Today is the birthday of my beautiful friend Carmen Urdaneta, who died in Afghanistan in February 2005. She was a gorgeous, kind, funny, wonderful person. I still miss her. She was a wonderful photographer. A better friend.
Here is a little about her:
Carmen Christina Urdaneta, 32, was born 13 February 1972 in Venezuela, raised partly there in Maracaibo and grew up in Topeka, KS but was residing in Brookline, MA at the time of her death. She graduated from Hayden High School where she was on the honor roll, a member of Amnesty International, the International Club, Hispanic Club, campus ministry and the volleyball team. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in human biology from the University of Kansas in 1994 and participated in a study abroad program in France. In 1997 she earned a master’s degree in public health from Boston University’s School of Public Health. She began her professional career at the AIDS Bureau in Boston, where she worked on an epidemiologic project on AIDS. She then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Worldspace Foundation, an organization whose mission is to improve access to information in the developing world. In 1999, Carmen became a senior communications associate in the Family Planning Management Program at Management Sciences for Health. In 2001, she served as the director of communications for the firm’s Equity Project, residing in Pretoria, South Africa. She had worked to combat AIDS in Africa and to improve health services in Angola. She was well known in the global health community for her writing and photography. She returned to Boston in late 2003 where she became a senior communications associate at MSH. Carmen was a key member of the team responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies for MSH's various global health programs. She traveled extensively, visiting program sites throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America to capture firsthand the beneficial impact of MS H initiatives. Carmen is well-known in the global health community for both her writing and photography. Her stories have been featured in a variety of publications, and she was a finalist in several photography competitions. She told stories of the people she met around the world. She captured their faces in photographs. She spoke of how MSH programs affected their lives and what they needed to make their lives better. Her stories, published by MSH and in public health news magazines, along with her photos, had won awards. Carmen had been with working for the MSH for five years. She was in Afghanistan to help develop a comprehensive communications strategy for expansion of Afghanistan’s community-based health care plan. Carmen’s last comments in an email before she boarded the plane were that she loved the country and couldn’t wait to go back and do more. In her spare time, Carmen enjoyed the simple things in life such as reading, music, dancing salsa and merengue, the arts and a good cup of coffee. She was fluent in Spanish and French. The family is setting up the Carmen Christina Urdaneta Memorial Fund, which will probably be a scholarship for studying international health or funding for a project that would benefit the people she tried to help. She is survived by her parents Dr. Leonel Urdaneta and Judy Urdaneta; her mother Lia Urdaneta and Larry Lundquist; brothers Dr. JosŽ Urdaneta of Phoenix, AZ and Dr. Leonel Urdaneta of Manhattan, NY; her stepbrothers, Bo and Justin Bowen of Topeka; her stepsisters, Lea Araujo of CO and Christine Owens of Topeka; her nephew and niece Jace Haizley Bowen of Topeka; other very close relatives in Venezuela; and a host of global family and friends.
Here is a little about her:
Carmen Christina Urdaneta, 32, was born 13 February 1972 in Venezuela, raised partly there in Maracaibo and grew up in Topeka, KS but was residing in Brookline, MA at the time of her death. She graduated from Hayden High School where she was on the honor roll, a member of Amnesty International, the International Club, Hispanic Club, campus ministry and the volleyball team. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in human biology from the University of Kansas in 1994 and participated in a study abroad program in France. In 1997 she earned a master’s degree in public health from Boston University’s School of Public Health. She began her professional career at the AIDS Bureau in Boston, where she worked on an epidemiologic project on AIDS. She then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Worldspace Foundation, an organization whose mission is to improve access to information in the developing world. In 1999, Carmen became a senior communications associate in the Family Planning Management Program at Management Sciences for Health. In 2001, she served as the director of communications for the firm’s Equity Project, residing in Pretoria, South Africa. She had worked to combat AIDS in Africa and to improve health services in Angola. She was well known in the global health community for her writing and photography. She returned to Boston in late 2003 where she became a senior communications associate at MSH. Carmen was a key member of the team responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies for MSH's various global health programs. She traveled extensively, visiting program sites throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America to capture firsthand the beneficial impact of MS H initiatives. Carmen is well-known in the global health community for both her writing and photography. Her stories have been featured in a variety of publications, and she was a finalist in several photography competitions. She told stories of the people she met around the world. She captured their faces in photographs. She spoke of how MSH programs affected their lives and what they needed to make their lives better. Her stories, published by MSH and in public health news magazines, along with her photos, had won awards. Carmen had been with working for the MSH for five years. She was in Afghanistan to help develop a comprehensive communications strategy for expansion of Afghanistan’s community-based health care plan. Carmen’s last comments in an email before she boarded the plane were that she loved the country and couldn’t wait to go back and do more. In her spare time, Carmen enjoyed the simple things in life such as reading, music, dancing salsa and merengue, the arts and a good cup of coffee. She was fluent in Spanish and French. The family is setting up the Carmen Christina Urdaneta Memorial Fund, which will probably be a scholarship for studying international health or funding for a project that would benefit the people she tried to help. She is survived by her parents Dr. Leonel Urdaneta and Judy Urdaneta; her mother Lia Urdaneta and Larry Lundquist; brothers Dr. JosŽ Urdaneta of Phoenix, AZ and Dr. Leonel Urdaneta of Manhattan, NY; her stepbrothers, Bo and Justin Bowen of Topeka; her stepsisters, Lea Araujo of CO and Christine Owens of Topeka; her nephew and niece Jace Haizley Bowen of Topeka; other very close relatives in Venezuela; and a host of global family and friends.
