Ottawa Citizen, January 31, 1999
Stuemer appeal lands teacher
by
Michelle
Simick
A
remote
atoll
in
the
Cook
Islands
of
the
South
Pacific
will
soon
have
a
teacher
for
its
10
school-aged
children,
thanks
to
an
appeal
by
world
traveler
Diane
Stuemer
of
Ottawa.
Ms.
Stuemer's
written
accounts
of
her
family's
round-the-world
boat
trip
appear
every
Saturday
in
the
Citizen.
Her
appeal,
which
appeared
in
the
Citizen
in
September,
detailed
a
renovated
three-room
schoolhouse
with
a
new
photocopier
and
a
nearly
completed
teacher's
house.
All
that
was
missing,
Ms.
Stuemer
wrote,
was
a
teacher.
More
than
70
people
responded
by
e-mail
to
say
they
were
interested
in
the
position.
"We
had
people
from
all
over
North
America
reply
--
everywhere
you
could
imagine,''
said
Linda
Maslechko,
Ms.
Stuemer's
sister
who
lives
in
Calgary.
But
the
chosen
candidate,
selected
by
the
ministry
of
education
for
the
Cook
Islands,
is
a
Canadian
man.
And
he's
about
as
hard
to
find
as
the
little
Palmerston
Atoll
is
to
locate
on
a
map.
"We
know
his
name
is
Alex
Mcmanus,
but
not
much
more.
He
hasn't
responded
to
any
e-mails,''
said
Ms.
Maslechko.
In
an
e-mail
message
to
her
sister,
Ms.
Stuemer
says
she
would
really
like
to
contact
him
because
she
has
had
many
people
offer
books,
computers,
videos
and
software
that
he
could
bring
with
him.
But
a
teacher
for
this
remote
island
is
only
a
small
portion
of
the
good
that
has
been
generated
from
the
Stuemers'
voyage.
An
online
Cook
Islands
weekly
newspaper
recently
announced
that
two
Canadian
teachers,
Judy
Barnett
and
Henri
Leonard,
presented
a
suitcase
of
educational
materials
to
the
Palmerston
school.
They
had
seen
the
story
in
the
Citizen
about
the
school
needing
a
teacher
and
materials,
so
they
brought
some
supplies
along
with
them
while
on
holiday.
Diane
King
and
Paul
Couch
of
Aylmer,
Que.,
have
started
a
Web
site
dedicated
to
the
Stuemers
and
their
round-the-world
voyage.
"We're
hoping
to
develop
a
little
community
where
people
can
not
only
live
through
the
Stuemers
but
leave
messages
for
them,''
said
Ms.
King.
The
Web
site
includes
copies
of
Ms.
Stuemer's
written
accounts
in
the
Citizen
as
well
as
links
to
sites
with
information
about
places
where
the
Stuemers
have
been,
plus
photographs
and
a
guest
book.
"You
know,
it's
fascinating
to
follow
their
adventures.
It's
something
we'd
all
like
to
do
but
don't.
We
have
a
hard
enough
time
loading
a
van
for
a
week!''
said
Mr.
Couch,
who
has
worked
with
information
technology
for
the
past
15
years.
Ms.
King
and
Mr.
Couch
got
the
idea
for
the
Web
site
this
past
summer
when
they
returned
from
vacation
and
realized
they
couldn't
get
copies
of
the
Stuemers'
weekly
accounts
they
had
missed.
Achilles
Internet
Services
donated
the
space,
and
after
a
month
of
setting
up,
the
site
was
ready
to
go.
They
update
the
site
weekly
with
new
accounts
and
interesting
tidbits,
such
as
the
recipe
for
Aunt
Linda's
"excellent
chocolate-chip-oatmeal
cookies''
that
Ms.
Stuemer
often
mentions
in
her
accounts.
Ms.
King
even
contacted
Hershey's
Canada
and
asked
them
to
ship
some
of
Ms.
Stuemer's
favourite
treats
--
Hershey's
Kisses
-
to
Australia
for
her.
The
Stuemers
got
their
Hershey's
Kisses
this
past
week.
Hard
to
believe
that
Ms.
King
and
Mr.
Couch
have
never
even
met
the
Stuemers,
who
will
be
travelling
for
about
one
more
year.
"I
certainly
hope
we'll
meet
them,''
said
Ms.
King,
laughing.