Leandro Chu
Leandro, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, never thought about being a translator.
He always wanted to be a DBA (Database Administrator), but while he was
in college studying Information Technology , he had a "wake up call" when
he realized that he loved learning new languages. Leandro is now focused
on learning new languages and getting a college degree in English and French,
with maybe other languages later. Leandro says that he’d love to work in
the United Nations one day, who knows. Through his work with CEN and another
organization called the Community Empowerment Collective
, Leandro feels that he has learned what volunteering and community work
is all about. He wants to be able to work with all dimension of development
(global, local, human, community), as well to make this world a better place
to live, for living is not surviving. Leandro loves to go to the beach (hey,
he lives in Rio!), hang out with friends, and read books (Stephen Hawking,
Carl Sagan, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paulo Coelho, etc). Leandro hopes to become
a better translator each and every day, and also to learn (maybe translate)
as many languages as possible. He feels that the more he learns the more
he wants to learn. Leandro’s motto is "Never stop learning, for through
knowledge we can accomplish incredible things". That’s an important message
CEN hopes to pass on to the communities where we work!
Chuck Hollenbeck
Chuck taught physics at Chaffey Community College in Southern California for 30 years. He enjoys teaching but language is his passion. He has presented papers in Spanish on the teaching of physics at conferences in Uruguay (2000 and 2002). He’s a reviewer for a bilingual journal on science education published in Colombia. In the process of teaching he’s developed an interest in the workings of the human mind. Language provides one window into the workings of the mind. Learning a language also goes hand-in-hand with learning about a culture; the two are strongly linked. At the age of 53 he decided that it was time to learn another language so he chose Portuguese. He’s now 60 and speaks Portuguese fluently.
Chuck combines his language and travel interest with activities like doing translations for Community Empowerment Network (CEN). Also, he went to Brazil in 2005 (Juazeiro do Norte) to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Chuck feels fortunate to have been born and raised in the USA where we have so much material wealth. He feels that it is time to give back by helping others on a personal level in developing parts of the world and believes that more Americans need to do more for others, especially in other parts of the world. He enjoys the one-on-one contact with people from other cultures - especially when he can make that contact in their language. He hope to see more of Brazil and its people by working on future projects with Habitat or CEN or other organizations.
Ruth McPeck
Ruth McPeck brings over 10 years of non profit accounting skills to
CEN. She is currently employed as a property management accountant, but
has always had a passion for volunteer work, especially seeking to make
a contribution on a global scale, having studied international politics
and development while obtaining a degree in political science.
After raising her daughter, Ruth now has time to actively pursue
volunteer work and chose CEN because of its mission and commitment to
communities in the developing world. After moving to Seattle just a
year ago, Ruth feels fortunate to have found CEN. Being able to use her
skills to further a mission of helping those less fortunate than most
Americans is a way for her to give back to the community at large and
she is excited about being a part of CEN.
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