Remembering Jo

 It has been three years since the crash of the Ethiopian Airways Flight ET302 that was travelling from Addis Abba to Nairobi. Among the people killed was my friend and colleague, Joanna Toole. At that time she was working for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and this was a regular shuttle flight taken by many UN workers between the two cities. Jo was on her way to a meeting of UNEA (the United Nations Environment Assembly). 

In the last few days this organization has just met again – the first full meeting since the crash – and at this last meeting there was a formal agreement to proceed with a treaty to address plastic pollution. This was an issue that Jo had worked on and she would have been very pleased to see progressed. It is a huge step forward.

Yesterday in Jo’s hometown of Exmouth on the south coast of England and under radiant blue skies some of Jo’s friends and family gathered to unveil a memorial to her. It is on a track along which Jo used to run and it has a glorious view across the estuary, a truly beautiful spot.

The sculpture is a bench with a tall metal sculpture at its back with marine images and words about Jo cut into into it. On the bank behind, we scattered wild flower seeds. Hopefully it will be in bloom come the summer.

Jo is also remembered, and her work is continued, in the Joanna Toole Foundation which provides grants to appropriate causes. Here is a link to the web pages of the JTF. I am proud to be an advisor to the Foundation and several of our mutual friends are trustees.

Here are some images from yesterday.

Jo was a kind, gentle and fun person. She cared deeply about animals and was an effective advocate who had successfully transitioned from working for the non-governmental (or charity) sector to working for the UN. She had also settled in Rome with the love of her life. Hers was a flame that burned brightly before it was suddenly blown out. 

We still miss her in our community of advocates. There is a hole in the gang, but in my mind's eye as I looked along the track in the bright sunshine yesterday, I saw the young Jo go running by full of mischief and dreams, and with a passion for animals. She did a lot in her short life and I hope others will pass by her memorial and be inspired by it and her life.

 Congratulations to her dad, Adrian, and all concerned in setting up the memorial. 

This is Jo - 2014 she had just returned to the UK after suffering from dengue fever and was celebrating.

I am, of course, well aware that the world – not so far from where I am sitting – is full of terror, tears and loss at this time. My heart goes out to all who grieve and are living in fear.