The world lost a lovely person and I am so sad for that. I will remember Helene fondly. She was kind and generous. She did a presentation for the young adults at my Roma NGO on how to make jewelry out of plastic. What an amazing and creative individual. Blessings to Helene’ s family.
– Terri Jones, MAK 16( Photo left)
Helene was an amazing lady with so much creativity and passion. I feel so blessed to have known her. She was a very special person and we were so lucky to have her as part of our Peace Corps family- we will miss her very much!
-Jamie Metz, MAK 16 lene in Bitola, while a few of us isiting Karli for a New Year’ s cele welcomed us warmly to Bitoets and delicious food she had e arrival of us volunteers, even n’ t even met us before.
looking out for others and helphe could. She was a creative and it whose memory will not fade.
Weaver, MAK 16s
Dear Helene, We knew you so well, and we hardly had time to get to know you. That’ s what the Peace Corps is about. Our short time together in service rewarded us with you, a kind and gentle soul, full of creative energy. We will miss getting to reminisce with you about memories of our adventures. You will always be a lovely part of the MAK15 stories.
-Kathy and Dave VanDerWege, MAK 15s
Dear Helene,
I know that in heaven you won’ t get to make curtains from burlap or classy jewelry from discarded plastic bottles, but I know you will be happy and will likely find other amazing ways to be creative. It’ s who you are! Do you know how inferior I felt sometimes as I looked at your handiwork? I feel so blessed to have known you and called you my friend and especially my Peace Corps roommate. From PST to IST to mid-service, we managed to share rooms and laughter. I loved our trip with Jamie and Julie to Kotor- so fun to share that experience with you. I’ ve missed you since COS and now... I feel that I will miss you always. Thanks for being my friend and confidant.
-Marlys Shelby, MAK 15( Photo above)
I had the great pleasure of meeting Helene for exactly one hour. She came for her COS interview shortly after I arrived. I loved her sense of humor, her humility and her outlook on life. I told her I was sorry she was leaving because I would have loved to have gotten to know her better. In that one hour, I had a glimpse of Helene’ s deep love of life and her ability to engage others in her joy for living. Such souls are a blessing to encounter and I consider myself fortunate to have been among the many who have encountered and experienced the joy of Helene.
-Janeen Dorsch, Director of Programming & Training
The human is only one particle in the universe. The winds will carry you through the air as dust. Somewhere sunlight will caress you, sometimes you will dance with the raindrops, cherishing every dawn or starry night. Maybe somewhere you fill empty spaces; sometimes even our world is not enough to fulfill your …
Our dear Helene, we are very sorry. Rest in peace …
Your colleagues at Lifestart, Bitola