“That’s how big Peace Corps is to us as a family, we couldn’t think of a better venue for celebrating Rob’s life,” says the Oakwood woman who grew up in the Miami Valley and decided to return with her two young children in 2007 after her husband’s tragic death.
The Gabriels and Colleen’s brother, Patrick Cunningham, represent three of the more than 200,000 Americans who’ve served in the Peace Corps over the past 50 years — hoping to promote better understanding between Americans and the people of 139 host countries. Ohio was the sixth-highest Peace Corps volunteer-producing state nationwide for 2010, with more than 354 Ohio residents serving.
During March, the organization’s 50th anniversary is being celebrated throughout the nation. SORVO (Southwest Ohio Returned Volunteer Organization) will host a party to celebrate the anniversary on April 17 in Yellow Springs.
“Peace Corps is so cool and a different and unique experience for everyone,” said Colleen who lived in a hut with a mud floor and a resident toad under her bed when she served in Paraguay from 1994-96. She’s proud to have established the first preschool in her impoverished rural village.
Her passion for cross-cultural experiences was sparked at 16 when Colleen became an American Field Service exchange student in Argentina. In college, she majored in Latin American studies and international development. When her brother, Patrick, signed on with the Peace Corps and was assigned to Sri Lanka as a rural business development volunteer, his sister paid a visit. Despite the lack of electricity and running water, she fell in love.
“One of my favorite memories was bathing near the well in the middle of the rice paddies, hoping there were no elephant herds or snakes nearby!” said Colleen, who joined the Peace Corps after graduate school.
Following her Peace Corps service, while living and working in Washington, D.C., Colleen fell in love again — this time with a close friend of her brother’s who’d served with him in Sri Lanka. Two days after the couple was married in 1999, they headed for Russia, where her husband, Rob, became associate Peace Corps director in Moscow. Later, the family was moved to Tanzania, where he served in the same capacity.
“It was the life we had dreamed of,” says Colleen who worked at the U.S. Embassy. “It is so rare to find two people who have dreams of living that international lifestyle of service and exploration. We would have stayed in the Peace Corps forever if we could.”
But in early 2003, the couple received a devastating phone call from Dayton saying Patrick had been killed in a car accident on snowy roads. In his memory, the family established the Patrick J. Cunningham Memorial Small Business Fund with the Peace Corps. The Gabriels returned to the United States in 2004 with the goal of rejoining the Peace Corps in the future. The organization requires that employees work for five years maximum and may only return after being away for five years.
But their goal was never realized. In October 2006, both the American and Peace Corps flags flew over the top of the Peace Corps headquarters in memory of Rob Gabriel. Those flags were presented to Colleen and her children at the memorial service. Cora was age 3, Jonah Patrick, age 4.
The years since have been a challenge, but Colleen says her Peace Corps experiences have given her perspective on who she is and where she came from, and have helped her define the kind of person she wants to be as a member of a global community. When her villagers in Paraguay resisted the idea of planting healthier vegetables rather than cotton, Colleen listened, switched gears and proceeded to set up an early childhood education program and kids’ gardening project. Those characteristics of independence, open-mindedness and flexibility, continue to serve her well.
Despite the loss of her brother and husband, Colleen is determined to pursue her family’s vision. Last year, she and her children spent nine months living in Argentina, where Cora and Jonah learned Spanish, and they’ve also visited the former Russian Peace Corps country director now living in China. There will be more adventures to come.
“Perhaps in the future I will return to the Peace Corps or the State Department,” says Colleen. “Or maybe my children will decide to become Peace Corps volunteers themselves. I would be very supportive if one day they decide to answer the call to service as Peace Corps Volunteers, continuing the dream that their father and I have always had of international development and cross-cultural education.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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