American I.V.S.volunteers carry on amid fighting in Vietnam
The following articleappewed re. Vietnamese—whiletheotherstriedto Actually,the Viet Cong seldo@ cenily in Parade magazine;itisre. keep him quiet. molestAmerican civiliansand gener. printed here with permission, More When the VietCong attackedMy allywan them againstgoingintocer- information aboutthe activities of In. The, Kirk Dimmit witnessedthesud- tainareas.As a Vietnameseschool termtional Vo!unta~ Services may be den deathsof severalVietnamesehe principalputit,“The VietCong know obtained by writing to the organization had known. Then quicklyhe began how much the people appreciate al 1555 Connecticut Ave. N. W,, organizingan escapefortheremain- I,V,S,-er~the V.C. wouldn’tdare Wmhington, D, C, 20036. ing villagers.After being flown to touchthem.” In fact,I.V.S,members Saigon to reportthe incident,Kirk have heard themselvesdescribedin insistedon returningto My Tbo to By M~otie Hope Communist broadcastsas young pe~ attendthefuneraloftheslainvillagers,pleworkingforthe good of thevii. TO the45,000 U.S.militaryserving Althoughauthoritieswantedto trans- lagerswho shouldnotbe molested, in embattledVietnam;add 80 young ferhim immediatelyafterwardsfrom It is ve~ difficultto describea ,, American volunteerswho each day thisdangerousarea,Kirk stayedon tYPicalday” in I.V.S.,formembers literallyrisktheirlivesina swuggleas forseveralweekstohelpmaintainthe are constantlyadaptingto new situa. grim as the war itself.These young moraleof thepeople,Beforeleaving tions,John timmers,forinstance,is people—65 men and 15 girl-are My The, he was citedhy theAmeri- a hamleteducationadtiserwho may fightingsomehow to yank a way of can ambassadorforheroism, do anythingfrom seeingthatcement lifeintotherealitiesof the 20thcc”. Despite these experiences,there forschoolfoundationsismixed prop tu~. have been no casualtiesduringthe erly,to dismibutinghealthpamphlets, Servingon two-yearcontractsfor eightyews LV.S.+rshave worked in or helpingraiserabbitsto supplement $80 a month,theseyoung Americans Vietnam. How have they been able thesalariesof IocdVietnameseteach- representingInternationalVOluntaW toavoidaccidents? ers.D~ing a month he oftenmakes Servicesare schoolingSouth Viet- LV.S. teams are based in towns more than 70 visitsby hehcopterto namese peasantsin improvedagricu- heldhy thegovernment,and members 50 differenthamletsin thetwo Htgh. lturaltechniques,working in public. work outfrom thereintomore remote landprovincesin which he works, If healthprogramsor teachingscience, the helicopterbreaksdown, he may areas,How fartheyventuredepends vocationalsubjects,and English.Op- stayovernightina Montagnardtribes- on the individual+n his feelings eratingout of 30 centersscattered man’s hut,diningon rice wine an: shoutthis,and on how wellhe knows throughoutthe countryside,theylive fish,learningtoplaytheMontagnar* ~ withthepeasants,sharetheirdangers the people,Leadersneverask team flute,and sleepingon a woven bamboo and hardships,evenlearntospeakthe members togo intoareastheydo not platform, extremelydifficultlanguage, wish to enter.On the contra~,they When theflodscame lastfall,John I.V.S,,foundedin 1953,withhead- ask the group to the precautions,helpedmobilizeteamsof Vietnamese quartersin Washington,D, C.,isthe %metimes theyhavehad toholdback studentsheadedforthedisasterareas. onlyvoluntarygroupworkinginViet. I,V,S.-ers. (Continued on back page) nam. Ithasgoneintodangerousareas of theworld where the Peace Corps hasnot,WhileI.V.S,-ershaveseldom been underfire,theyarepreparedfor anything,Some of them work in the strife-tornDelta,some inpartsof the count~ more freeof VietCOng co”. trol.Washingtonhas saidLV,S. will remain in Vietnam as long as there are Americansthere. Encounterswith the Vlet Cong— director indirect—arepartof every. day lifefor I.V.S.-ers.Agricultural teams may arrivein a town to pick up supplies4nlytodiscoverthatthe warehousewas burneddown an hour before,CarlieAllenderhas received printedwarningstellinghernot tobe in contactwith the military.Lesfie Smalltellsof a timehe stoppedalong a road in the Deltato take pictures and was invitedintoa farmer’shouse for tea, Another guest there was I,V.S.vol””teerCharlesSweet,of Ithaca,NY.,supewisesa workcampPrOieCt0 rather“unusual”and began to argue the NationalVolunta~Sewicesof Vietnam,a sewiceorganizationforstudent! that tbe Viet Cong r~rexnted the begun by I,V.S,Sweet has a B.A.in Englishfrom Cornell,grantedin 1964,Q 2 The new batch !. More than 6000 potentialPeace ‘orpsVolunteersare going through * ainingthissummer in 110 separate trainingprogramsatcolleges,univer- sities,and other sitesacrossNorth America—and infourinstances,over- seas, Of the 6000-PIusTraineesentering trainineinJune.Julv.and Aueust.475 arecol~egejuniorst~kingpart~nPhase 1 of theAdvanced TrainingProgram, eight-weekcoursesforcollegejuniors who plan to enterthe Peace Corps upon graduation,The remainderofthe summer Traineeswillbe candidates for sonle4400 assignmentsfor new VolunteersinfourPeaceCorpsregions —Africa,LatinAmerica,theFarEast, and “NANSSA—North Africa,the Near East,and SouthAsia, Roughly VolunteersboundforTurkeyawaitdepartureinPan AmericanterminalatKennedy fourof everytennew Volunteerswill AirpotiinNew York.More thanWOO new Volunteerswillgo abroadthissummer. go to LatinAmerica,threeof eve~ tento Africa,and theremainderwill be dividedaboutequallybetweentbe theend ofAugust,1966,PeaceCorps a gOUP of 272 Englishteachersand Far Eastand NAN=A. planscallformore than15,000Volun- ruralcommunity-developmentworkers At theend ofJuly,therewere g241 teersto be workingabroad. forTurkey arefinishingtheirmaining Volunteersalreadyatwork in46 coun- Thissummer asinthepast,most of atRobeflCollegeinJstanbuland the tries.Of thatnumber,about900 are the trainingprograms are 12-week Middle East TechnicalUniversityin scheduledtocompleteservicethisyear. coursesrun by Americancollegesand Ankara. AnothergroupofVolunteers With the new Volunteersbeginning universities,operatingunder Peace trainingoverseasistbeThailandma- ~ervicethissummer and fall,therewill Corps contracts.The PeaceCorps it- Iaria+radicationproject,whichwillget e approxlnlately11,400 Volunteers selfis responsiblefor a number of two months’ technicaltrainingin “*” on the10bby theend of theyear.By programs at its“in-house”training Manila. Rural community-develop- sitesin PuertoRico and the Virgin ment workerstrainingattheUniversity Islands,usedforVolunteersbound for of Missourihave fiveweeks of in- LatinAmerica and Africa. countV trainingin Bolivia. PEACE CORPS Some 400 former Volunteersare workingwithmaining-institutionstaffs Trainingin Canada md Metico thissummer, offeringtheirexperience to tbe Volunteers-to-be,Except for Three predominantlyNegro univer. AUGUST 1965 thoseatthePeaceCorpscamps inthe sitiesarecurrentlyadministeringPeace Volume Ill,Number 10 Caribbean,theex-Volunteersarehired Corps progranls,AtlantaUniversity’s Morehouse and Spelman Collegesare P“b!ished monthly by the Wvlslon directlyby the participatingcolleges of Vol.”teer Suppon, Peace Corps, and universities. bandlingTraineesinAdvanced Train- Wa$hin @on, 0. C, 20525, The largestnumber of Traineesin ingPro@ams forGhana,Nigeria,and Deane Wylie, edlton Job” English, as. a singleprojectisa group of 286 at SierraLeone projects.LincolnUni- ststant editoq Susan Murray, editorial San Jose (Calif.) StateCollegepre- versityin Pennsylvaniaisconducting assistant; PaulReed,atidirector. paringforteachingdutyinthePhilip trainingfor Barbadosand St,Lucia. pines;togetherwithanothergroupof A Gabon school-constructionproject ON THE COVER—TOGO Moniq.e, 161 atSacramentoStateCollege,also was co-ordinatedby SouthernUniver- Laure,and Colettearestudentsat preparingforteachingassignmentsin sityon botb itsBaton Rouge, La., collegeNotreDame de,AP4tre.In the Philippines,they representtbe campus and the new Peace Corps Lomb;NancyMerritt(page111istheir teacher.SENEGAL Mel Zwey8ardt largestnumber of Traineespreparing Center on St. Croix in the Virgin [St,F,a”cis,K..,)teacheswrestling for servicein any one country.The Islands. to S...8.1.s.students.IVORY smallestgroup is on the campus of Severalprojectswillhavefieldtrain- COAST:man.. HafiIpage21)visits SouthernIllinoisUniversityatCarbon- ing in neighboringcountries.In”tbe homeoffoyerstudent.NIGER:Karen finalphaseof an Advanced Training Selser(Newpoti,Ten”.]teaches.Utri. dale—12 Traineeswho are preparing t!..and childcareInmndu home forjohsintheWest Afticannationof Program directedby DartmouthUni- visit.GUINEA:Ron Boring(A%adia, Senegal,wheretheywillbe ruralvma- versity,Traineesassignedto Guinea, Callf,texaminescor”fie!dsoilwith tionalteachers. Senegal,Togo,ind Cameroon areliv- $t.de”t$atNationalSchoolofAgri. Thissummer fourgroupsarecom- ingwithFrench-Canadianfamiliesin cultureinFouta.RePortsfromeach ofthefiveCO”ntrie$begin0“ Dage7. pletingtheirtrainingoverseas.After La Pocati&re,a town about80 miles Featurednextmonth:Brazil, spendinga month ontbePrincetonand northof Quebec City,whiletraining Portland(Ore.)StateCollegecampuses, attheCol12gede Ste,Anne de laPoca- 3 ti2re.Four Latintiericu propams Doctors at Duke The 12-week wainingprogram at willtrainin Mexic*Trainees in a Duke includesinstructionin each of, Colombia projectat San Diego State A new Peace Corps program got theseareas,togetherwithmethods Collegewillwork in villagessouthof underway in mid-Julyas 17 Volun. teaching,Practicalwork in labor @ Tijuana; Chile community-develop-teerdoctorsenteredtrainingatDuke toriesandittnearbycommunitiessup. ment workersat MichiganStateUni. University. plementsthe course,More than 300 versitywilltrainin the Michoacin Headed for seven countries—Af. hoursof classesin languagetraining, areaof centralMetico,and Trainees ghanistan,Ethiopia,Jndia,Iran,Ma. regionalstudies,and historyare in- assignedto Boliviaand El Salvador Iawi,Tunisia,and Turkey—the Volun. cludedinthecurriculum, at the Universityof Oklahoma will teerdoctorsin most situationswill Most of theVolunteerdoctorswill spenda month insoutheasternMexico. dividetheirtimeabroadbetwee”work takedependentsahroad.Only2 ofthe On the otherhand,Traineesin a incurativemedicine;teachingmedical 17 doctorsin theprogram aresingle. Jamaicaeducationprogram aretrain. students,dmtors,and healthworkers; Wives of the other 15 have skills inginJamaica—atSt.Johns’sUniver. and in preventivemedicine,includingrangingfrom microbiologyto elemen. sity,Jamaica,bng Jsland,N.Y. sanitation,nuwition,mass immuniza- tary teachtig.Five are registered TraineesforBrazilarewell-scatteredtion,a“d otherlarge-scaleeducation nurses,Betweenthe 15 familiesthere acrosstheu.S.:sch~l.lunchprogram propams. are 22 children(and in one instance Traineesare at Georgetown Univer. sity,urbancommunity-actionworkers areattheUniversityofFlorida,health workersare at MarquetteUniversity in Milwaukee,4-H organizersare at Arizona StateUniversity,and com- munity developersin the Advanced TrainingProgramare‘attheUniversity of Texas.
