Email Hope to Semma

Recently, my best friend, a 21 year old Ni-Vanuatu girl, Semma, had just returned from a vacation trip to Australia in which she stayed with some Australian church friends of Paama Island for 2 months. She is a special girl and was my prodigy since I arrived on Paama Island. She was our team captain for the women’s futbol team that attended the tournament on Ambrym Island in September 2009 (in which we took 1st place). I tutored her in her University distance courses at USP, she was a Sunday school teacher, and leader of our girls youth nights at my house. All in all, she is an exceptional and gifted Ni-Vanuatu woman.

One of my goals before leaving Vanuatu was to help her travel to another country; and with our small trip to the island of Ambrym, I believe that trip solidified her acceptance to go to Australia & trust the “white” people to look after her. Last week when she returned to Vanuatu, I helped her to set up an email account and work on her new laptop! She has surpassed my expectations for her future extremely and her unique personality could not be over-looked by others either. She is now attending the Christian College in Vanuatu in hopes to do missionary work in other countries before returning for good to her home island. We keep in touch weekly and I hope one day to see her again, shining even brighter than when I left her.

One of the best things about being a Peace Corps volunteer is never knowing whether the seed you plant will grow or remain under ground. But at any glimpse of its growth you say to yourself, “this is why I came here.”