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CELEBRATION OF LIGHT
*click photos to enlarge
Elizabeth
Rachel Bowers (April 5, 1979-March 6, 2002) was a child of light, an adventurer
of the spirit, and a seeker after world peace and understanding. Beth was full
of love, laughter, and light, living every moment to the fullest. Her death as
the result of a bicycle accident in Zambia during her tenure as a Peace Corps
volunteer marked the culmination of a vision of service and global awareness.
The donation of her organs and tissues to 22 South Africans was the ultimate
"giving back" of the full, rich life she led to those in desperate need. We
celebrate the greatness of her spirit and know we will ever feel her moving
through us. Her work in Zambia continues through the commitment of her fellow
volunteers.
The Elizabeth
Bowers Memorial Fund is our attempt to sustain
Beth's vision of peace and global understanding. Currently, 41 young Zambian
women from Beth's village (Lumwana West in Northwestern Zambia) are going to
Lumwana Basic School and Mwinilunga High School, which would not have been
possible without scholarship aid. Now several of the girls are graduating from
high school and are asking us to send them to college.
To do so, we have become part of Zambia's Scholarship Fund, a charity effort
begun by Peggy Rogers from Utah five years ago. Zambia's scholarship Fund is
currently helping 63 students in three teachers colleges as well as 64 students
in six high schools. The scholarship stipulates that graduating teachers will
return to the villages to teach. Because the Zambian government cannot afford to
pay teachers to do so, however, Zambia's Scholarship Fund is currently providing
21 elementary schools in NE Zambia with paid teachers.
You can see why we have joined efforts with Peggy in hope of sending Beth's
girls on to become teachers as well. If you would like more information on
Zambia's Scholarship fund, visit Peggy's web site at
www.hearttoheartafrica.org. If you are interested
in contributing, please make your check out to "Zambia's Scholarship Fund" and
write "Elizabeth Bowers Memorial Fund" in the lower left check notation section.
Please send it to the following address:
Zambia's Scholarship Fund
4974 Riverdale Rd. S.
Salem, Oregon 97302
All donations are tax deductible. By supporting the memorial fund, you are
helping to sustain the momentum of Beth's vision.
If you wish to consider becoming an organ donor, please call 1-800-355-SHARE for
information.
A valedictorian of her Sprague High School graduating class, Beth was also
co-captain of the cheerleaders, sang in the school chorus, and danced with the
school dance team. She studied piano for many years, and took her black belt in
Shito-Ryu karate after studying since she was six. She fly-fished with her
father, Gerry, since she was a child, and attended every summer Ashland
Shakespeare production with her mother, Linda, since she was ten. Beth and her
older sister Jenny grew up as best friends in a pastoral setting just outside
Salem, Oregon, with a white pony and peacocks as companions. Beth always
believed that her pony was really a unicorn, even if no one else could see the
horn. She saw it. As a 10 1/2 lb. baby, Beth came into the world ready to live
as fully as possible. In fact, she punched the delivering doctor right in the
nose!
Beth chose Earlham College in Indiana because of its excellent Japanese Studies
program, because of its emphasis on peace and global studies, and because no one
she knew was going there. While she missed the mountains of the Pacific
Northwest, Beth achieved altitude by taking up sky-diving. She also pursued her
love of horses in the equestrian program. Her junior year abroad at Waseda
University in Tokyo, Japan, gave her the opportunity to build on her experience
as a child during her parents' sabbatical leave in Kyoto at which time she
studied sado (Japanese tea ceremony), shodo (calligraphy), ikebana (flower
arranging), and jyu-ji-kenpo (an ancient Chinese martial art). Totally immersing
herself in the culture, Beth focused her activities on her host family's
neighborhood, continuing her study of karate at the local fitness
center. She also pursued her love of snow-boarding by teaching at a children's
snow-boarding camp during her vacation. Beth renewed her friendship with
students from Tokyo International University of America with whom she had worked
as an International Peer Counselor. Japan was, however, another industrialized
nation.
Beth visited South East Asia while she was in Japan, and knew she had to have
more exposure to underdeveloped nations to truly develop her global perspective.
The Peace Corps was the perfect solution to her desire to "give back" out of her
loving, privileged upbringing. No one she knew had ever been to Africa; it was
her own private adventure. Since Beth grew up with a house full of aquaria and
had fished with her father for many years, she was naturally drawn to the
fish-farming program in
remote Zambia. Some have said assignment to the outer reaches of Zambia
(Northwest Province, Lumwana West) was one of the most difficult Peace Corps
duties. But Beth, long accustomed to wilderness hiking, backpacking, and
camping, took it in her stride. She loved the people of the village she worked
with, was learning to speak their language (Lunda),and was awed by the beauty of
the landscape she had only dreamed of.
As usual, Beth was living every moment fully, totally engaged in her vision of
service. As her adventures increased in ever-wideningglobal circles, we came to
see her as a true warrior for peace. Though her body has left us, her spirit
continues on the greatest and most glorious of all adventures. Those of us
privileged to have known and been
touched by Beth will be forever transformed by the warmth and light of her
generous spirit. Let us celebrate the freeing of that great spirit and cherish
the moments we had her in our lives.
Linda, Gerry and Jenny Bowers
You may
contact Linda, Beth's mom, at
lbowers@willamette.edu
Please also visit
The Elizabeth Bowers Memorial Fund at
www.bethsgirls.org
"Salem Woman's Death Touches
Lives of Many", from Salem Statesman Journal, March 2002
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