An expedmentd progmm In thePeace Corps-staffedcenters, a Guatemalaresettlementprojectisat CanlpRadley,and DominicanRepub. Iicand VenezuelaTraineesare at Camp Crozier in kecibo, Puerto Rico.Agroupof Trai”eesforNigeria willhave agriculturaland community developmentfieldexperienceat the St.Croixcenterin lateAugust,after trainingat MichiganStateUniversity, An experimentaltrainingprogram isundeway at St,John’sCollegein Annapolis,Md. Traineesin an Jndia poult~projecthavea four-patsched. ttlcthatincludeslanguageinstruction (Hindi),areastudiesand otheraca- demic courses,poultv production, and eveningseminarsbased’on the Great Books proflam for which the collegeiswellknown. Reduced em- phasisisplacedon classroomlecture, and more importanceis attachedto reading,reflection,and discussionin seminarsessionsof about20 Trainees each. %rving on the St,John’straining staffas languageand areainformants are fiveIndianswho representa“ initialeffortfor a ,~reversePeace Corps’’—anideathatgrew out of a conferenceof returnedPeace Corps Volunteerslast March. Following completionof the St.John’straining program,tbeIndianswillwork indis. advantagedareasof the U.S. along withVISTA volunteersas workersin Anlerica’santipovertyprogra”. 4 anotherisexpectedshortly);one doc- tor—a specialistin obstetricsand ‘ ‘qnecology—hasfivechildren. The childrenwillalsoundergosome @ phasesof the trainingprogram,in- cludinglanguagetraining. Wives of the doctorshave the oP- tionof becoming Volunteersthem- selves.Most have decidedtotakethe stepand areparticipatingfullyin the trainingprogram withtheirhusbands. Most of the doctorsare in theirlate 20sand early30s,butseveralareover 50 and two areintheir70s. In anotherPeace Corps program, 50 doctorsdepartedthe u.S. in late Julyforposts.abroadas PeaceCOrPS staffphysicians.They spenttwo weeks at the Communicable DiseaseCenter atAtlanta,Ga.,and a week atPeace VolunteerengineerstrainingforNepaltesttheirhandiworkat the PeaceCorps CorpsheadquartersinWashingtonbe- trainingcamp inWaipioValleyonislandofHawaii.Fmm leftareRobertGunderson (Peetz,Colo.],EricJohnson(Chatham,NJ.),supewisorRaymond Arrayjo,Peter forebeadingoverseas.A staffnurse Coyne(Pittsburgh,Pa.),DanielHarris(Rolls,Me.),and ScottWalker(Nassawadox, alsotookpartin theprogram. Va,).They builtthe 93-footbridgeovera 19-footgorge,ttslnglocalmaterials. Thegroup studiedtropicalmedicine and parasitologyand bad PeaceCorps orientationtogetherwith “preventiveMore ex-Volunteers for the Foreign Service psychology”duringthe trainingses- The PeaceCorpsmd theStateDe- thewrittenexam; 37 had passed,and sions. pztment aretakingstepsto seethat 12 had takentbe oralexam. As of u.S.P.H.S.wis@ Peace Coqs more formerVoluntmrsareaccepted May 3, 15 were waitingto takethe into the Foreign Srvice, Sargent oralexam and 4 had beenappointed. All staffdoctorsand nursesare ShriversaidinJuly. For the most recent combined commissionedofficersintheU.S.Pub- * Shriver’scomments came inanswer ForeignSewice-U,S.I.A.exam, given ICHealthService,DetailingofPublic toaletterfrom SenatorFrank Church May 1, Shrivernoted that of 361 HealthServicedoctorsand nursesas of Idaho,a member of the Senate Volunteerswho apphed,220 actually Peace Corps medical-staffmembers ForeignRelationsCommittee.Church tookthetestand67 passed.He noted datesto 1961 when Peace Corps Di- had askedwhy more formerVolun-. thatthepassingratewas thesame as rectorSargentShriveraskedtheserv- teerswere not joiningthe Foreign fornOn-VOlunteerapplicants. iceto assistthefledglingPeaceCorps Service. “I believethe recordshould and organization,During the past four Shriver’sanswernotedthatpartof can be better,”Shriversaid,although years,more than 125 U,S.P.H.S.doc- tieproblemwas thattheStateDepart- he calledita “good rmord,consider- torshave servedinPeaceCorpsmed- ment currentlyadmitsfrom thousands ing the Volunteershave oftenbeen icalposts,Most went abroadshortly of applicantsonly about 165 new away from unacademic environment aftercompletinginternshipsin the ForeignServiceOfficerseachyearinto for at leasttwo ye~s and are often U.S, Theiraverageage has been 27, theForeignServiceand theU.S. In- out of touch with currenteventsin and they fulfillselective-serviceobli- formationAgency. thiscountry.,’ gationsby theirduty as U.S,P.H.S. Citingtheexperienceof Volunteers Anotherthingthatkeepsmore Vol- officers. who have appliedfor tbe Foreign unteersfrom joiningtbeForei@ Sem- The solenurse in thislastgroup Service,Shrivernoted that through ite,Shriversaid,istbe time ittakes to go abroadisMargaretGallen,of December, 1964,865 Volunt=rs (al- forappointment;many waittwo years Philadelphia.She seinedas a Volun- most a quarterofthemor~tftan3700 from thetimeofapplicationmtilthey teernurseinTunisia,and willbe as- Volunteerswho had then completed receivean appointment,he noted.In signedto work with thePeaceCorps service)had applied;579 had taken themeantime,many mkeothercom- staffdoctorinGuinea.Anotherform- mitments.To helpreducethe delay, thewrittenexam; 110 had passedthe erVolunteernurseisalreadyworking Shriversaid,theStateDepament has writtenexam, and 46 had passedthe overseasas a U,S.P.H.S. officeras- agreedto usetheresultsof thePeace signedto the Peace Corps, She is oralexam. Corps background investigation,and Andrea Reule,of Garden City,N,Y,, As of May 3, 1965,therewere 74 may soongivetheoralexaminationas assignedto Tanzania, waitingtotaketheoralexam. Sixhad wellas thewrittenexaminationover- The Peace Corps MedicalDi”ision been appointedForeign&mice Of- seasat tocationsaccessibleto Volun- has asked for additionalstaffnurses ficers,and eightappointmentswere teers. and isencouragingformerVol””teer pending, The PeaceCorpshas alsosuggested nursesto applyfor U,S,P,H,S.tom. For thesame perid therecordof thatForeign%rvice recruitersstress issions(a bachelor’sdegreeis re- Volunteerexperiencein applyingfor theadvantageof Peace Corpssemice P qtiiredalongwiththeR.N.) and serve the U.S. InformationAgency shows asa preparationfortbeForeign&rv- “ anothertwo yearsabroad. that407 had applied;229 had taken ice,Shriversaid. 5 Accidents inthree countries take thelives of four Volunteers; four are injured . .—-. Four PeaceCorps Volunteerswere Kirking had bee” in Iran since killedin accidentsin threecountriesMarch, 1964,assignedtowork witha inJune and July,bringingthetotalof locala~iculture-extensionagentoffer. Volunteerskilledin serviceto 17. ingtechnicaladviceto farmersinthe In southeasternEcuador,Volunteer Farahnazarea.The peopleof Farah- James Joseph Hughes, 24, of San naz mourned Kirking’sdeath by Francisco,and a localRoman Cath@ marchingthroughthestreetscarrying ~Q-p licmissiona~were drowned July30 black“bannersand whisperingprayers, - astheywere fordingtheUpano River A memorialservicewas held at the nearthecommunity of Macas,on the fran-AmericaSocietyCulturalCenter easternslopeof theAndes 150 miles inTehran,Funeralserviceswere held southofQuito. in Cashton, kyi/ &% me accidentoccurredas Hughes Kirkingwas theoldestofeightchil- GarethSimmons RobertZech and the missionarywere crossingthe dren.His parents,Mr. and Mrs. Les. streamwitha canoe,assistedby two terKirking,raisecattleand tobacco PeaceCorpsofficialsintheDomini- localmen. A strongcurrentswept on a farm nearCashton,Kirkingat- can RepublicsaidtheVolunteerswere them downstream,hut the localmen tendedWisconsinStateCollegeand enroutetoSantoDomingo from their survived. theUniversityofWisconsinfrom 1960 assignmentsinthetownsof San Fran- Hughes was a community-actionto 1963,working30 hoursa week to ciscode Macoris,inDuarteprovince, worker assignedto the development financehiseducation.He plannedto and Constanza,in La Vega Province, of co+ps. He went to Ecuador in returnfora degreeafterPeaceCorps Zech had been workingin San Fran- October,1964. At the time of the service.In additiontohisparents,he ciscode MacoriswithY.M,C.A. pro- accidenthe was travelingtoMacas to issurvivedby fourbrothersand three grams and othercommunity-develop- teacha coursein accountingfor a sisters. ment projects.In May, he extended localcreditco-operative, histwo-yearservicefor sixmonths. A graduateoftheUniversityofSan Simmons and hiswifewere servingas Dominican Republicaccident Franciscowith a B.A. in history, community-actionworkers in Cons- Hughes hadspentthes”mmerof 1962 Two Peace Corps Volunteerswere tanza, studyingatGuadalajara,Mexico,then killedand fourinjuredina two-vehicle Zecb was born in Chambersburg, enteredlaw schoolat the University collisionJune 25 in the Dominican Pa,,and grew up in Ponce,wherehis of San Francisco,where he had been Republic, parents,the Rev, and Mrs. Harry E. granteda scholarship.He was man. Zech,are missionaries,Zech was b] Gareth Wayne Simmons, 22, of ‘* agingeditorof the universitynem- lingual,and was activein Boy Scouts- paperand had receivedan award for Binghamton, N. Y., and Robert FranklinZech,24, of Ponce,Puerto and Y,M.C,A, and presidentof his excellencein journalism.He iss“r. high-schoolclass.In June,1963,he vivedby his parents,Mr. and Mrs. Rico,diedwhen a jimeyinwhichthey were ridingcollidedhead-onwith a receiveda B.S. in chemistryfronl John A. Hughes, of San Francisco. smalltruck.The accidentoccuredin OtterbeinCollege,Westerville,Ohio. Funeral serviceswere held in San thelateafternoonon a highwaycume Francisco. about 16 milesnorthwestof Santo LatinAmerica childhood Domingo. Simmon’s wife,JudithEllen,22, In additionto hisparents,Zech is was wriouslyinjuredwith a frac. survivedby a sisterand two brothers. luredpelvisand abdominalwounds, Funeralserviceswere heldin Spring Also hospitaliztiwith a fractured Grove,Pa. pelviswas Resna EloiseAllen,22,of Simmons spent his childhoodin Fayetteville,N,C. VolunteersDamel LatinAmerica.He was born inLago Lee Diedrichs,21, of Lincoln,Neb., Colony,Aruba,intheDutch Antilles, and JulieJane Cunningham, 21, of where hisfatherwas employed with Erie,Pa.,were treatedforminorcuts. an oilcompany. He fivedforperiods Mrs. Simmons, firsttreatedat a inSan Jos6,CostaRica,and Caracas, JosephHughes FrancisKirting U.S. kmy fieldhospitalin Santo Venezuela,and attendedhigh school Domingo, was sentto a hospitali“ in San Antonio,Tex. He spenttwo A VolunteerinIran,FrancisLester Binghamton,N.Y.,near her parents’yearsat GracelandCollege,Lamoni, Kirking,22, of Cashton,Wis.,died home. Iowa,and a yearatWashingtonUni. June 23 inan attempttosavethelife TraveOingwiththeVolunteerswas versity,St.Louis,Mo, of an Iranianyouth. JOS6Borrero,a friendof &cFs from His parents,Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Witnessessaw Kirkingplungeinto Puerto Rico who had come to the E. Simmons,arenow missionariesin the CaspianSea “ear Bandar Farah- adjoiningislandto help ~ch run a Mexico, Simmons isalsosurvi”edby naz,a portcityi“lran,sFirstPrOvince Y.M.C.A, summer camp. Borrerosuf. two brothers.Funeralserviceswere near the cityof Resht. Kirkingre- fereda concussionin thecrash.The held in Cameron, Mo, Specialme- spondedto criesforhelpfrom Abbas jitneydriverand pmwngers of the morialservicesfor both Volunteer Karimi of Shiraz.Theirbodieswere othervehiclealsoincurredminor in. were held in Santo Domingo an laterrecovered. juries. Ponce, 4 6 FRENCH-SPEAKING WEST AFRICA
