Ndanda Secondary School Scholarship

Here is the statement that was used to inform the students about Joe. We gave five scholarships to Ndanda this year;

www.jiamini.org /images/jlcs_joes_bio.pdf

I will write about the kids that got the scholarship another time

Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart

Keep Me in Your Heart for a while

Shadows are fallin and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in yourheart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
keep me in your heart for a while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for a while

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in you heart for a while

These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for a while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for a while

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Keep me in your heart for awhile.

10/10/10 - Joseph's 25th birthday

The day Joseph was born was much like today. A beautiful fall day, blue sky, cool. He was born by c-section around 1 pm - some things a mother will never forget. The birth of a child is a memory that stays with you always.

Today, "Aunt" Sally and I ran (actually slow jogged), the Bronx River Parkway in the 1/2 marathon. We did it in less than three hours. Joseph would have laughed at us, but in his own way been very proud of us. It was difficult, but a good thing to do on this most difficult of days.

Westchester 1/2 Marathon - 10/10/10

Joseph was not considered athletic when he was young, he was too afraid of crowds to really get into the fray, and he was too small to control things physically. But in 8th grade he ran track and field and had some success at EHS, and even briefly held a school record in some running event. In 9th grade he played JV tennis for Fordham Prep and at one of the matches a coach came up to me and told me what a natural athlete he was!

Joseph was asked to be the fitness coach at the school in Ndanda. He would take his students (sometimes over a 100 of them we've heard) on 10 to 20 km runs. Last summer we sent basketballs to him, and he started a regular basketball game. He even ran the Kilimanjaro Marathon! He talked about doing triathlons when he came home. In September 2010 Kyle, Ray, Daniel and I did the Nations Triathlon in Washington DC.

In Joe's memory I will be running (very slowly) the Westchester 1/2 marathon on the day of what would have been his 25th birthday. One of my oldest friends, Sarah Coble, will also run it with me. We are doing it to remember Joseph on what would have been a very special day, and to raise money for the scholarship fund. If you would like to support us in our endeavors, please send donations to:

Joseph Lawrence Chow Scholarship Fund
c/0 The Generoso Pope Foundation
1 Depot Square
Tuckahoe, NY 10707

Thanks for your support!

September 22, 2010

Today marks the one year anniversary of the tragic death of Peace Corps Tanzania Volunteer Joseph Chow. Joe died in a rock climbint accident near the village of Mbuji, in the Mbinga District of the Ruvuma rEgion on September 22nd, 2009.
Joe was a graduate of Amherst College in 2007, and was first invited to serve in Peace Corps/Kenya as a math and science teacher. He was sworn in as a volunteer in November and placed in the village of Ndalat to teach chemistry and physics at St. Clement Secondary School. Following the suspension of the Peace Corps/Kenya Program in early 2008, Joseph volunteered to transfer, along with four others, to Tanzania to continue his service as an education volunteer. In February 2008, he ban teaching chemistry at Ndanda Secondary School in Mtwara Region.
Along with teaching chemistry, Joe Chow also chose to teach advanced physics and math. He was active in his community raising HIV/AIDS awareness with an after-school health club for his students, HIV testing and counseling, and a community theatre program. Joe loved atletics - especially swimming, travleing to visit other PCVs, and cooking for himself and friends.
In his 2007 Peace Corps aspiration statement, Joseph wrote that one of the reasons he decided to serve with Peace Corps was because he had never spent a long period of time in a different culture. He hoped to meet the challenge of teaching in a classroom in Africa and understood that the work he faced would be much more difficult than any work he had previously accomplished. Joseph not only adapted to his new surroundings, he flourished. Please join us all at Peace Corps Tanzania in remembering the very rich life and service of Joe Chow and in carrying on his legacy.