{"id":2218,"date":"2018-04-10T10:16:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T08:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/didouqen.com\/?p=2218"},"modified":"2018-04-10T10:16:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T08:16:10","slug":"rpcvs-tree-memorials-of-kate-jeans-gail-and-tom-tolen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/rpcvs-tree-memorials-of-kate-jeans-gail-and-tom-tolen\/","title":{"rendered":"RPCVS’ TREE MEMORIALS OF KATE JEANS-GAIL AND TOM TOLEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letter from HAF’s President to former Peace Corps Volunteers of Morocco<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am writing to you from Mohammedia where the High Atlas Foundation created in partnership with Hassan II University the\u00a0Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development<\/a>.\u00a0 From here we manage the different field projects of HAF and conduct participatory training workshops with students, local government representatives, and civil and community leaders.\u00a0 For each of us and in as many ways, the Peace Corps and Morocco have come to mean so much.<\/p>\n

Yet with the rises and falls of life, not all of us have been so incredibly fortunate to have made it this day.\u00a0 The High Atlas Foundation has memorialized two from among us who have passed too soon, too young, and with so much love left behind.\u00a0 In December 2003, RPCV Kate Jeans-Gail \u201803 passed with her mom, Victoria, in a car accident in Oregon.\u00a0 This past February 11th, RPCV Tom Tolen \u201882 left us suddenly in his home in Antioch, California.\u00a0 Their families know that the RPCV Morocco community shares in their loss and grief.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Kate Jeans-Gail Tree Nursery Memorial<\/a>\u00a0was created in 2006 to embody her ideals.\u00a0 Her Memorial is currently building its third community-managed nursery with villages neighboring the Toubkal National Park in the High Atlas Mountains between Marrakech and Ouarzazate (Kate served near Ouarzazate).\u00a0 Most of the saplings for the nurseries now come from fruit trees (walnut and cherry) from earlier HAF distributions \u2013 and they have taken root, which means that local people can replenish their orchards without any additional purchases.\u00a0 Our next goal is to do the same with almond and fig (with a nursery of 80,000 saplings) \u2013 and achieve community self-sufficiency with trees that do not require the application of pesticides.\u00a0 In Kate\u2019s memory and example, HAF and its Moroccan and U.S. friends and partners are building a model for the country.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Tom Tolen Tree Nursery Memorial<\/a>\u00a0is created to socio-economically and environmentally benefit the villages neighboring the Tazekka National Park, near where Tom served.\u00a0 Building on experiences and lessons learned, the initial launching of an 80,000 cherry and walnut saplings planted in Tom\u2019s Memorial will on average double household incomes after 8 years, benefitting approximately 10,000 people.\u00a0 His Memorial will strengthen the environment \u2013 an abiding ethic of Tom\u2019s \u2013 by preventing soil erosion, offsetting carbon emissions, and decreasing local people\u2019s dependence on the fragile natural resources of the Tazekka National Park by creating new and efficient income sources.<\/p>\n

The investment of $50,000 is required for each Memorial to achieve its goals.\u00a0 On average, $25 from each of the approximately 4,000 RPCVs from Morocco will make it happen.\u00a0 Let\u2019s do it, and give thanks again to Morocco, the Peace Corps, for all that we have every day, and for the bond we have with each other from shared experience that we can yet make stronger in the face of loss.<\/p>\n

As you may know, I and other RPCVs who served in Morocco began the High Atlas Foundation in 2000 as a way to utilize relationships and knowledge gained during Peace Corps service for the continued benefit of the Moroccan people.\u00a0 I am proud to say that HAF\u2019s outside audit last year showed a mere 6 percent of its budget went to its overhead.\u00a0 HAF is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a registered Moroccan association.\u00a0 We are here to serve.<\/p>\n

How to Contribute to Kate\u2019s and Tom\u2019s Memorials<\/strong>
\nYour contribution to the Kate Jeans-Gail Memorial and the Tom Tolen Memorial helps local communities purchase almond, cherry, fig, and walnut saplings for the nursery and supports workshops that transfer important technical skills in fruit tree agriculture.<\/p>\n

You can make a\u00a0secure online donation<\/a>\u00a0or by sending a check to the address below.\u00a0 When donating online please\u00a0send us an email\u00a0<\/a>to let us know the Memorial you would like your donation directed to, and when donating by check simply indicate the same information on the check memo line.In 2006, HAF launched its\u00a0One Million Tree Campaign<\/a>\u00a0and has planted with its community partners 310,000 fruit trees and saplings in five provinces of Morocco.\u00a0 HAF\u2019s trees and saplings have an approximate survival rate of 80 percent.\u00a0 A key partnership of HAF is with Morocco\u2019s High Commission of Waters and Forests to work with villages neighboring the country\u2019s ten national parks.\u00a0 Here you can read about HAF\u2019s 2011 community initiatives.<\/p>\n

On behalf of the High Atlas Foundation, a heartfelt thank you to the family and friends of Kate Jeans-Gail and Tom Tolen for your confidence in us by bestowing this most significant responsibility.<\/p>\n

In friendship born from Peace Corps Morocco,<\/p>\n

Yossef Ben-Meir \u201895
\nPresident of the High Atlas Foundation
\nwww.highatlasfoundation.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letter from HAF’s President to former Peace Corps Volunteers of Morocco I am writing to you from Mohammedia where the High Atlas Foundation created in partnership with Hassan II University the\u00a0Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development.\u00a0 From here we manage the different field projects of HAF and conduct participatory training workshops with students, local<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Katewithmother2.small-thumbnail-100-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}