Volunteers encounter ‘la civilisation franqaise’ in former colonies
HE OLD French West Africa,a then,and now Volunteersareworking Some of the peoplesof the five group of eightFrench overseas in agriculture,publichealth,school countriessubscribeto Christianity, ,=:. errltorles,coveredan areanearlytwo- building,secretarialtraining,commu- some toIslam,and some to animism. thlrdsas large as the continentalnity action,road construction,and Oftentheestablishedreligionsaread- United States,encompassinga wide more, in additionto teaching.Now mixed with fetishism.Toward the range of topographicaland climatic intrainingintheUS. are160 poten- interior,where Muslim influencehas conditions. tialVolunteerswho will be going been feltsincethetraderscrossedthe The formercoloniesembracedmost abroadinSeptemberand October. deserta thousandyears ago, Islam of thegreatAfricanbulgeprotruding Volunteerworkingand livingcondi- dominates.For the nomadic people intotheAtlantic,withGambia,Portu- tionsin thefivecountriesvary from ofthenorthitseemstbeidealreligion, gueseGuinea,SierraLeone,Ltberia, considerablehardshiptorelativecom- sinceitinvolveslittleorganizedritual the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and fortand even luxury,by localstaod- and allowsfor polygamy,a custom Togoland(now dividedbetweenGhana ards;thereare actuallyVolunteers practicedby most Africantribesfrom and Togo) formingenclavesalongthe livinginmud huts—which may come theirorigins. coast,Establishedby an 1895 decree, as a shock to some who dec~ that The Volunteerin French-speaking FrenchWest Africaincludedtheterri-elusive“image’’-andthere~e a few Africahasadjustmentstotwo cultures toriesthatnow xe theindependentna- who have air-conditionedcottages, to make on his amival.On tfteone tionsof Mauritania,Mali, Senegal, hand,thereistheinfluenceprevailing Guinea,theIvoryCoast,Upper Volta, Islamdominatesinterior among theFrench-educatedelitewith Niger,and Dahomey. its emphasis on formal education, Today infourof thosecountries— French influencein the fivehost- reasoning-within-the-system,and all Guinea,the IvoryCoast,Niger,and countiiesis also varied,almost as theotherelementsfound in lacivili- Senegal—and in Togo, formerlya widelyas the expanseof the region. sation iran~aise. On the otherhand, U.N. trusteeshipunder theFrench— Ties with France are stiongestin once Out of settledurban areasthe the Peace Corps has more than 250 Senegaland the Ivoy Coast,where Volunteerimmediatelyfindscultures Volunteersatwork. the prevailinggovernmentsremain fardifferentfrom any he has known. Peace Corps programsin French- alliedboth economicallyand cul- speaking(orfrancophonc,a word that turally.Even inGuinea,whereWest- The challeng+and thefrustrations seemstobe catchingon) West Africa ern approachesarelessinevidence,a —are as greathere as in any area began in 1962,largelywith English- meal at the H6tel de France in where Peace Corps Volunteerswork. teachingprojectswithinetistingschool ConakryisservedintraditionalFrench What follows,inthewords ofVolun- systems,but alsoincludingsuch ex- manner. Once outsidethe capital teersand staffmembers, willsuggest erimentsas the medicaland fishing cities,however,Volunteersencounter some of the flavorof West Afica today,and willde~ribethekindsof B rejectsinTogo. locallanguages,customs,and tradi- Programshavebeendiversifiedsince tionalways of life. jobsVolunteersthereareundeflaking. 7 shiorkor, theprotein-deficiencydisease TOGO thatis one of the largestkillersof children.The pondswillalsoprovide < water for drinkingand imigation Progress with a gong-gong oftenallowingthe cultivationof4 secondcropeach year,Thissummer halfa dozenoftheteachersarework- ingwiththefishermento increasetbe By Samuel V. StilH recentpoliticalhistoryalso affectsnumber of pondsa“d reservoirs, English teaching,Firmer British The medical project has also Lomi, Togo Togolandisnow thee~tern thtidof changed considerablyin threeyears. Most stampcollectorshaveheardof Ghana, but tribaland fmily tiesare Originallyitwas basedatthehospital Togo. For yearsshehasissuedmany stillstrong,and many peopleinTogo in Sokod6 and emphasizedcurative stamps,beautifulstamps,bearingthe speaksome,English.Almost allwant medicine.In recentmonths,theCOV. exoticnames Togo and Togoland,But tolearnmore. StudyingEnglishisnot erageof theVolunteershas been ex. veryfew peopleknow much aboutthis justsomethingto be done topassthe tendedby emphasizingpublichealth: smallcount~,which was firsta Ger- examination, preventivemedicineand healtheduca- man colony,then was ruledby the Tbe 33 Volunteerteachersaccount tion.Livesaresaveda“d healthim. French for forty-oneyears,and be- for60 percentoftheEnglishteachers proved by teacbi”gsuch “simple,, came independentjustfiveyearsago. insecondaryschools.Next yeartheir thingsas washing a cut,eatinga VolunteershavebeeninTogo threeof number willdouble.Theireffectis varieddietwith vegetablesand pro- thosefiveyearsof independencein not in numbers alone.They are the tein,and buildingand usinga latrine. teaching,medical,and fishingprojects.only non-AfricanteachersinGovern- The public-healthnurseshave de- Togo was nevera Frenchcolony,It ment schoolsteachingoutsidetbetwo velopedseveralapproachesforseeking was a Leagueof Nationsmandateand largestcities—Lom&and Sokod6.The out theirpatient-pupils.Theirschool then a United Nations trusteeship.audio-lingualmethod isbeingslowly program of exams,shots,and health This has made a differencefor tbe adoptedby the Togoleseteachersof educationhas bee” welcomed by stu. Volunteers.For example,95 percent English, dentsand teachers.The parentsare of theteachersareTogolese;theVol- The fishingproject,which started soughtby programsarrangedthrough unteersoutnumber allthe expatriatein marine fishing,has gone inland. the traditionalchiefsof the quartiers teachersput together,There isno Volunteersare now helpingto build in Sokod6,and by specialclinicsfor problemof identificationwithexpatri-ponds and teachingpeopleto raise expectantmothers,new babies,pre- ates,The Peace Corps teacbe~have fish in them—to “fishfarm.’,In This year a vdlageprogram ba been acceptedas helpfulco-workers,protein-shortcentraland northTogo ‘Choo’chi’dre”’and ‘he’ike’ a Another differenceresultingfrom thiscan be a village’sanswertoK~,a- begun tospreadpublichealthbeyond Sokod6 to ruralvillages.Tbe tradi- tionalchiefsare again tbe key to At a well-childconferenceinSokod6,EileenSchreffler(Compton,Calif,)im. receptivity,and nearlyallareanxious munizesa childwhilenurse AudreyDoudt (Allentown,Pa,)lookson, toorderthegong-gongtoannouncea Clinic. It is almostpossibleto see daily changesasa resultof work ina coun- try as smallas Togo. There’sstill much to be done,but no none can rivalthe Togolese in warmth- of appreciation.
Samuel V. SJiles Jr., 39, Acting Peace Corps Director in Togo, served m a mano~eme”t analyst with the Peace Corps from November, 1961, until August, 1964, when he wm ap- pointed Deputy Director in Togo, A native of Frankfort, Ky., Sf;les re- ceived a bachelors degree i?l political science from Emo,y University, At- la”ta, Go., a“d a mmter’s from Indi- ana University, Bloomington,,Stiles wa an instructorin the Deportment of Political Science at the Uniye,sity of Kentucky, Lexington, a“d the” a monagemen( analyst at the National lnstitu[e of Mental Health be for coming to the Peace Corps. He im~ married and ha two children, a duringa storm,carryingtools,ionio the peoplesoon .tunnelledout and (crabgrasswithseedsusedas cere- scatteredin alldirections.This is al),rice,and peanut plantsand calledtheGreat Ew6 Exodus,and promptlyfoundedNiamtougou; the resultantdisunionis stilla . The Kabr6,whom God pemon- problem. allysetdown (bard:thefootprints Therewere,inall,about40 peoples, are stillvisible)equippedwith a severalnaturalregions(coastalplains six-dayweek, ab}lityto cultivatecoveredwith rainforest,hillymoun- verticalsurfaces,and ceremoniesas tains,grasslands),and two climates sensibleas theyarespectacular; (equatorialand tropical)with innum- and another: erablevariations.All.veryinteresting, . The Ahlo and theAkposso (five- but confusing—and it stillhad no day week), whose claim to have name and no boundaries. been here ‘ In Togo since September, 1962, Marilyn Hjort (San Francisco)on com- pletion of her first term of semice with the Peace Corps re.enrolled for a sec- ond tweyear term m a VoiuMeer. She received a B.A, in 1958 from the Uni. versityof California at Berkeley, and worked m a medical secreta~ inSan Frunctico, She is asigned to the Min- tit~ of Educ~ion of Hihdatro as a Larv Flynn(Cambridge,Mass,)poseswithstudentsfromhisfoufih-yearclassatCOI16E secondu~.schml Engltih teacher. he has taughtEnglishforthe pasttwo years,Flynnwas a member of the fir Englishto French-speakingstudents. Why teach English ? Itusespicturesand dialoguesinstead of vmabula~ listsand disembodied By Wchael Sak becomingacquaintedwithEnglish,All grammm rulestoteachconversational during theirsix yeas of primwy English,Yet the situationsand ex- Palim[, Togo %hool, they have been inskuctedin amplesare oftenfm beyond tbe fife With her darkhairbrushedup and