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Archive for June, 2010

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5 Minutes with Betsy Warfield

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
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Name: Betsy Warfield

Title: Coordinator, Special Programs

Start Date at PTPI: April, 2010

Besty Warfield in Honduras

Besty Warfield in Honduras

1. Why did you want to work at PTPI World Headquarters?

I have always had a great respect for PTPI and the values it holds – I feel they are very similar to my individual values and those I wish to attain.  I have a deep passion and great understanding for the importance of learning, leadership and service, which I gained through my years of schooling at Rockhurst University, and I think PTPI is a wonderful extension of that.  I feel like I can be myself and am part of an organization that is very powerful and meaningful to a number of different causes and people.

2. So what exactly do you do?

Every day is a new and exciting day here at PTPI World HQ.  My job involves helping with Adult Programs and our chapters in the Asia Pacific region.

3. What has been your favorite experience since you started working here?

I love how nice and amazing the staff is.  Each and every person is so caring and understanding.  As far as my favorite experience…it would have to be volunteering at the Operation International Children (OIC) warehouse during Global Youth Service Day (GYSD).  It was awesome to see everyone working so hard – and fast!  The boxes just kept piling up!  It is heartwarming to know that all of those supplies will go to people who really need them.

Betsy Warfield with OIC co-founder Gary Sinise

Betsy Warfield with OIC co-founder Gary Sinise

4. Have you traveled overseas much?

Yes!!  I absolutely LOVE to travel and experience new cultures.  As an undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to go to Honduras and El Salvador on service trips, which were indescribable.  I also traveled with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce to Ireland and have ventured on a number of additional trips.  This past winter I studied in Hong Kong and mainland China for a few weeks.  I loved being there and being a part of the dynamic city.  It always amazes me how you can be so far away from home but still feel so much a part of the world you are in.

5. Any advice or words of wisdom?

Dare to be remarkable.  PTPI members are one of a kind.  You have the ability to do anything, go anywhere and be anyone.  Lead to the best of your ability, set goals and astound the world you encounter.  Always ask questions and never be afraid to be passionate about what you believe in.  Have faith in yourself and the future!

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Prince Harry Visits HALO Minefields

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
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Kurt Chesko, Vice President at The HALO Trust (USA) just sent us some amazing news.  Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

Prince Harry has paid a two day visit to Mozambique to visit minefields being cleared by The HALO Trust, a Bristish charity and USA not-for-profit organisation, and the World’s largest demining agencey.

HALO Mozambique Operations Officer showing Prince Harry a minefield in Tete Province

HALO Mozambique Operations Officer showing Prince Harry a minefield in Tete Province

Prince Harry’s visit, which was privately organised by HALO, has focused on the impact of mines on the civilian population.  On Sunday, The Prince met villagers and amputees who told him about their plight among the remaining mines – including meeting a boy who lost his leg 18 months ago while herding cattle.  Prince Harry spent the night in the HALO deminers’ tented camp.  The Prince was given a close-up demonstration of the process of humanitarian demining, as he observed a team undertaking mineclearance work, and was then himself given the first stages in training on HALO equipment and clearance techniques.  Prince Harry detonated mines under the supervision of expert HALO deminers.

Prince Harry’s visit took place in villages around the Cahora Bassa dam in Tete province, Mozambique.  In this area, 10 villages straddle 17km of unfenced mine belts, placing hundreds of families within metres of some 30,000 mines.  These mines were laid over 30 years ago, and they continue to have a devastating impact on children and adults alike.  The mines prevent the farming of crops and the grazing of livestock among a rural community that ranks as one of the world’s poorest.  There had been 48 mine accidents in the Cahora Bassa minefields before HALO intervened.

In the area of Mozambique that Prince Harry visited, the terrain is unsuitable for the use of armoured mineclearance machines, and the density of mines so great that the most effective system of clearance is manual demining.  Prince Harry observed deminers as they painstakingly used sensitive metal detectors and hand-tools to clear anti-personnel mines.  The system provides the absolute “100 per cent” clearance needed to ensure that villagers can then safely use the land after HALO has finished its work.

The terrible human impact of landmines, and the work of The HALO Trust in clearing mines, was brought to the world’s attention by Diana, Princess of Wales.  The late Princess visited HALO projects in Angola in 1997.

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Kurt recently visited PTPI World Headquarters to give us an update on the team of deminers we support in Cambodia through our Global Landmine Initiative.

Mary Eisenhower and Kurt Chesko

Mary Eisenhower and Kurt Chesko

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A Note from Regina and Ernest Walti

Monday, June 21st, 2010
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Typical People to People:  We meet one another any time and any place.  About twenty years ago, at a PTPI conference in America, we met Marsha Wallace, an active, engaged and engaging PTPI member from Los Angeles, with a heartwarming and unforgetable laugh, and exceptional generosity.

We were reminded of 1996, when a Russian group was visiting our chapter. We then discovered the remarkable singing talent of our guest Ekaterina “Katie” Gaidanskaia. We decided to help her with the realisation of a music education.

Marsha contributed countless times over the years, along with other generous donations from our own Interlaken, Switzerland Chapter members, to foster the music education of this talented young woman. Five years later Katia was able to graduate from an Opera program at the Opera House in Genova, Italy.  She was also invited to do a post graduate year at La Scala in Milan, further testimony to her gift, her hard work, and the support of generous friends like Marsha.  Katia is now married to Massimo Pastorelli and appears in major Opera Houses all over Europe.

Marsha was once again in Switzerland this spring, to visit Rita Fischer before going on to the PTPI European Conference in Pecs, Hungary.   Marsha and Rita met while Rita was studying in America, and from time to time, they are able to get together.  We agreed to get together with Rita and Marsha in the Restaurant Kaiser Franz in Zug.

Marsha, Rita, Regina and Ernest in Zug

Rita, Marsha, Regina and Ernest in Zug

We had already met Rita Fischer several years before, when she came to visit Marsha, who was then on a Homestay with us in Interlaken.  Rita promptly and spontaneously joined the Interlaken Chapter.

This time, as usual, we weren’t short of discussion topics:  the goings on in PTPI these days, exchange of memories, forthcoming causes and activities of the organization worldwide, and naturally also new chapters in our family stories.

If destiny doesn’t get in the way, we will meet one another again, sometime, somewhere.

Cultivating PTPI acquaintances into real lasting friendships is worth the effort.  Stay in touch by e-mail, snail mail, or, even better, meeting face to face in a beautiful place.

Regina and ERnest Walti
PTPI’s Interlaken/Berner Oberland, Switzerland Chapter

Translation by Chapter Board member, Dr. Ronnie Blakeney

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