Springwater Environmental Sciences School is more than staff and students - it is a vibrant community of families and community partners, as well. This series of web articles will periodically feature members of our community who exemplify the shared values and habits the school embraces.

On September 11, a day where communities far and wide reflected on the momentous way our world changed eight years ago, Brian Rooney helped Springwater students, parents, and staff connect to distant communities on the other side of the planet.  Brian and his wife Aimee have two daughters - Jaida, who is a Dragonfly at Springwater, and 18-month old Gracie.  Brian is a captain with the Clackamas Fire Department, where he has worked for 16 years.  More recently, he joined the volunteer ranks at Medical Teams International (MTI) and now shares his experience in medical response and rescue operations with developing countries in Latin America and Asia.  Brian traces his interest in other lands to grade school.  "I was aware of Cambodian refugees coming to the United States during and after the Vietnam War," he notes.  He had the chance to visit Asia with Amy (they both enjoy foreign travel) and fell in love with the culture and geography.  Now, Cambodia is one of the primary places he travels to provide medical and emergency response training and support.  "To learn more now and see effects that continue 40 years later...there's just so much need," Brian observes.

Brian's first volunteer trip with MTI was to Peru, where he has since made repeated visits to help provide medical and rescue training to other firefighters.   Brian notes that many communities in the third world lack emergency medical systems and associated "911" communication systems. His training teams help create that capacity, including working with medical and emergency response professionals in a train-the-trainer mode.  "It's a perfect fit, sharing our experience with communities that need it. It's changed a lot of us."

For non-disaster missions, MTI volunteers must raise their own funds and participate on their personal time. Each mission typically lasts 3-4 weeks.  Brian appreciates the support he receives by his fire department colleagues, who trade and cover shifts to free up his schedule for a volunteer stint.  In addition to fundraising for travel and other direct mission expenses, Brian's team aim to garner additional resources for a particular need in the communities where they train.  For example, for the last few years, Brian and his teammates have been supporting an orphanage in Cambodia's capitol city, Phnom Penh.  "For $400, we can feed their entire group of 52 kids for a month," Brian explains.  "We've also paid for books, and even hired a contractor to hand dig a well that provided clean water...which is very important in those parts of the world where leading causes of death are preventable problems like diarrhea."  This spirit of giving has even led one of Brian's team members to start his own non-profit organization, Global Mission Readiness.

Brian is also and avid photographer, and sometimes extends his trips to further explore his exotic destinations and take pictures of the local people and sights (his photographs are available to view at jadephotographyonline.com). Brian has also had a chance to share his adventures with his family - Aimee and Jaida joined him in Thailand after one mission.  The Rooney family's Asian travel connections also extend to China, where Amy and Brian adopted both of their daughters.

Brian's insights from his experiences parallel the new perspectives that Springwater students are gaining this year as they explore what the word "community" means to them.  "When I got into this career, I didn't realize how it would lead to other things," notes Brian, reflecting on how his job providing fire and emergency response service to his local community in Clackamas County relates to helping third world communities with both similar and very different needs.  "It's very fulfilling."