French,and athome theyhavespoken of Togolesestudents.They readthat back and her rightleg demurely Ew6, theirtribalton~e. a nurseispushinga pram aCIOSSa ● crossedover her left,Madame d’Al. The 13-to 16-year-oldsI teachare zebra+rossingon her way home to meidalookedbothsternand attractivea spirited,oftenunrulylot.The few afternoontea.Such examplesmust be as she askedthe nervousstudentbe- gklsin each classmake up in noise explainedpointby point.What isa sideheran exam question. what they lack in number, Yvette, pram? Togole% women carrytheir “HOW old are you? she asked in proudand sullen,bmshes pastme and babieson theirbacks.And so itgins. hermeasured,Togolese-En~ishaccent. mutters,“Yai la diarrhde,” (I have Some peoplemay wonder, “WY “Ihave 18 years,”he replied,ralher diamhea) and heads for tbe bushes teachEnglish?What good is it in unsureofhimself.A gray-greenfizard besidethe school.Jos6e,her cohort, Palim6,so pleasantlysumounded by paused to listenand then continued who mtielstobestadvantagehersur- grovesof coffeeand cwoa treesand hIsscamperacrosstheconcretefloor. prisinglylargewardrobe,neverfails shadowed by jungle SENEGAL Volunteers get along in strong French culture By Hyman V. Hoffm~ Inshort,Senegalremainsthestron~ est bastionof French influencein VolunteerNancyMerritt(EastAurora, Dakor, SeneEa! Africa. N.Y.)teachesattillAgeNotreDame Senegal was Frances firstcolonial Into thisenvironmc”ccame the des Apatres,a girls’schoolinLomb. holdingin Africaand the base for Peace Corps in February,1963, A French penetrationa“d development majorobstacleforVolunteershasbee” together.Britishsongbirds,flowers,i“West Africa.Sophisticatedleaders,theFrenchpresence.Volunteershave and treesallcome up in thelessons,trainedi“ Frenchschoolsand politicaltriedtoestablishtheiridentityas pati Justthe mention of Shakespeareso institutions,stillmaintain,strongties of a Government of Senegalprogram, impressedone studentthathe insistedwithFrance. separatefronltheFrenchaidprogram. thateve~one callhim Hamlet instead Dakar, the capital,is one of the IthasbeenespeciallydifficultforVol. of Ignace.Allwent welluntila later most modern citiesinAfrica(andthe unteerteacherstodo this, lessonon Englishfxmyard animals. citywiththehighestcostof livingin In July therewere 33 Volunteers Now some of hisfriendshave con- theworld,accordingtoa recentUnited in Senegal,and some 50 in training fused“Hamlet”with“piglet.” Nations survey).It is the intellec-in the U.S. Volunteersare involved In the broadestsense,Englishis tualcenterof French-speakingAfrica, inthreemajorareas:Englishteaching, requiredasan academicdiscipline,one Structureand practicesof government vocationaltraining,and socialwork. partofthecountry’scurriculumwhich have been inheritedfrom theFrench, A coachingprojectwith Volunteers isdeterminedin Franceand followed and Senegalhasseveralbilateral-assist-workingwith nationalathleticteams to the lastcircumflex.Englishtakes ance afleementswithFrance.There and atthelyc to happy end I By Jtdfmna free Rufique, Senegal This articleis dedicatedto all theunheraldedstatisticsin thePeace Corps Report— to thoseVolunteers who have foughta good fightagainst ovewhelmhg odds and lost, Having dabbledin dramaticssince I portiayed“Mother Pumpkin” in kindergwten,I was doingtheobvious when I decidedtopresenta children’s playas my summer projectlastyear. Gnaxna au Pqs de Kwa is a Shake- speare-likeblend of the themes of The Wizard of Oz a“d Pe[er Pan. I had not originallyintendedto author theprojectwould appealtothem. But tallyAmerican overflowof girl>1 as wellas directmy creation,but a I am stationedin a French-speakingcouldn’tfindany foreven theleading day spnt rummaging throughDakar’s Africancountrywhere any extracur-role.The supportingmale cbaraders bookstoresand findingonlyThe Three ricularactivityotherthancompetitivewere consistentaboutcoming,but the Musketeers soon convincedme thatif sportsisnonexistent.Only a few of bitpart+well,bow do you convince I wantedan Africm children’splayin my,actorshad everseena play;none a pirateto come and die daily?So French,I would have to writeitmy- had everbeen in one, They couldn’t Gary Schenck (East Longmeadow, self So 1 combinedmy two favoriteget excitedover a performancesix Mass.),anotherPeace Corps Volun- ,, chddhood plays,a friendtranslatedweeks away, and I triednot to cry teerwbo had beenhelpingme asmusi- the scriptintoFrench,and my stu- shout gettingthem intoprofessionalcaldirector,Uansferredintoautome- denu put the lastsceneintoWolof shapeinthatshorta time. chanics,and I slunkarounddoingodd (thepredominantlanguageofSenegal), The projectfoldedbeforethethird jobsuntil1 couldleavetbecountry— %negalesechildrenareswikinglyun- week ofrehearsal.We had a differenton’vacation,of course. inhibitedso I was quiteconfidentthat casteveryday. I expectedthe typi- My school administratorsweren’t contenttoacceptdefeat,and aftermy Gnagnaand thecowardlvlionmeet thelostbovsinGnagnaau Pavsde returneveryofficevisitendedwiththe KwaI writtenand direc~edby JuliannaFree‘inRufisq;e(see;tow). query,“When ae you going to re- attemptyour play?’My firstreplies were flippant,hut graduallythe idea took rwt, I found anothermusical director,and lastFebruary a very skepticalPeace Corps Volunteerem- barkedon what was sureto be “Fail- ure 196S.” To my amazement, I found that usinga girlfrom the localboarding schoolassuredme of an always-avail- ableleadinglady,and thatIhe other students,who now had schoolas a time-habit,were more co-operative. Also,now as theirteacher,.1 could nag and even punishthem for skip- pingrehearsal.I foundtheirretention remarkable:they.were offtheirbooks inone to sevenrehearsals,1 keptthe “pirates”and the “lostboys” singing and dancingwhen theyweren’tfight- ingtopassthetime.Eve” then1 still had a completelynew castof “lost boys”by performancetime, But “Failure1964” was unmistak- ably“Success1965.”Thisfirstschool playhad fourstanding-room-onlyper. formancesin two days and a “com- mand’ performanceon thethird,This triumphwas in spiteof the janitor who keptus lockedout of the audi- toriumuntil15 minutesbeforecurtain timeon openingnight,and the Gov. ernor,sdelegatewho moved a quarter of thechairsfrom the“public”audi. toriumtohishousefora patiyon the secondday. I was as surprisedby my play’s successas 1 had been nonplussedby itsinitialfailure.Itisone more proof thatin the Peace COVS dictionary, successisspelledt-i-m-i-n-g, [Julianna Free has sent copies of her play, Gnagna au Pays de Kwa, to otherPeace Corps projects ;n French- speaking Africa. Volunteers may ob- ta;n diem through Representatives.— Ed.] Peace Corps Volumeer Julianna Free (Yortnouth, Me.) has been teaching English in Rufisque, Senegal, since Septetnber, 1963. She received a B.S. in English f,om fhe University of Maine in 1963, NIGER PC uses camels in arid land ● The Peace Corps had a rmky be- All the Volunteersuse French as Nigerissituatedon the south- ginninginNiger. theirprimarymeans of communica- ernborderoftheSahara;itsvast In September,1962, a group of tion,and most have learnedthelocal northernsection,coveredby sand sevenVolunteerEnglishteachersar- dialects.Housing, furniture,and dunes,ispan ofthegreatdesen, rived in Niamey aftertrainingat transportationare suppliedby the Thecountry’sclimateisexcessive- Howard Universityin Washington, Government of Niger.A number of ly hot. Narrowstripssome lN mileswideby the Nigeriaborder D.C.They soonfoundthattheFrench- Volunteershave bought can?elsand and by the NigerRivercontain administeredschoolsystemwould al- horseson theirown. most agricultureand stock.rais- low them toteachno more thana few An aridland,the count~ has no ing.The capital,Niamey,is in. hoursa week. What todo therestof exploitednaturalresources(geologists landabout500milesnorthfrom thetime? havefoundironorenearNiamey and thenearestseacoast,theGulfof Some turnedtocoachingand adult believerichoiland gasdepositsunder- Guinea.The countv isbordered classes.Attritionfrom illnessand lie theland)and dependsalmosten- on thenodh by Algeriaand Libya, otherrepatriationreducedthenumber tirelyon itspeanutcrop forcashin- on theeastby Chad,on thewest of Volunteerstofour. come. Historicallya crossroadsfor by Mali,and on thesouthby Up- perVolta,Dahomey,and Nigeria, In Februa~,1963,nineagriculturalthecaravantradefrom the Mediter- Land areaisabout458,995square Volunteersarrivedinthecountry,and raneanand a highwayforpopulation miles,or aboutas largeas the the picturebrightened.These early movements throughoutthe Sudan, statesofTexas,New Mexico,and pioneershave sincecompletedtheir Nigertodaystillhasblue-veiledTuareg Dklahomacombined,Frenchpen. servick,and therearenow 42 Volun- tribesmenwandering the-desertin etrationbegan in the 1890s,and teersin Niger who arrivedlastSep- camel caravans;in the eastare no- in1900theregionwas established tember. madic Toubou people.The Kanuri, as a Frenchmilita~territo~in They areworkingfortheministriesa peoplewhose ancestorscame from a 1922 itbecame an autonomous of ruraleconomy, health,youth and number of tribesin the Lake Chad territo~,and in19~ gainedinde- pendence,electingtoremainout- sports,andeduca~ion.Some irelocated region,inhatitthe southeasternpor- sidethe FrenchCommunity but in the threeadministrativecenters,tionof thecountry, retainingclosetieswithFrance, Niamey, Maradi, and Zinder,while The largesttribalgroup is the* otherswork insmallruralvillages. Hausa, the tradersof West Africa, purposelyretardedin orderto insure solidfoundations.Volunteersliveand work in ruralagriculturalcenters, demonstrating equipnlent,buying crops,and auditingfinancialtransac- tions.They liveinNigerienhousesof mud brick,oftensharingcompounds withneighbors, A secondbasicprogram dealswith publichealth.The infantmortality rateinNigerisnearly50 percent,and many of the deathsare the indirect resultof malnutrition.A sufficient amOUnt of nutritiousfoods is avail- ableinmost Nigercommunities,but, throughhabit,motherstend to raise theirchildrenlargelyon a dietof breastmilk and millet.Peace Corps Volunteershave undertakena series of home visitsto teachmothersthe benefitsof a balanceddiet which would includemeat,eggs,fruits,and vegetables,They alsoprovideinfor- mationinchildcareand sanitation. At Niger’sonlyschoolof nursing,GailSinger(Elmhurst,N.Y.)givesa demon- Instructionin nativetonpes strationin pmcticaltechniquesto some of her 60 male nursingstudents. French isthe nationallanguageof Niger,buttheliteracyrateislessthan 