It’s sad to hear when anyone is a victim of crime; as this is the Volunteer Logue, it seems appropriate to mention when a volunteer with a high profile organization such as the Peace Corps is reported to have been the victim of a crime.

Since it began developing, I’ve followed the story of Julia Campbell, a journalist from New York, who, at the age of 38, joined the Peace Corps and worked in the Philippines. I’m not going to attempt to summarize the full story here; interested readers would not have a hard time searching online for information. I think it’s admirable when anyone has the courage, strength, motive, drive, whatever you want to call it, to up and start a whole new life – perhaps more so when the person already has a career and life established in one place – and I also think it’s notable when they attempt to share their experience.

I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not to post about this or link to Julia’s blog; is it insensitive or opportunistic of me? In the end, I made my decision based on a couple of factors. I think the blog provides a great deal of insight on Julia’s experience, and perhaps that of other volunteers, and insight like this is very valuable. I think ideas and words can inspire positive change in general, maybe just as much as actions.

It also strikes me that Julia Campbell was a journalist and she wrote about her experience on a blog which is still available online. Given this, to me it makes sense that she and her family would not be adverse to people visiting the blog.

Finally, I recently visited a blog which featured a link to the blog as a tribute; I thought that was a nice gesture. In the end, my decision was to make this post, share my brief thoughts on the value of the blog, and allow readers to find it themselves if they are interested.