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North Pinellas Hometown for July 18

 
U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Taylor Ramsey gave digital cameras to children for a fundraising project in the Colombian village of Wiwa.
U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Taylor Ramsey gave digital cameras to children for a fundraising project in the Colombian village of Wiwa.
Published July 16, 2014

Camera donation: Taylor Ramsey, a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer from Dunedin, gave digital cameras to 18 Wiwa children in a remote indigenous village in Colombia to help them photograph their community.

She teamed up with a Wiwa nonprofit foundation called Ribunduna Tayrona and another Peace Corps volunteer to empower indigenous children to play a key part in protecting their community and their educational future.

Together they took an arduous trip to a remote Wiwa indigenous village called Wimake, where the school is in need of a new roof. They taught 18 kids the basics of photography. The kids were given 11 digital cameras and a day in their community to take photos to showcase the parts of their lives they thought were important for people to see. Ramsey created an Indiegogo campaign to raise $18,000 from selling the children's photos to be able to fix the roof so the children can go to school, even when it rains.

For more information, contact Ramsey at taylorowenr@gmail.com or visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fix-a-roof-and-save-a-culture.

Military news: Navy Seaman Recruit Andrew Amstutz, a 2013 graduate of Countryside High School, graduated from U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. Training included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival and shipboard and aircraft safety. Amstutz is the son of Ricky and Christine Amstutz of Clearwater.

Judge finishes first Ironman triathlon: Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Cynthia Newton recently finished her first Ironman triathlon in June in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The event included a full 26.2-mile marathon, a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bicycle ride. Newton completed the triathlon in 15 hours and 52 minutes. "It was so painful to get through that marathon, but at mile 25, you feel an adrenaline rush that lasts all night long," she said.

Kids Theater: The Dunedin Showcase Kids Theater performed Harry's Hotter at Twilight this month at the Dunedin Community Center. The play was a mashup of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, and drew a crowd of around 150 people. Actors in the group ranged from ages 6 to 15.