the roof. The majority of these roofs are now leaking badly because the sealant had been applied without clearing the roofs.
Q: What did you accomplish while there? A: Our job was to power wash the roofs to remove the
mold, dirt, plants, and debris left over from Maria so they could be properly primed and sealed. We also scraped the peeling paint from ceilings and walls inside the homes to be repainted as soon as the walls dry. We were able to complete one roof a day for a total of five roofs.
Q: What challenges did you encounter? A: The walls inside these homes are heavy plaster and
they were really wet. Due to the leaks in the roofs, water was running down inside the walls and soaking them during rainstorms. We experienced many rain showers while we were there. As I was working inside a home I was getting dripped on while scraping paint from a wall that had water running down it. The week after we left, the weather was sunny so each of the roofs were sealed again, but they had to wait between two and three weeks for the walls to dry before they could paint.
Q: How did you feel after the experience? A: This was one of the most rewarding things I've done. I
have been richly blessed in my life and I am honored that I was able to share some of those blessings; time, money and health, with others that are less fortunate than I.
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