Nineteen Years Ago

Read what Don wrote about creating a culture of peace in the face of violence (click on Peace in the Navigation pane) and listen to Ingrid's Lament from Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt" for music evocative of that time nineteen years ago and its long, sad aftermath. Ingrid's Lament

"… but I know this much, that if all the nations of men should bring together into one place the evils which they have suffered themselves, desiring to make exchange with their neighbors, each people of them, when they had examined closely the evils suffered by their fellows, would gladly carry away back with them those which they had brought."

Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC)

Photo courtesy of Katheen Rafiq

Just before midnight December 18, 2010, Peter's mother, Sally, was overtaken by the cancer that had been with her since shortly after the September 11th attacks that killed her son. She was at home on the couch in front of the fire. Her husband, children and brother were with her. Her indomitable spirit was on display to the end of her mortal life and lives on in all she touched with her beautiful Irish smile, bright eyes and easy words of truth, burnished with humor and grace, that called us, like a pied piper, to do with her what ought to be done - or was just plain fun. Her passion for education and boundless love brought joy and hope to a people too long wracked with suffering and loss. She was and is the soul of the Foundation.

Sal's husband, Don, left home July 1, 2011 for Afghanistan to meet with the principal of the girl’s school in Logar and the village elders there, to see some of the Afghans, who’s educations in the US the foundation supports who were spending their summer vacations there, and their families, meet with Afghans who have made the work of the foundation in Afghanistan possible and to spread some of Sally’s ashes in the country she loved.

An account of his trip is at the Navigation Post: Don's Trip to Afghanistan.

In the days leading up to the 10th commemoration of the 9/11 attacks Don asked an Irish friend to record John Millington Synge's one act play Riders to the Sea. For what it was like for Don and many others in the aftermath of the attacks listen to David Peare read the play: Riders to the Sea.mp3
Ingrid's LamentIngrid's Lament

Bates College Memorial

The Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation, established after Peter's death on board the second plane to hit the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001, has worked primarily in the Pashtun provinces of Afghanistan supporting education and addressing the fundamental needs of fragile populations. In the Unites State the Foundation works with private and public secondary schools and colleges to identify educational opportunities for student exchange.

As Chair of the Board of Families of September 11th, Peter's father, Don, will continue to work to prevent terrorism while preserving civil liberties in the United States. Don is a trial attorney.

Peter's mother, Sally, directed the work of the Foundation until her death in December 2010. Sally was a public school administrator.

We are joined by many who believe we can take affirmative steps to fashion a safer, more equitable world. We all share a sense of urgency and purpose.

The brothers, Fos and Pete at the Grand Canyon

FOUNDATION'S BELOIT COLLEGE STUDENT NAMED WEISSBERG SCHOLAR
Beloit's Weissberg Scholar at Vesalius University in Brussels
Photo courtesy of Orange European Youth Press
www.orangelog.eu/en/welcome/

Javid Ahmad, the speaker shown in the photo above, was supported by the Foundation during his studies at Belloit College. He went on to obtain a Master's degree from the Jackson Institute of Global Affairs at Yale University and is now a Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council focusing on South Asia. Other students supported by the Foundation are pursuing Master's degrees: one at the Hertie School in Berlin Germany focusing on refugee populations, the other at Boston University pursuing a degree in Public Health. Another student will graduate this spring for Endicott College.

The Foundation supported the education in this country of fourteen other young Afghans, some of whom have returned to Afghanistan with the skills needed by their country as it continues to grapple with increasingly serious challenges. One of those, a graduate of Smith College, has married there. She and her husband are opening a center (Dua Center for Child Protection) to create a safe, secure, creative and supportive learning environment and respond to exploitation, neglect, abuse and all other forms of violence affecting vulnerable children in Kabul, especially those with disabilities, of all ages, genders, backgrounds and identities who are at high risk of being physically, sexually and psychologically abused.

We are deeply indebted to the colleges, private schools, Wolfeboro Summer Camp and Foundation donors who have made this possible.

DOCUMENTARY "axis of Good": A STORY FROM 9/11 by Shiprock Productions

Axis of Good captures the emotions, intimate moments and struggle of the Goodrich family as they grapple with the loss of their son and their overwhelming efforts to keep his memory alive.

FILM CLIPS FROM axis of Good: BUILDING THE LOGAR SCHOOL

Shiprock Productions crafted a five minute sample to compliment “A Mother’s Mission,” on The Boston Globe Web site. The article first appeared in the Boston Globe magazine on May 13, 2007. The company provided footage for the 2005 ABC World News Tonight "Person of the Week" segment about Sally Goodrich and a seventeen minute piece, which was presented at the Northern Berkshire Woman of the Year awards ceremony. To access this work which details a portion of the history of building the school in Logar use the above link.

Praying Beads
Copyright held by Kathleen Rafiq

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