10 percent.In ordertocommunicate betterwithitspeopletheGovernment asked uNESCO to designa literacy program.Thisuniqueprogramteaches peopleto readand writeintheirown language(Hausa,Djerma,‘andTama- shek)and tospeakbasicFrench.Vol- Bob Garland(Dowag- unteersactasliaisonbetweenthecen- iac, Mich,)and re- turnedVolunteerLeon tralofficein Niamey and the village Selle(Ambrose,ND.) teachers,supplyingthem with mate- work on a concrete rials,moralsupport,and when neces- wellbuiltby villagerssary, instructionin teachingadult Iiteracy. Volunteersalsoteachinthreeagri- culturalschools,one ofwhichsupplies allof the agriculturalagentsfor the country.Three registerednursesare teachersin tbeschoolof nursingand threeVolunteerwomen sert,easphys- many of whom are descendedfrom tiouslvin itsdevelounlent.., buildine ical-educationinstructorsinthecoun- the Hausa of Nigeria.They moved slowlyfrom thegroundup ratherthan try’sschools.SeveralVolunteerswork northto escapethejihad—theseries investingin grandiosea“d costly under lhe auspicesof localgovern- of Islamicwars that spread over projects. ments supervisingthe constructionof Africa. A good example of thismethod is wells.Localvillagerssupplythelabor Today an estimated70 per centof the semiprivateagriculturalco-opera- fortheconstructionofthewells,which thepeopleofNigerareMuslim, The tive,theUnion Nigeriennedu Credit were designedby a technicianof the religiouswars atthebeginningof the et de la C-operation (U.N.C.C.), U.S.Agency forInternationalDevel- 19thcenturywcurred largelyinwhat which providesfarmerswitha market opment,Two Volunteersserveassec- is now northernNigeria,and Islam forcropsand withcredittobuy seeds retariesin the Peace Corps officein came peacefullytoNiger, and tools. Niamey. The Government iswellaware of PeaceCorpsVolunteersareworking A new group of Volunteerswill the count~’sweak financialposition as Cmp agents, permittingthe come 10NigerinOctober,chosenfrom and has foughta determinedbattleto U,N.C.C, to establisha solidbaw 42 Traineesnow at SouthernIllinois balanceprogresswith economic sta- whiletrainingitsown agents.Expan. University.They willbe assignedto bility.The count~ has moved cau. sionof theco-opmovement hasbeen agriculturaland adult-educationwork. 15 A day on the M~daoua literacy front By Petertiton Madaoua, Niger One hotdryseasoneveningI closed up my housemd walkedup themud streetsof Madaoua to a smallwhite buildingthatistheregionalheadq”ar. tersofNiger’sadultliteracycampaign, or the “war on ignorance’,as the Hausa languagemore colorfullyputs it, Waiting near the officewas a weatheredblueJeepand standingover it,oilgaugeinhand,was my Nigerien counterpart,a teacherjustrecruited tohelpon theMadaoua front. Itwas timeto leave,We gave the Jeepa sympatheticinspection,wedged inour suitcasesand thelastfew lamps and brochures,and bounced out of town. As twilightapproached,clerksand PeterEastonand hisNigeriencounterpaflAbba Aboubacar(secondfrom Government employees were going left)distributeliteracymaterialsinNiger’s“waron ignorance’,(seestow). home and otherswere moving outside intothe coolof lateafternoon.We intotow”. Thereinfrontof hiscOm- fatiingattendanceand what ittakes stoppedatone,two,threevillageson pound was our teacher,an inspectortobringa villageelderto school. a zig-zagcourse,leavingkerosene, of hidesassignedto thisdesert-edge Tbe ideathatliteracyisessentialto * books,and encouragementwith the market,Yes,he said,classwillbe held developmentlaunchedthisyoung re- young teachers,passingon news and tonight,hutnotintheliteracyshelter.pubticon ambitiousplansofadultedu- hearingreportsoftheirnightlyclasses,That structureburned down, so an cation.PeaceCorps Volunteerswere Most mentionedattendanceproblems. empty compound has takenitsplace. invitedhereto swellout theranksof Of thenumerous adult~up to 80 to No, no problemsexceptcontinuedlack thecampaignand allowittomove for- a center—who turnedup in Janu~ of a film-stripprojectorto teach ward on course,even whileawaiting tolearntoreadand writetheirnative French, The men of Tabotakiwere the trainingof furthernationalstaff, tongue,to learnarithmetic,and to stayingwith theirstudies. But we discoveredan evenmore chal. speak By Hen~ R. Noman care given to expectantmothers or newborn childreni“ the clinicsi“ Conakq, Guinea whichtheyhave worked. There ismuch to be proud of in The Guinea”slikea“d resp~tVol. the Peace Corps’firsttwo yearsin unteers,and personalrelationshipsare Guinea,but littleto shoutabout.To excellent,but the U.S. stilltakes~ a realisticVolunteerthethingsto do dailybeatingin thepressand on the farexceedwhat hasbeendone. radio. Aftercompletingtwo yearsof wrv- Visitorsto Guinea frequentlyaskif ice,the 18 Volunteersin agricultureitisreallypossibleto operateetTec- have not succeededin changingthe tivelyhereat all,They citethelack agriculturalpicturemuch in Guinea. of materialsand suppliesforprojects, The 90 percentof thepopulationin- the erraticavailabilityof food which necessitatesa stockof forestrations volvedinagricultureisstillunableto GwendolynDillard(Chicago),inwhi in Conak~, the constantgasofine produceenough surplusriceto feed Dabola,Guinea,as MaV Lou Cal the other10 per cent.There isstillshortageswhichfrequentlybringPeace a proteinshortageintheforestregion. Corpsvehiclesto a completestopfor Regionalfarmsstillproduceata loss, extendedperids of time,the lack who havedeliberatelytakena difficult The 24 Englishteacherscompleting of reliablecommunications,the axle. roadtodevelopmentasan independent servicecannot claim to have pro- bustingroads,and so forth. nation. They aremaddeninglyjealous duceda generationofEnglish-speaking There isno denyingthataftertwo of theirindependence,and one often Guineans.Six.socialassistantshave yearsin Guinea thesame questionis wondersifitisreallypossibleforany not succeededin revolutionizingthe posed repeatedlyby each Volunteer country to be as independentas and staffmember. My feelingisthat Guinea wantsto be, Guinea isthesortof placein which There are no European tutorsto thePeaceCorps belongs. instructeach civilservantin hisdu- Guinea,beforeindependencei“ The answertowhy thePeaceCorps ties,There have been none sincei 19W,was a FrenchWerseasTer. belongshere is best understoodby de~ndence. Allforeignaid-missions,e ritory.The Frenchcame toGuinea examininghow Guinea obtainedits whetherfrom Eastor West,arewel. inthemid-19thcentury,and com- independence. come and appreciated,However,their pletedtheirdominationby 1911 “We preferpovertyin fibertyto presencewillnot be toleratedfor24 withmilitaryactionagainsttribal richesin slave~.We willneversur. chiefsand diplomaticsettlement hours longerthan they are needed. withotherEuropeanpowers.The renderour justrightsto independ- Whatever the motivesof thosewho count~,with96,865squaremiIes, ence,” Seko”To”r& toldFrenchpre~i. givehelp,’theonlymotivethe Guin- isaboutthesizeofOregon,Situ- dentCharlesde Gaullewhen thelattereans have in acceptingisto develop atedon thesouthwesternedgeof visitedConakry in 1958, De Gaulle theircount~, PresidentTour& once thegreatbulgeofWest Africa,it was travelingthroughoutFrance’s said,“We valueour personaldianity issurroundedbySierraLeoneand vastsub-Saharaempke expiatingthe more thantheliningof our pockets,” Liberiatothesouth,Maliand the new constitution,theFrenchCommu- What can thePeaceCorps contrib- IVOV Coastto the east,Portu- nityitwould create,and thereferen. uteto Guinea? gueseGuineaand Senegaltothe dum to be heldinwhich thecolonies north,Climateisgenerallytropi- Thl! Government has asked for cal,withtworainyseasons;upper couldvoteforindependenceor mem. many more Volunteers,particularly Guineahasonlyone rainyseason bershipin thecommunity, inagriculture,The PeaceCorpsisnow and greatervariationinseasonal Stung by Tour?s statement,De moving into activitiesin which we temperatures,Populationwas Gaullereplied,“You want independ. can make substantivecontributions, estimatedin 1963to be 3,357,000, ence,You can have itby voting‘no, Aftera yearofeffort,an agricultural withabout113,000livingin Co. on September25.>9Vote ““o,,they schoolstaffedby Volunteersand Guin- nak~,thecapital.The population did,1,136,000to56,000.Guineawas eansandsupportedby theU.S.Aaency is more than 90 per cent rural, tbeonlycolonytochoosetheroad of for InternationalDevelopment has Most importantethnicg,oupsi“- totalindependence.The Frenchwith- cludethe Foulahs(calledPeuls been establishedatTolo nearthecity by theFrench),theMalinkes,and drew allsupportand personnel. of Mamou, Itisdesianedtograduate theSousous.The majorityofthe These dramaticeventsand their agricultural-extensionworkers rather peopleareMuslim,Frenchisthe consequencesare thecentralfactsof thanayiculturalbureaucrats. Officiallanguage.Most of the lifein G“i”ea. To ignorethem isto The Volunteersin agricultureset people depend on subsistence insureftilure.To recognizethem md up sixpottlmyprojectswhich arenow agriculture,Guineahasimportant work withinthecontextof theimita- runningata profit.They arereadyt depositsof bauxite,ironore,and tionstheyimposewilli“s”re~ surfeitmove into the stageof settingu diamonds. of frustration,but alsoa rewardkg villagepoultryco-operatives, @ .:.) senseofcontributiontoa bravepeople Other agriculturalVolunteershave la ft,hagglesoverpricesinthenoon marketin ermilion,Ohio)lookson, Bothareteachers, youngest Represenfafives. A native of Syracuse, N. Y., he received n B,A. in political science from Western MaV- land College, Westmiwter, Md., then obtained a law degree irom George Wmhington University. Before going oversem he wm a lawyer with a Syra- cue firm m well m minority leader of the Onondaga County Board of Super- visors, the counfy Iegblarure. He is married and has a daughter. There’s oil h Gutiea’s lowland palms By ~chmd Spencer Won8ifong, Guinea James Kutella (StevensPoint,Ws.) operatesa mixeras an assistantre- loadscement fora foundationof a @lm+if plantin Wongifong,Guinea. 