Archive - July 24, 2019

    July 2019 A note from Roland Merullo (Micronesia 1979-80) Dear Friends and Readers, Every year, hundreds of thousands of people walk the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route that stretches from the Pyrenees to northwest Spain. Some make the 500-mile walk for religious reasons (the body of St. James is said to have been buried in Santiago, at the end of the route); others for exercise; still others simply to have a break from the rush and mental clutter of modern life. Our daughter, Alexandra, walked the Camino two years ago, and our other daughter, Juliana, plans to walk it next spring, at the end of her gap year and before heading off to college. Amanda and I decided to walk the first 100 miles this summer. I should point out that Alexandra carried a backpack the whole way and slept in hostels, while Amanda and I, . . .

WASHINGTON – Peace Corps Response Volunteer Donovan Gregg, 31, of Beaverton, Oregon, died following a car accident July 23 in Rwanda. Donovan, who trained English teachers at a university in Kigali, served in Peace Corps Response with his wife of eight years Jessica Gregg. The Greggs were also Peace Corps Volunteers together in Ethiopia from 2014 to 2016. The couple began work in Rwanda in January 2019. Donovan, a TEFL-certified English teacher, graduated from Western Oregon University in Monmouth and earned a master’s degree from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy in Erfurt, Germany. He also completed an internship with the Department of Commerce at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. During his time in Ethiopia, Donovan provided classroom instruction for five public school English classes, led training sessions for Peace Corps trainees and managed budgeting and logistics for youth summer camps, among other projects. Earlier in his career, Donovan . . .