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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 11, 2005 Bonnie Pieper spent a recent �vacation� helping orphaned babies get affection and attention in Romania. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Vacationing for a cause By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Spending two weeks caring for eight babies wouldn’t be most folks’ idea of a vacation, especially if they had to pay nearly $4,000 for the privilege. But for Bonnie Pieper, a retired educator living at Medford’s Rogue Valley Manor, working at a children’s hospital in Romania last summer was more rewarding than traditional tourism ever has been. "I’ve seen a lot of castles," said Pieper, 72, a great-grandmother who has traveled widely. Instead of simple scenery, Pieper yearned for a deeper connection with the people of the places she visited. So she joined Global Volunteers, a nonprofit agency that uses willing and affluent retirees and others to perform ongoing service projects for communities in the United States and abroad. Two years ago, Pieper spent two weeks teaching English to fifth-graders in Poland. Last July, she traveled to Tutova, a small Romanian village, where she rocked and cradled babies orphaned or abandoned by their parents. Advertisement "Before Global Volunteers came in, the children were left in their cribs," Pieper said. "We fed them, played with them, talked to them." Pieper was part of a group of 18 people assigned to the Romanian site. Like most of those who sign up for Global Volunteers stints, they’d paid their own airfare and expenses for the chance to participate in what’s alternately called a "volunteer vacation" or "service learning." "I think everybody has it in them to want to do something for someone," said Pieper, who became one of 1,700 volunteers in 19 locations. She joined another Rogue Valley Manor resident, Jean Herron, who has taught English for other Global Volunteer projects. Taking a working vacation appealed to Pieper, a twice-widowed woman who moved to Medford two years ago after a lifetime spent in public service. "It’s hard to just quit," said Pieper, who ended her career as a school superintendent in Willows, Calif., where she also served on the local school board. That thought is shared by many of the individuals, families and groups who sign up for one- to three-week sessions, said Barb DeGroot, spokeswoman for the Minnesota-based agency. "It sounds like a short period of time, but you’d be amazed at what you can accomplish," she said. Global Volunteers team leaders work with community residents, who identify their own greatest needs, then request help to meet them. Organizers ensure that one group of volunteers picks up where the last left off, maintaining consistency on projects ranging from sewer and water system construction to illiteracy. In Pieper’s case, she was the latest in a six-year series of volunteers who have ensured that hundreds of children, ages birth to 3, receive vital affection and nurturing. Many had been sent to the remote clinic because their families could not afford to keep them. "Some of them just are damaged children," said Pieper. "There were two sets of children where the parents had triplets and then the parents only kept one child." The work was not easy, Pieper said. Aides changed diapers and supervised, but the volunteers provided the bulk of the care for the children. "When I left, I felt I’d done what I’d come for," Pieper said. Although Pieper thought that two weeks was not long enough to become attached to the babies, she was wrong. She still thinks about them. Still, she takes comfort in the idea that she made a difference for people in a place she’d once only read about. "It was very interesting to become part of their culture, even for a short time," Pieper recalled. To her, that’s what a vacation is all about. For more information about Global Volunteers: Partners for Development, visit globalvolunteers.org on the Web. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail Vacationing for a cause ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Website Templates www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Helzberg Diamonds Distance Education Computer Security Casino Gambling Sites Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Memory Foam Mattress Diamonds Online Poker Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Online Casino News Rogue Valley Blogs Natto Kinase Nattokinase Advertisement s