1 came to Guinea asan agronomist, but insteadI stick oil—palm oil. improvedand repairedexistingirriga-erationof the Peace Corps are par- The palm+il project,which began tion systemsthat had deteriorated.ticularlysuitedforGuinea. Personal as an operationof the U.S. Agency Socialassistantshave r~eivedurgent relationshipsare of extieme tipor- for InternationalDevelopmentbefore requestsfrom theirregionsthatthey tanceto theGuineans.A Volunteer’smy arrival,WM designedto aid the be replacedwhen they leave.Peace presencein one placeforalmosttwo GuineanGovernmentinexploitingthe Corps teachersmake up 60 per cent years,and hisresponsibilitytobecome grovesofpalm foundinlowerGuinea. of alltheEnglishteachersinGuinea, a Pam of thecommunity,assuresthe The goal was to divertthe money and they n)ade it possiblefor the developmentof thepersonalrelation-spentto importcookingoil. Minist~ of Educationto establisba shipswhich in turnmake itpossible ~e initialoperationincludeda pilot completeEnglish-teachingprogramfor forhim tobe eff~tive. plant housing a hand-operatedhy- the firsttimesinceindependence.In draulicpresswhich couldprocesstwo two years,Peace Corps teachingpro- Hen~ Norman hm been Peace and a halftonsof fmit per day. It gramswillbe phasedoutas Guineans Corps Representative in Guinea since was locatedi“ thevillageof Kagba14 ●takeover. 1963, when Volunteers first mrived in intheDubreka region,an hour’sdrive The philosophyand manner of op- Ihe countv. At 35, he is one of the northeastfrom Conak~ by a rotted 19 Ivo ~ Volunt# r In Gueckedou,Guinea, VolunteerTom UToole (Adrian,Minn.) in- The lVOV Coasthas been hostto stinctsa coworkeron the Peace Corps since September, opemtionof a pump 1962,when thefirstgroupof Volun- to irrigategarden, teerteachersarrivedinAbidjan. At mid-summerthisyeartherewere 55 Volunteersatwork inthecountry, dividedbetween37 secondaryteachers and 18 animotr;ces ( animators or “quickeners”)working in foyers j4. mini”x—women,s educationcenters. The foyer j4minin propam of the dirtroad. The bright-orangefruitis At mid-seasonthe climbersagreed IvoryCoastGovernment has centers cooked,pounded,pressed,and clari- to form co-oprativesforthepurpose locatedin most of the largeand fied,The stron~tastingdark oil is ofeasingcollectionsand toallowthem medium-sizedcitiesand towns of the pressedfrom the pericarp,and a toreceivegoodsinexchangeforfruit.country,The Volunteerwomen inthe higher-qualityoil is extractedfrom Forming thecooperativesmeant long programteachFrench,literacy,arith- the kernel. meetings,elections,carefulattention,metic,sewina,hygiene,childcare,and The most importantfactorin oil and more meetings.At theend ofthe nutritiontowomen who usuallycome productionis regularsupplyof raw season,aftera yearof trialand error, toclasswithbabieson theirbacks. material.The fruitcomes from the thepalm grovesbegantorepresentto Next year,Volunteerswillhelpstaff wildgroveswhich traditionallybelong thevillagersa potentialSourceof i“. 22 foyers.In addition,10 women will to thevillagers. come. initiatea new program of adultedu. Enter the Peace Corps Volunteer. The pilotplantitself,however,did cationfo?thewomen of smallforest My firsttaskwas to go with an in. not proveto be a payingoperation.villaaes,whereonlyone or two Fop] * terpreterto village-councilmeetings Long distancesto the villagesmade out of 500 speakFrench, The Vol.- and arrangefor theclimbersof each transportationabouthalfthe costof unteersare now studyingBaou16,the villagetodeliverfruito“ a particulartheoperation.Thismeant themarket languageofthea,eainwhichtheywill day of theweek. priceof oilwould be higherthan beginthisfirstattemptby theGovern- At first,the supplyof fruitwas peoplecould pay; a subsidywould ment to teachfoyersu~ectsin the chronicallyinadequate,The villagersresult ina lowerpriceforthefruit. deep forest. were reluctantto climb becauseof The solutionwas toreducetbesize One of themore interestingVol”n. the time needed to plantor ham.est Of theplantand move to a locationteer experienceshas been that of more centialtothefmit-supplyingti. more importantcrops,The priceof. Dianneand Dale Hart,who areliving Iages.Thisplanwilldso allowfuture feredfor the fruitwas low,and in inBouak6,thes~ond cityoftheIvory Volunteers,who willhelpbuildnew additiontherewas a generaldistrust Coast.Dale teachesphysicaleduca. of our’motives,The women custom- plants,toliveinthevillagesand assist arilyhire a climberto cut enough co-operatives,encouraginggreaterpar. fruitto make oilfor theirOW” use ticipationof the villagersfor whom DaleHart,whosewifeteachesina fey, positioninpolevault;he teachesphysic and a smallsurplusforthelocalmar. theplantsme built. ket.Moreover,paymentinmoney for Now at mid-seasonof the second thefruitwas notenough of an incen- yearof operationmany of theprob ,>’ tiveforthevillagers,who neededprod- Iems of collectionremain,but tbe uctsnotavailableattheImal market villagecommittees~e approacbhgthe ./’* “. place, dailycapacityof thepilotplant(“OW With theseproblems,thecollectiondirectedby a Guinem). Interestin tourscontinued,Each day includeda the villagesbuildsas bicycles,mos- round of seven or eight villages,quito-netting,cloth,pots,and pans Although the day of collectionhad reachthepeople,Volunteerswho take been agreed upon by the council,over the work when I leavewillbe climberswere usuallyunpreparedor buildingmd orga”izi”gthe~Pration absent.The collectionhad tobe done of 50 new plantsrequestedby Presi- inthepresenceofthevillagepresident,dentSekou Tour6, and theweighingand payingforthe +, fruitwas accomplishedin individual Richard Spencer (Oak Park, 111.) transactionscariedout and recorded hm o B.A. in histo~ jrom the Uni. in both French and %USOU. versityof Il!inOti. .. q 20 r..--.” ,. [“~- tion at Bouak&s Lyc&e Municipal; Dianne,as an animutricein one of the city’sthreefoyersf~minins,has been judged Umparhigue by the women she teachesreadingand hy giene,becauseshe sharestheirmost absorbinginterest—babies. Dianneand Dale arethefirstPeace CorpsparentsintheIVOV Coast.She followeda 35-hour-a-weekschedule atherfoyeralmostup totheday that Nathan James (“Kouakou”)Hut was born,lastApril.Today, “Kouakou” isprobablythemost popularmember of theteachingcommunityinBouak6, Thisfall,anothercontingentofVol- unteerswillgo to tbe IVOV Coastto jointhefoyerprogram.Twenty wom- en Traineesarenow atOberlin(Oho) College;theywillbe sentabroad:ome- timeinSeptember. students,who lovebabies.Whenever Another Volunteer,Anne Albrink, The best theygreetme now, they alwaysask, has been an a foyer ,,EI /e bibi?’ (and how’sthebby?) ~. animalrice at bmtntninDnmbokro, a coffeecenter visual aid insteadof the usual,“Er MonsieurV In a Baou16 area where a tongue Before I resumed my work at tbe of grasslandreachesdeep into tbe ioyertheywould come by to seethe coastalforest.Itisin thisareathat in Bouak6 baby,whom theyliketo call“Koua- the villagefoyer program will be startednext year,and Anne willbe one of tbe pioneers,Three days a By Dianne Hati The Ivory Coast, formerlya week forthepastseveralmonths she Bouak6, Ivory Coast FrenchOverseasTerritow,gained has been leavingher D!mbokro foyer independencein19~.Wth a 340- and tryinga pilotvillageprogram EarlyThursdaymorning,lastApril mile southerncoastline,it is boundedon thenotihby Maliand along with her direcrrice, gathering 8, I awoke rememberingwhat Dave Davidson,thePeaceCorpsdoctor,told Upper Volta,on the east by experiencetopassalongtotheTrain- Ghana,and on thewestbyGuinea eesatOberlinCollege. me long ago: “You’llprobablyhave the baby April 8, sincethat’smy and tiberia.The count~,occu- pying 127,520square miles,is birthday!” (seestow).correctsa student,s about the sizeof New Mexico, Two hourslatermy husband,Dale, and has a populationestimated transportedme by Vespa to a small at3,5million.Therearesome 60 FrenchclinichereinBouak6. Nathan triballanguages,butFrenchisthe James arrivedthataft~rnwn.He was officialtongu.p.Abidjan,thecapi- born by what we call“naturalchild- tal,isregardedas one ofAfrica’s birth.”The entireexperiencewas mostattractivecities,surrounded simpleand swift.This ishow most by lagoonsand displayingmodern of the French and Ivoirienbab]es tropicalarchitecturein commer- xe born here.In fact,childbirthis cialand residentialareas.Much ofthecountwiscoveredbydense so naturalformy Ivoirienladiesthat forests,which mer~e gradually many of them tellme theyhave had withgrasslandsinthe north.An to delivertheirbabiesthemselves,as estimated24 percentofthepeo- they didn’tmake itto the maternity pleareMuslim,12percentMris- clinicintime,One littleladydelivered tian,and the remainderanimist, herbaby on tiestreetat2 A.M. while The countwisAfrica’slargestprO- sheand herhusbandwere lookingfor ducerof coffee,and alsoexpotis a taxi. largequantitiesof cocoa,hard- Beinga motherbasraisedmy status woods,and bananas. one stephigherin the eyes of my 21 kou,” the lwal kibe name meaning in teachinghygienehm been seeing “born on Thursday.” Some even some of my studentsboilingtheir broughtgifts,The l~al IvotienCUS. drinkingwater.It’sa triumpheach tom istooffereithersoapormoney to time a woman comes over to say, buy soap. “MY familyhasn’tbeen sickforthree Ad of courw with eve~ visitI weeks. I think1’11keep on doingit gotmore adviceon how to takecare yourway,” ofthebaby.Ivoiriensraelyletbabies Kofi,a typicalexampleof a /oyer out of theirsight,They are ammd lady,isabout26 yearsold,as faras to discoverthatNathan hm bisown she knows. She has four children bedrwm. I’m suresome thinkwe’re and isone of two wivesof a func. a littlestrange, tionarywho works in a localgovern. Another culturaldifferenceis the ment office,Itwas her husbandwbo positioninwbicb tbebaby sometimes firstencouragedKofi tocome to the sleeps,An Ivoirienmother would foyer.In fact,whenevershe isvery neverdream of placingthe baby on angrywithhim, she threatensnot to hisstomach.When theyseeour littleattendclassesthe next day. Koffi one lyingin thisposition,theynever speaksbetterFrench than most of hesitatetotellme how dangerousthis theladiesso therearefew communi-, is—they are certainhe willstianglecationproblems,She bringsherlittle himself. boy with her to class,and be plays An Ivoirienbabyneverhasa chance outsideor Viesto helphismother in tocry,He isalwaysgivenimmediate class.He often interruptsher to attention,I am toldthatifa mother nurse, Ken Kressel,a teacherin S&gu&la( letsher baby cry at all,tbe restof Why doesKofficome to thefoyer? cloththatisdrapedtoformthetyp thefamily,and sometimesthewhole Havinghad no formaleducation,she village,poups togetheragainsther, wants to learnreading,writing,and and physicalblowsmay be exchanged. maybe a few homemaking skills.Then The women s!artcawing thebaby maybe sbecan go home and feelasif on theirbacksassoonastheumbilical she is beginningto bridgethe wide Mangoes cord has fallenoff.And the baby’s educationalgap betweenher husband view of tbe world issen from his and childrenand