19 April 2007
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—IT WAS HOT and dusty at the evacuation center but gales of children’s laughter filled the air as US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell played parlor games.
Sweat streamed down her exhausted face but she gamely struggled to bring cheer to victims of devastating “Supertyphoon Reming” sheltered at the Gogon Elementary School.
She distributed prizes, hugged children and made them forget the terrible tragedy on Nov. 30, 2006, that left more than 900 people dead or missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.
The 40-year-old Julia, who had been reported missing while trekking in Ifugao province on Easter Sunday, had been
working with the evacuees for weeks when I first saw her.
I saw her again last December, along with other Peace Corps volunteers who put up a Christmas tree, made a snowman, cooked food and organized a Christmas party for the young survivors of the supertyphoon’s deadly sweep.
She told me she had waded through waist-deep floodwaters brought by Reming, but what she went through as a volunteer teacher based in Legazpi City at that time was nothing compared to what the children had experienced.
“They are too young to experience such a great disaster and it was really hard for them to understand everything,” Julia said of the young survivors.
She recalled the story of 10-year-old Almera, who had lost her family except her mother in the torrent of sand and rocks. When Almera was rescued, Julia recounted, her whole body except her head was buried in mud.
Campbell was a journalist for The New York Times and various other newspapers for 15 years. She said she decided to leave her job and join the Peace Corps after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center bombing.
Americans aren’t all bad
“I lived near Ground Zero,” Julia said. “I wanted to show people in the world what Americans are really like because after 9/11, people had the impression that Americans are bad, selfish and greedy.”
She added that most of them in the Peace Corps were not rich. Most came from the middle class and received no salaries, except for a small living allowance.
“I wanted to reach out to people. I wanted to volunteer and do it full time,” Julia said.
Julia, an English major, had been teaching six English and Literature subjects at the Divine Word College of Legazpi since October and her contract was to end this May.
Nora Gallano, assistant to the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said she heard of unconfirmed reports about Julia’s death at about 11 a.m. yesterday.
“I could not believe it was Julia, and I didn’t want to believe it was her. She was a very happy, jolly and kind person and could get along well with everybody,” she said.
She said that Julia liked to teach adolescents and wanted to help strengthen the school’s English program.
Early farewell
“She shared a lot of her ideas with her students and they loved her because she was friendly and comfortable to be with,” said Gallano.
Gallano recounted that Julia said she wanted to gather the faculty because she would give a “despedida” party as she was returning to the United States in June to pursue her graduate studies.
“I asked her why a ‘despedida’ party. It was just summer and too early. She said there might not be a time for it anymore when the classes resume this June,” Gallano said.
Many of Julia’s colleagues in the academe attended the party on Holy Tuesday. Julia never told them where she was going for vacation. They couldn’t know it was to be the last time they would be seeing the American volunteer.
Campbell was supposed to be back here on April 10, a day before the school’s graduation rites.
She missed graduation day
“We were wondering why Julia did not appear on graduation day. It was unusual because she was always on time and would inform me whenever she had a problem that could cause her absence,” Gallano said.
Before she left, Julia gave Gallano her set of books and CDs of instructional materials, saying she was giving them to the department so it could use them when she’s gone.
Gallano said Julia was very happy that day.
Volunteers from the US NGO Hands-On Disaster Response (HODR) in Legazpi City were shocked at reports that a body, possibly that of Campbell, had been found in Ifugao. (See banner story on Page A1.)
“I feel like I had been hit hard in the stomach,” HODR operations director Marc Young said in a phone interview from his base in Sto. Domingo town, describing her as an “outgoing” volunteer who had linked up the group with other organizations.
‘We lost someone dear’
“We’re hoping that it was an accident and that she didn’t suffer so much,” Irish banker Barbara Lacy said in an interview from Barangay San Isidro where she and other volunteers were roofing a school building.
“It’s going to be quiet here tonight. We lost someone dear to our life. We’ll share in our grief on her passing tonight,” Young, 46, an American diving instructor, said. With a report from TJ Burgonio
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