Ronのこと

（今日は二つのタイトルでアップしています。下にある「飛行機事故」を先にお読みください。）

飛行機事故で亡くなったRon Gonzalezさんに関して、娘のところに届いたメールです。（発信者名は割愛しました）

ニューヨーク州西部（バッファロー地域）でのAIDSコミュニティサービス（エイズの予防教育活動、医療活動を総合的に行う州立の組織）での彼の活動や、地域社会に貢献する仕事を続けた様子が書き記されています。

ヒスパニック系でスペイン語が堪能だった彼は、マイノリティーの人たちの支援に心をくだいた人でした。「アジア系」の我が娘を鍛えて、エイズ教育の講師への道を開いてくれた人でした。

「次の世代を育てる仕事」それは彼を取り巻く人たちのネットワークに引き継がれることになりました。娘もその中の一人です。「今となっては二人分、法大に行くようなものだから、がんばらなきゃ」とメールにありました。

Ronのこと、みなさんにも知っていただきたい、そう思って英文を掲載します。


Colleagues:
It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Ron Gonzalez was listed as a　passenger on the Continental Airways flight from Newark that crashed in Buffalo last night. Conversations with family and friends have confirmed this horrible news. Thus far we have no details as to a memorial service or funeral.

Ron's many accomplishments speak to the type of man he was. A native of New York City, Ron relocated to Buffalo in 1999 where he earned his undergraduate degree while working at AIDS Community Services of Western New York. He served three terms as the Vice President of the Ryan White Care Network of Western New York, Inc., and as Co-Chair of the Minority Concerns Committee as well as on the Board of Directors of the Men of Color Health Awareness Project.

Prior to his appointment to the PPG, Ron was the first Executive Director of Alianza Latina, Inc. Before that, he was a Technical Assistance Specialist with the HIV Prevention Network of the Health and Safety Programs at Rural Opportunities, Inc., in Rochester. In this role, he traveled extensively, providing prevention programming assistance to organizations serving Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers, Young Men who have Sex with Men and Latino communities. In 2006, Ron was awarded a grant by the National Urban Fellows Program and relocated to New York City to complete his graduate studies in Public Administration during which he completed an internship with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

During his tenure as Co-Chair of the Racial/Ethnic Committee, Ron worked diligently to bring forward an initiative to re-examine cultural competency in the context of prevention planning and PPG leadership. He was elected Community Co-Chair in 2007 and reelected in 2008. Within the biography he prepared when running for Community Co-Chair in August 2008, he wrote that his "vision is to help recruit and grow the next generation of leaders for the development and advancement of healthy urban communities throughout the State of New York."

It is now up to us to make sure that his vision is realized.


- The Network will continue to forward any information as it becomes available.