herself,Littleby mother’sback for most of the first littleKoffiisbeginningto recognize from ‘Ralph’ . year.Koffi,a foyerlady,has shown words a“d even shortsentences.But me bow to trmsporthim pro~rly on even more important,Wrhaps,isthat and ‘Me’ - my back,and now and thenwe take she isb=oming aware of thedignity a leisurelywalktogethertothemarket- of her role as wife,mother, and By Kenneth Kr6wl place.Her baby is one and a half homemaker. Siguhla,Ivoq Coasr yearsoldbutisstillcarriedon Koffis back most of tbetime,He alsocon- Dale and Dianne Hart (Versai//e~, What followsisa seriesof excerpts tinuesto nurse—with a fullset of Ohio) have been i“ the lvo~ Comt from a dia~ 1 havebeenkeepingsince teeth. since September, 1964. He received o 1 arrivedinSfguilaninemonthsago. I have begun teachingagain,a“d I 8.S. in physical education and health I have added some comments to put take“Kouakou” with me. He isthe from Ohio Sttie University in 1963; theseparticularmoments of ennui, bestvisualaidI couldwant forteach. rhe majored in French at Miami Uni- elation,or what have you, in some ingchildcare.Besideschildcme, we versity,Oxford, Ohio, /or fwo years, kindof perspective. studyhygiene,French,reading,writ- then rransf erred to Ohio State Un iver. Saturday, Oct. 17—Teaching E“g- ing, arithmetic,and generalhome. rily, They were married in A ugusr, lish grammar is not my fo,le. J am makingskills,My greatestsatisfaction1963. beginning IO wonder if I like teach;ng at all, 1 cannot ho”esdy say Ihot I Wanne Han answem questionsi“o“e of he, literacyclassesatthefoyer. look forward to siepping into that ----- .. –— clusroom. So jar I have had only ]ninor dticiplina~ problems, but there are sigm of trouble on the horizon, Today I made o“e poor fellotv slond up and repeat aloud five times in Eng- lish, “I am an idiot.,, NOI exactly Peace Corps, True,the childpersistedin saying “he speak”ratherthan “he speaks,” and inthefaceof allmy edifyingex- amples.But thiswas obviouslynot the rightapproach.The firstfew weeks of teachingpresenteda wbol setofproblems,nottheleastofwhicha .- was thatI bad nevertaughtbefore, confident,somewhatcmky feelingthat the face of death. But instead-n 1 was doingthejob. These were the English clmsroom, a hot A frican town, dayswhen “RalpN’and “Abe,,(names and the relative pronoum ‘,who” and I had distributedin thefirstweek to “whom. ” avoidthe confusionof dealingwith I don’tremember what wcasioned thelikesof KouassiKouami, Kouassi that burstof quietpassion,but it Kouakou,Kouakou Konan,etc.) came wasn’tcultureshock anymore. Per- by to give me some mangoes—the hapsitwas anotherdifficultday inthe Africanequivalentof an appleforthe classroomor a blisteringafternoon teacher;when everyone seemed to when 1 wanted a coldbeer and the graspmy somewhathystericalconcern blastedkerosenerefrigeratorwmn’t thatobjectpronounsnot be confused working again.Probablyitwas just with subjectpronouns,and when I theaccumulatedeffectoflivhgamong overcametheculturalbamierinvolved childrentith stomachsswollenfrom in usingtextswith such formidable malnutrition,of seeing too many and, to Africanstudents,inscrutablewomen bentand stiivelledfw beyond chapter headings as “W. Wilson thekage,offivingtoomany dayswith Needs A Study,“ “At theOpera,”and theheat,theflies,md thesoundsof a “DisasterIn theBathroom,” strangelanguage. Friday, Feb. 19—Even our ,,nobie,, At othertimes,sittingbeforemy eflort-the Peace Corps @p/~~ ~~;,andthisz .~ ... These were the good days when 1 couldindulgeinself+riticismwiththe In, up, & out I The rain in Tanzania ataya mainly in Tukuyu A seriesofPeaceCorpsstaffchanges * inJulyand Augustmoved some bands Tukuyu, Tanzania, August rain fal/—126 inches e in,some up, and some out. Includedwere thefollowing: Once upon an eveningreading,while1 satintentlyheeding, . RobetiT.Freeman,a SpecialAs- Many Southerncousins,warningsnottojointheCorps, sistanttotheDirectorsticeApril,was While I nodded,as assenting,subtlycame a gemle himi”g named AssmiateDirectorforMa~ge- Of some giant’shammer denting,dentingin my peenwood door, ment. As one of fiveAssociateDirec- “Tisonly rainagain,”I muttered,“Dentingin my greenwooddoor.” 10IS,Freeman willdirectallPeace “Only thisand noti!ngmore.” Corps staffpersonnel,budget,travel, supply,and administrativefunctions. Even now clothmemory searme, therewas roommate sittingnearme; He succeedsMm Medley,who inturn He couldhardlyhelpitifhe proved himselfa boor. was appointeda SpecialAssistantto Conversationalcompetition,laybeneathhim,scarcelytwitching, the Director.A former New York Lay in normal dog,sposition,on the bambw inlaidfloor, insuranceexecutive,Freeman spent SqualidPeaceCorps advertisement,oh thisspider.webbed decor, nine yearsin West Africawhere he “ShallI be hereevermore?’ founded threeinsurancecompaies, He hasa B.A.from LincolnUniversity Heard again,persistentpounding,oh! the foulincessanthounding in Pennsylvania,ismarriedand has Of thesound,itseemed likewave upon a distantstorm-beatshore. two children.ChesterR. Lane was As I listened,I yew braver,how couldwhiteman,sspiritswaver? appOinted Deputy AssociateDirector When thatself-sameman clothsavor,paragraphsof James Bond lore. for Ma”ageme”t, under Freeman. So 1 rushedto seekthemeaningof thethunderatmy door. Lane was formerlyhead of thePeace (To seem mean, I spitand swore,) CorpsContrackDivision, . PhillipD. Hardbe~er was named ExecutiveSecretaryof the Peace Grabbedandturnedtherust-knobhandle,thmstoutsidemy lightedcandle, Corps,toactassergeant-at-armsover “What shapehastthou,oh foulestvillain,rappingatmy greenwooddoor?” Darknessshotme backmy answer~arknessnimblemidnightdancer, tbe agency’sseveralofficesand divi- sionsand to co-ordinatetheactivities Gave me backindeedtheanswer,whichI knew had beeninstore, “Rain,man. Rain,” of the Director’soffice.He ~“cceed~ Gemld Bush,who hastakenup ~ad. uatestudiesatNorthernIllinoisUni. —DICK WYNNE (NewportNews, Va,),reprintedfrom ● versity.Hardberger was formerly theBuh Review, publishedby VolunteersinTanzania, Deputy Directorof PublicInforms. lion,A nativeof ODonnell,Tex.,he holdsa B.A. from BaylorUniversity . Thomas H. E. Quimby, who has ofRhode Island,Beforethathesemed and an M.S, from Columbia Univer- been PeaceCorps DirectorinKenya, as executivedirectorof the interna- sity’sGraduateSchoolof Journalism.is exchangingjobs with Robed K. tionalRescueCommitteeinNew York He recentlycompleted studiesat Poole,RegionalDirectorfor Africa. City. He holds a B.A. from Bard Georgetown Universitybw School. Quimby, of Grand Rapids,Mich., College,New York,and an M.A, from Working withHardbergeras Deputy joinedtheagencyin1961and was the theUniversityofChicago, ExecutiveSecretaryisJemy,Fite,who firstDirectorof Recruiting.In 1962 . Jmepb A. Hays, recentlyap servedas a Volunteerin Tunisia;he he became Directorin Liberia,He pointedConfessionalAffairsOfficer succeedsEugene Sctieiber,another holdsa B.A. from Harvard. Before [Tm VOLUNTEER, May, 1965] has formerVolunteernow with the For- coming to the Peace Corps he was now beenassignedthepostsof&puty eignService. politicalassistantto G. Mennen Wil- AssociateDirectorfor PublicAffairs . ROS Rtchmd, for two years liams,who was thengovernorofMich- and Directorof Recruiting.In his Peace Corps Directori“ Turkey, is igan He is married and has twO new dutieshe succeedsRobefi L. now RegionalDirectorfor the Far children.Poole,before coming to Gale,now with the Equal Employ- East.Pritcbwdisfrom Paterson,N.J., Washington,was Directorin Malawi, ment OpportunityCommission, and holdsB.A. and MA. degreesin New Deputy Directorof the Africa histo~and politicalsciencefrom the regionisJosephC. Kennedy,former Japan volunteersbegin Universityof Arkansas,a“d an M.A. researchdirectorof theAmericanSo- The firstgroup of lapin Overseas and a Ph.D.from theFletcherSchool cietyof Africantilture. Co-operationVolunteersenteredtrain- Of Law and Diplomacyof T“ft~Uni. . RobetiMacAWter was appointed inginJune,Men and women between versity.He ismarriedand has four ChiefofFrench-speakingAfricaoper- theagesof20 and 35 witha minimum sonsand a daughter,He issucceeded ations.He was formerlyIVOW Coast oftwoyearsofcollegewillbe assigned as Directorin Turkey by David E. Director,md hasbeensucceededthere in teamsof fiveto ten volunteers to Berlew,who hasbeenon theindustrial-by Hen~ Wbeatley,who was IVOW fourcountriesofSoutheastAsia,They management staffof M,I,T.Berlewis Coast Deputy Dkector, MacAlister,willserveinfarming,forestry,fishin the brotherof F. KingstonBerlew, from New York, came to the Peace medicine,constriction,engineering ActingAssociateDirectorfor Peace Corpsin 1963 afterseningas legisla-education,and small-industriesproj.b Corps Volunteers, tiveassistanttoSenatorClaibornePen ects. 24 Colombianman waitsto haulpurchasesof customersat Indianmarketin Bogoth operatewith ihe convite (work day) on the sewerline,thebridge,or the ‘Mr.John’was ‘el patron’ roadproject.“Mr. John”was farmore @ A former Volunteer lo:ks back specialthanthis.He was a localhero (when thingswent well),a martyr on his service and tells how (when thingswent badly).Ifhe was he would do it again-differently not a saint,atleasthe was a miracle- worker in scroungingfree lumber, By John Hatch my fellowVolunteersI came to see bricks,dump trucks,and bulldozers thesethingsforthefirsttime.We also from themunicipalagencies.In brief, Chiclayo, Peru learneda new language,atenew foods, “Mr. John” was elpatr6n, the bene- When 1 terminatedmy serviceas a sufferednew illnesses,absorbeda new factorof El Socorro,and withouthim Peace Corps Volunteerin Colombia, culture,gainednew friends,and ac- thecommunity was helpless. likemany of my colleagues1 had rea- quirednew skills.Certainlyour per- And hat was exactlythe problem. sontobelieve1had justcompleted[be ceptionsof ourselvesand our perspec- “Mr. John” helpedEl Smomo but he fullestand most meaningfultwo years tiveof the world willneverbe the didnot helpthe barrio to helpitself. of my life.Raisedin a comfortable same again.Regardlessof what we Impressive,visible,progresscouldbe middle-classenvironmentandendowed did—as teachers,nurses,engineers,or seenon thecommunity landscape;but with the advantagesof an excellentcommunity developer~t would be therehad been no developmentin liberaleducation!good health,bal- untruthfulto say thesewere not fdl human beings,no change in people’s anced diet,multlplerecreationaland and immen%ly profitableyearswhich conceptsof themselves.Bridgeshad socialoutlets,employmentalternatives,we spentinthePeaceCorps. been built across the quebrada and self-assurance,1 was thrustinto Yet grantingthis,Icame away from (stream), butno bridgesbuiltbetween a new realityin which none of these the experiencewith a seriousmisgiv- people,ktween the community and advantagesexistednor couldbe con- ing:1 regrettedthatI couldnotstart itsannudlyelectedjunta,betweenthe ceptualized. alloveragain—thesame job,thesame community and pubhc authoritiesor Inthesmallbarrio ofEl Socorroon community—md do itdifferently. serviceagencies.Specticneeds and theoutskirtsof the industrialcityof “Mr. John,”asI was called,was not problems,had been solved,but there Medellin—where1 livedand worked justa North herican who came to was no increasein problem-solving and grew for20 months-1 came to liveand work in El %c,orro;a gringo skills.