Class Note 1979
Issue
September-October 2021
Social distancing imposed by Covid-related restrictions made many classmates feel that we were impaired from serving others. Such was not the case for Cindy Marder Calder, who decided in September 2020 to reconnect in a meaningful way with Greece, the country she left in 1975 to come to Dartmouth. “I wanted to give back to refugees there who are in great need of emotional and educational support. As a teacher of the classics, I am well versed in trying to make the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary fun and meaningful, so I reached out to a friend working with refugee women in Greece to see if I could organize language classes for the most vulnerable women. Fleeing from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Somalia, and other war-torn countries, these women now live in refugee camps and nongovernmental organization [NGO] housing throughout Greece with extremely limited resources.
“I began by teaching English and modern Greek to a few women by Zoom. Realizing the need and demand for education among them was vast, I reached out to my ’79 girlfriends for help. I was easily able to call upon my fellow classmates via multiple Zoom meetings we had throughout the pandemic. I named my project ‘’79 women for 79 women.’
“Among our classmates, the many writers, diplomats, teachers, and philanthropists joined this project in different ways. Ellen Welty and Jennifer Hughes have made an enormous impact on the individual women with whom they work, as well as on their English classes as a collective. Starting by assisting students with homework, they soon volunteered to teach their own English classes. Despite living among chaos in Kabul, Margo Squire has served as a steadfast teacher and conversation facilitator for many vulnerable women that we teach.
“If classmates were not available to teach or help with homework, they spread the word to family and Dartmouth alums, to girlfriends of their children (thanks, Laura Swigett!), and friends with Dartmouth connections. My niece, Becky Marder ’15, has been a huge source of energy and love in her English writing class. With these volunteers, I have been able to organize multiple pods teaching basic English, writing, advanced reading comprehension, conversational English, and modern Greek. Several female classmates, one superstar male (Rob Worley) and some Dartmouth alumnae from other classes donated money, which was sent to my friend in Thessaloniki who procured computers to give to the women for online access to our classes. I also collected funds to buy internet minutes, cover rent, and help those who have lost NGO funding. Along the way Beth Blatt provided me much-needed emotional support out of the empathy and knowledge she gathered through writing a play about refugees in America.
“We have all deepened our Dartmouth ties through this experience and together made a huge difference in so many individual lives. We Dartmouth ’79 women have now come close to touching the lives of 79 women! Initial mission accomplished, but there’s much more work to be done.”
If you want to contribute, contact Cindy (calderclassics@gmail.com).
—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com
“I began by teaching English and modern Greek to a few women by Zoom. Realizing the need and demand for education among them was vast, I reached out to my ’79 girlfriends for help. I was easily able to call upon my fellow classmates via multiple Zoom meetings we had throughout the pandemic. I named my project ‘’79 women for 79 women.’
“Among our classmates, the many writers, diplomats, teachers, and philanthropists joined this project in different ways. Ellen Welty and Jennifer Hughes have made an enormous impact on the individual women with whom they work, as well as on their English classes as a collective. Starting by assisting students with homework, they soon volunteered to teach their own English classes. Despite living among chaos in Kabul, Margo Squire has served as a steadfast teacher and conversation facilitator for many vulnerable women that we teach.
“If classmates were not available to teach or help with homework, they spread the word to family and Dartmouth alums, to girlfriends of their children (thanks, Laura Swigett!), and friends with Dartmouth connections. My niece, Becky Marder ’15, has been a huge source of energy and love in her English writing class. With these volunteers, I have been able to organize multiple pods teaching basic English, writing, advanced reading comprehension, conversational English, and modern Greek. Several female classmates, one superstar male (Rob Worley) and some Dartmouth alumnae from other classes donated money, which was sent to my friend in Thessaloniki who procured computers to give to the women for online access to our classes. I also collected funds to buy internet minutes, cover rent, and help those who have lost NGO funding. Along the way Beth Blatt provided me much-needed emotional support out of the empathy and knowledge she gathered through writing a play about refugees in America.
“We have all deepened our Dartmouth ties through this experience and together made a huge difference in so many individual lives. We Dartmouth ’79 women have now come close to touching the lives of 79 women! Initial mission accomplished, but there’s much more work to be done.”
If you want to contribute, contact Cindy (calderclassics@gmail.com).
—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com