[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2119-E2120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING PATRICIA FRANCES EATON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, November 20, 2004

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of myself and 
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to honor the extraordinary life of 
Patricia Frances Eaton, a devoted teacher, advocate, humanitarian, and 
friend. Pat, who spent her life traveling the world to support those in 
need, passed away on October 22, 2004 in Arlington, Virginia. She is 
survived by her son, David Howard Kuria Eaton, her brother, Harold 
Eaton, Jr., her god-sister, Jean Chin Tapscott, and many nieces, 
nephews, cousins, and loving friends.
  Born on June 21, 1944 in Washington, D.C., Pat was the youngest of 
five children born to Harold and Ordee Scruggs Eaton. Following her 
studies at Palmer Memorial Institute and Howard University, Pat 
graduated from Texas Southern University with a B.A. in English in 
1967. Upon her graduation, Pat became part of the first group of 
volunteers to travel to the newly independent southern Africa with the 
United States Peace Corps. Braving extreme weather conditions and 
relying on a horse as her only means of transportation, she lived in a 
Lesotho village for more than two years. During that time she grew to 
love the lands and people of the most remote regions of Africa, and her 
experience in the Peace Corps became the inspiration that she would 
draw upon in traveling through and working on behalf of Africa 
throughout the rest of her life.
  Returning to the U.S. in 1970, Pat used her knowledge and experience 
to work as a volunteer to raise funds to start Africare, an 
organization dedicated to providing funds for water supply, health 
resources, and agricultural development in drought-stricken West 
Africa, or the Sahel. During this time, Pat worked as a teacher at 
McKinley High School, and also worked briefly for the D.C. government. 
She was later able to work full-time at Africare as its first Director 
of Communications and Chapter Development, a capacity in which she 
traveled across the country in order to identify and coordinate cities 
with development projects in the Sahel.
  In the mid-1970s, Pat was recruited by the U.N. Development Program's 
newly established Women-In-Development project. Known for her expertise 
in working in rural and isolated villages in Africa, Pat was the ideal 
choice to work on this project, which sought to increase women's 
productivity through income-generating projects. Her background led 
also to later appointments as the Executive Director of the Black 
Women's Community Development Foundation, the Director for Africa of 
the Overseas Education Fund of the League of Women Voters, and various 
contract projects with USAID, the Peace Corps, and other groups. Pat's 
work in these areas led her to spend the better part of twenty years 
traveling through twenty-two African countries, often with few 
companions and little more than a single suitcase, but always with an 
eagerness for knowledge and full immersion within the culture of each 
group she encountered. Whether she was passing through the caves of 
Mali's Timbuktu, the pyramids of Egypt, or Zambia during the Rhodesian 
War and subsequent Lancaster conference, Pat lived as one with the 
African people whose lives she shared throughout her journey.
  After returning to the United States in 1983 for the birth of her 
son, David, Pat took a position as the Director of West Africa for the 
D.C.-based African Development Foundation. In 1986, she made the 
decision to settle in the U.S., and began teaching English again, this 
time at Wilson Senior High. Later advancing to the position of Director 
of the school's International Studies Program, Pat drew upon the 
richness of her experiences abroad not only to

[[Page E2120]]

encourage students to seek out knowledge and understanding of foreign 
affairs and cultures, but also to encourage career exploration in the 
international arena, especially among minority students.
  On November 20, 2004, Patricia Eaton will be honored in Washington, 
D.C. for the impact her life and work has had on her students in the 
U.S., the people who came to know her in Africa through her decades of 
work there, and everyone else who has been fortunate enough to have her 
in their lives. On this day we take time not only to honor her memory, 
but also to give thanks for the spirit of giving and mutual 
understanding that shaped her work in life, and that will continue to 
impact the lives of future generations for years to come. On behalf of 
the 9th Congressional District and the District of Columbia, we salute 
the life and work of Pat Eaton. Her example is a true inspiration, and 
she will be greatly missed by all.

                          ____________________