© 2007 NINFA Z. BITO
I had the opportunity to meet Julia Campbell when we volunteered for typhoon relief work with the Hands On Disaster Response group in Santo Domingo, Albay in February this year. She said she lived in Brooklyn and I thought, “Man, what a change!”. She had been living in the Bicol region for nearly two years and had only about 4 months left before she was to head back home. Her language skills were definitely much better than mine as I heard her fluently speak Tagalog and Bicolano to boot! She managed to weather Typhoon Milenyo. She managed to survive the ferocity of Typhoon Reming, which devastated Legazpi City and the entire Bicol region on November 30th. I was supposed to meet up with her and the HODR gang in Donsol over St. Patrick’s weekend to paint the marine ecological center which she had organized for the community. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to Donsol as planned.
Reuters’ chief photographer Darren Whiteside called me on the Saturday morning after she disappeared. He was asking if I knew of her whereabouts as there was a text message going around looking for her. I casually asked him to forward the message to me, and that I would contact the HODR guys in Santo Domingo to contact her immediately. When it finally came through I was incredulous to read that the NY Times had gotten a phone tip that she was missing. Soon enough I got confirmation from Marc at HODR that she had been missing since Easter Sunday and was last seen in Banaue, Ifugao. I emailed some people and got a note back that rescue teams were being deployed already and that the PNP, the Army, the DFA and the Palace were all in the loop about her disappearance. Now everyone just had to wait, hoping that at best she was just lost or had fallen by accident.
A memorial service was quietly held for her at the US Embassy this past Saturday. It was a solemn affair with some lighthearted moments. Her exuberance for life, generosity and compassion were clearly made evident by the number of people who chose to recount their memories of her. The rescue team, which found Julia, was also invited. When the Peace Corps’ country head acknowledged them, the audience spontaneously stood up and applauded them to show their appreciation for their efforts in finding Julia.
Julia lived a full and meaningful 40 years before she was brutally robbed of her life. Her disappearance and death were overshadowed in the US media by the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. However, it was in the forefront of the consciousness of everyone out here. A friend of mine overhead the manicurists and staff at a salon wondering how this could happen to someone who had given so much to help Filipinos out of kindness. Her disappearance was sadly talked about while everyone quietly hoped, albeit in vain, that she would be found alive. Her memory will live on and will permanently be on the lips of the people she touched in Donsol with the marine ecological center being dedicated to her. We are truly sorry for the loss of the Campbell family and of the Peace Corps community. Julia, may you rest in peace.
