In Memory of A Friend: Javier Camelo

Last Wednesday, we received the unfortunate news that one of the victims of the terrorist attack in the Bardo Museum in Tunisia was a dear classmate, teammate and friend. It came as a big shock to the IE community as we had just been with Javi a few days before to celebrate our graduation. It was such heart breaking news. You never expect that something so terrible happen to someone you know.

Team photo taken during our Global Immersion Week in Shanghai. Javi is seated on the far left across me.

As we speak, my fantastic colleagues from school have put forward many ideas  on how we can help ensure that Javi's memory lives on. I am so proud to know that I have such talented and wonderful colleagues who can organize and mobilize so quickly in times of need.

One idea is to get the class to write down a few words to be shared with the family. Below is a few words I wrote on Javi:

"I was lucky enough to become teammates with Javier in our last period right before graduation. I have nothing but good memories of the time we worked together. He was very organized, responsible and worked very hard, even very late into the night. I could tell because he would stay up as late as me even if Sydney was 3 hours ahead of my time zone in Manila. He was very smart and dedicated I learned a lot from him. He was one of my classmates who could always relate with my own desire to improve my home country and to the problems faced by developing countries. He was always proud of being Columbian.  

I know that Javi has moved on to a better place but he was definitely taken too soon. We have all lost a good friend and a great soul. I know that he will continue to watch over all of us, it is just how he is, always making sure that his friends are doing fine."

Rest in peace my friend.