European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse J pm Orpi attract Many Olott Tki Ltd Volunteer tit Marian of Barna sear a registered Nurtha in her 50s, who recently tarred in Thailand. Sparring religious groups joined to build Bridges roads and a water system under the do Decilon of the peace corp. Villagers in Chad were shown How to dig Ali silos so Inglr oxen could eat grass silage in the dry season. In Cameroon volunteers helped some 2,500 Farmers build Stock and Harvest 3,000 fish Ponds. A future Challenge is working with african Farmers to turn famine around. After earning their stripes in he third world Many return volunteers have landed High posts at Home. Several congressmen served in the peace corps. Al the . Agency Lor International development former volunteers Maka up 12, s percent of the staff. Seven out our of Chase Manhattan s Africa division officers Are peace corps graduates and so Are several chiefs is the world Sank and Citibank. To Rebecca Riley a peace corps stint in Liberia during the late 60s changed my Lita i was born in a protected affluent world. You have no idea what kind by diameter of the Pratt corp in of have built up our capacity to threaten people. But we have not built of our capacity to work with people. I a should be sanding More and More peace corps volunteers because we know that s what foreign countries want. They Don t want guns As much As. They re being forced to buy them they want us so Why not give them us lary28, 1986 of inner resources you have until you Are put in a situation where you have to survive away from comforts and friends and Todd Lake 25. A student at Princeton theological Semiha viewed his work in environmental sanitation in Paraguay from 1983 to 1985 As raining for his future As a missionary to me. The lasting value of the peace corps is you will never see the United states the same Way you did before Lake says. You Are always going to see it against the backdrop of the rest of the world. Suddenly your eyes have been opened to the great needs of people in other parts of the world. Many people in America Are More concerned with whether or not to get a new color to or a second Var. The adjustment coming Back is Jack Vaughan director Iron 1966 to 1968, says not Only does the experience stretch the volunteers but it stretches the cause of peace. The poor people 01 the third world had never seen the United slates except through marines and Hollywood says Vaughan now a vice president of private sector development associates in Washington. Then suddenly they got exposed to the Best and brightest of our society living in their villages and wording for them. The urst Lime i met Jack Kennedy was with Sargent Shriver Al the White House continues Vaughan a former . Ambassador to Panama and Colombia. Shriver had received a letter trom the president of Venezuela lamenting that All . Diplomats were so totally arrogant. The president read it and said what can we do to take the arrogance out of the fudge factory his Neme Tor the stale department. "1 told him we should Send More peace corps volunteers instead of More Foll class in striped pants. And that s what we did. If we could reduce american arrogance and raise realism we might even find a formula for a time for soul searching t his Christmas i received a letter from Cousin an artist and Art teacher in her early30s who is a peace corps Volunteer in the Caribbean she wrote about How Busy Sheds. Going from school to school on the Island of Nevis teaching Art Selong up exhibits coordinating Art Lor a children s Art Book. How Dit Terent it is from my peace corps experience in Brazil some 20 years ago. Back in those Days the peace corps was booming with 15,000 volunteers scattered in far Comers of Tho world. Most in my training group were Tresh out of College from Salt of Date Zfass backgrounds. In peace corps terminology we were "b.a. Generalists the English history philosophy majors lacking in practical Shishis nonetheless we were trained to be Community my tint alignment was to Vitoria a Conquista a wild West Cowboy town deep in the Interior of the state of Bahia 1 was to be an operating room technician. Prior to that i had always been fascinated with Medicine. Maybe it was the culture Shock. Maybe ii was my Lack of experience. But the blood and Gore were Loo much. I was reassigned to a Asaju the capital City of Sergipe Brazil s smallest state. After months of begging and scrounging another Volunteer and i managed to set up a kindergarten in our Barro poor Section of town. We tried to teach the kids to use a toilet Many had never seen Oneto Brush hair Teeth to Wear shoes As Wall As to co for draw and play games. It was frustrating. I kept asking myself Why Many of our tiny charges lived in houses without toilets. Their parents could t afford to buy a Toothbrush much less shoes. It we a time Lor soul Nea Rehing thinking learning growing up in a hurry. 1 Oltan wondered if i was t getting far More out of the peace corps than i was giving the brazilians and they were the Best part of the experience warm Friendly hospitable people. No matter How wretched their lives How Deal tule and poor they were they always smiled and laughed. They seemed to feel it was their duty to take care of us to make us Happy. I remember the time i found a Lurry Black spider looking Crealure the size of a Coconut crawling on my Nightgown. I ran into the streets screaming certain anything that grotesque had to be poisonous. My neighbors came to the Rescue assured me the monster was harmless searched my House for More of his relatives even Lent me a Mosquito net. I am glad the peace corps has survived matured and changed. I am glad that today there Are More older volunteers with practical skills and experience to offer the poor of the third world. I am glad i was a part of it All. In her letter my Cousin described How groups of children always follow her. I feel and must look like the pied Piper. That is what makes everything so worthwhile and what the peace corps is All about Al least Tor me she wrote. Some things about the peace corps Haven t changed. Lea Larkin Lea lures editor the stars and stripes Page 15