“Community” was stilla word, know illiteracy,intestinalparasitosis,who had wonderfulideas,calledmeet- not an idea.There were peoplewho malnutrition,classdiscrimination,ings,and organizedprojects;a for- mightbe leaders—whosepotentialhad wage exploitation,unemployment,and eignerwho came aroundon Sundays remaineduntapped—but “Mr. John” mentalltybred of povertywhere had been in too much of a hur~ to e : to disturbone’sonly freeday of the ~hope,pride,and Inlttatlvehad been week with the unreasonablerequest givethem a try.Jndeed,had I notre- abortedintoa patheticinertia.Like that one drop everythingand co- ceiveda replacement,the community 25 Dan Dobin(Lawrence,N.Y.)workswitha 150.family housing cwperative in Barranquilla,Colombia. activitywhichmarked my 20 months, wouldhavelargelycollapsed.My suc- cessor,VolunteerPaul Mathes (Bev. erlyHills,Calif,), a man of more cautioustemperament,preferringtobe a motivatorratherthana leader,has gone farin provingcommunity de. velopment is human development. When he leavesEl Socorrothereis every assurancethatthe comm””i[y willcontinueon itsown powerwithits own human resources.Paulwillpossi- blybe rememberedasan afterthought when peopletalkof “Mr. John,’,a“d Ina Wmyear+ld “invasionsettlement’,inCatiagena,&lombia,SusanMatiin yetitisPaul who willhave done the (Livermore,Calif.)has beguna school-lunchprogramwithCARE foodgifts quiet,unspectacularbutvitallyneces. sarywork todevelopthepeople’sself. awarenessand self-helppotential. The mistakes1 made mightbe sum. selvesfillthe vacuum of leadership,likethis:“~11get tbe ballrolling— marized by the word “over-involve.initiative,and resourcefulness,we and once theprojectisgoingwell1,11 merit.” They are easy mistakesto leaveno room for the peopleto de. turnthereinsovertothepeople. .,, make. In facttheydon’tseem at all velopand learnsuch skillson their PeaceCorpsknows no end toprojects tOxiCto many Americans.To be a own, And men are not oftenborn that have fallenthrough,to reins leaderand a“ organizer,a wheeler. withtheseskills;theyarelargelyac- droppedinmid-stream,tocrushedex. dealerand a pusher,a tangible-resultsquiredin a learningprmess, Attend. pectationsof host-coun~ continuity, and steady-performanceman—these ante atprojectsby no means guaran. Why? Becausetheseprojectsa“d pro- skillsImm conspicuouslyinAmerican tees participationand involvement,grams were never the host+ountry%s life.(And thank God they do, for The non-inyolved,theymerelyfollow tobeginwith;rathertheywere Peace theyhave helpedto builda greatso. —stand and watch withinertdetach. Corps projectswith a curiouslyen. ciety.) But totransporttheseassetsin ment, thusiasticyet docilecommunity en. our Volunteersto underdeveloped Many Vol~teers who are doers dorsement. countrie~to work with theseskillsusuallyjustifythemselveswith the “Of course!Why not?” say the butnotteachthem patientlytoothers seeminglylogical,good-senseargu- people,but itisthe approvalof fol —is todefeatour goalofhelpingpee. ment tftatthey are “settinga good lowers,not participators;itistheen-8,.,. ple to help themselves.If we our- example,” The rationaleoftenruns dorsementwhich the underlingpays 26 Peac,CornsPhotosbyPa.!Conklin tohissuperior,a humhle md respect-ment and progresstowmd concrete Peace Corps sewicehas been greatly fuldeferenceto achowledged superi- goalsisunderscored.Butkeepingbusy enhanced.One mightsay I have now rity.It is not a mutual enterpriseisno guaranteeof forwardmotion. seen“bothsidesofthefence,”butthe ,tnongequals. And finally,undercarefulobserva- metaphor is undignified.A fence e Over-involvementis doubly dan- tion,over-involvementis frequentlyshouldnotexistbetweentheVolunteer gerousbecauseitusuallyfeelsso good a disguisedlackof trustand respect and thestaffrather,thereneedstobe to’be “runningthe show.” To be a forthe peopleone ist~ing to help. a bridge.My roleasI perceiveitnow pa!r6n, to be loved,respected,and When a Volunteercontinuallygives iscommunity developmentat a dif- followedisgood fortheego. Itdoes thedirections,doestbeorganizing,and ferentlevel.My community now con. wondersforself-confidence.And best maintainstbeinitiativebe isin effect sistsof the Volunteers.As for the of all,tobe busy—to be reallybusy— saying:“Ican do thisbetterthanthey “development,”tbe processis,and is a Volunteer’sbestmedicine.His can.”Or, “IfI leavethem alonewith must be, tw~directional—amutual senseof dedicationand commitment thisthey’llforgetaboutit,me= itup, learningand creatingthrough con- issustained;the impressionof move- delay ‘tilldoomsday ~’ and so tinuingdialogue.The maintenanceof forth.While theseopinionsmay be thisdialogue,I believe,istheforemost confirmedby abundantevidence,in priorityof my job,Itismy hope that any casethebigleapfomard defeats I mighthelpVolunteersavoidtbemis- tbe projectfrom tbe beginning.In- takes1 made, Iftheymake new ones, adequaciesin thepeoplemust be cor- thenthatisallrighttoo.Itmeans we rectedfirst,and tbe bestway is to arelearningand moving forwardand givethem an opportunityto be ade- doing tbe job a littlebetterallthe quate,an opportunitytolearn..Itmay time. indeedtakelonger,be lessperfect,and waste time;it certainlyrequiresan John Hatch (McLean, Va,), a Peace infinitepatienceand tolerancefor Corps stafl member in Peru sihce last frustration;but if ihe people do it March, arteded Johns Hopkins fJni- thereisgrowth,thereishuman devel- .ersity and ha a B.A. in political sci- opment, ence and English literature, granted in The 14 months sincemy termina- 1962. While in schml he spent two tionof serviceinColombiahavebeen summers inLatin America, working in fastand busy.Iservedoutconsultant-Costa Rica m a salesman and in Co- shipsintwo PeaceCorpstrainingpro- lombia m a dai~ farmer. He wu a grams,gotmarried,and came toPeru Volunteer in Colombia from J962 to where I am currentlyservingas Re. 1964, working in a CARE-Peue Corps gionalDirectorfor the north, By community-development program. He coming “on board”againtoa new job is married to the former Andrea Cat- and a new count~,my perspectiveon /et/ of Whittier, Calif. In Usiacurion the tiribbeancoast,CharlesHarper(Mamaroneck,N.Y.)began a basket-weavingCO+P withN women previouslydependenton predatovmiddlemen. tions.One day forinstance,he told hisclassitwas thecustomforhispeo- ple to eat rocks.Dan, my younger brother,triedto persuadeLanggilt forgettbe subjectbecauw he was* embarrassedfor his newly acquired friend,Langgitremainedadamant.He insisted,much to the dismay of his classmates,thatheand hisfamilyoften aterinks.A fewdayslaterIexplained to Dan thattheIbandideatwhat is known as“redrock,”a softsandstone substancethatisgenerallymunched on whileworking, Langgit’sjunior-highschoolteacher is impressedwith his lban student. SpellingisLanggit’sbestand favorite subject.He studiesdiligentlyand memorizeseach word. His extreme politenesstopeoplehasalsoimpressed IntheU.S.,ex-VolunteerEdwinPricehelpsLanggit,hisIongboatdriverin the studentsand faculty,and my Sarawak,usedictionary.PricearrangedIbanyouth’sstudytripto Florida. brotberstellme he’ssomethingof a hitwiththegirlsinhisclass.I sensed thisbackinSarawakwhen 1 was host to Ixal friendsor Britishofficialsat my houseinKanowit, BringingLanggittoAmericawasn’t Langgit is 6gettingprogress y easy, For one thing1 encountered the usualgovernmentalred tapethat invariablyaccompaniesvisaproceed- ings,My initialplanwas tosolicitthe aid of the influentialtownspeopleof severalIban villages—whichI did By Edwin Pdce It seems strange,at times,that and thenapproachtheSarawakGov-* Langgit (pronounced Len-yet and Palalka, F\a, ernmentleaderswho might helpme. meaning“sky”inMalay) shouldnow Assuredthatallof theseindividuals Copper-brownwater spillingover be in theUnitedStatesgropingwith would speakup forLanggitwhen the thebanksoftheRajangRiverflooding the everydayproblemsthatseventh- time came, I prmeeded to take my the ricepaddieswas lmple evidence gradehericans encounter.But he is causebeforetheAmerican Consulate to a young Sarawak boy and me that here,adjustingrapidly,making new in Singapore.After that it was a Borneo’smonsoon seasonwas at its friends,and adaptingto thefolkways waitinggame. How we arrivedatihe height.~e constantrainhad brought of a smallSoutherncommunity that decisionofLanggit’scomingtoAmer- theusuallycalm riverlappingintothe depends largelyupon tbe ~ulpwood icaisstillvagueinmy mind. I must hillrice,and now alltravelon the industryforitslivelihood. have mentioneditone day—or else jungle’smain arterycemed. We bothmissthericepaddies,the be did—and beforelongtheideabe- Squattingin his rumah kampong rivers,the carefreenightsin the came paflof our dailyconversation. (farm house on stilts),the small- jungle,thecountlessexcursionsup and PromotingLanggil’sven[ureto a frmed Iban youth,who was called down theRajang,thefestiveIbancele. foreigncountryalsohad to be taken Langgit,jabberedaway aboutthein- brations,thesmalltalkand gossipof up withthevillageeldersand Masam, cessantrain,his father’sricefields,the villages.For me, allof these hisfather.me boy was young,spoke and most of allabout his ancestralthingsremaintreasuredmemories of littleEnglish,and was onlya genera. heritage.1 was quicklyimpressedwith my two yearsas a VolunteerinSara- tionremoved from thejungle.Under Langgit,but I had littlereasontobe- wak. For La”ggit,comingtotheU.S. tbew circumstancesI asked myself lievethissame young man, imbued was ‘ Education C.r.erIntorm.tl.nSerYICeiedeveloping a rester of ret. r”i”x Vol”. tmm i“teretd in fel]owh{~s, scholambim, end as.inti”tih[pe for the achm] year bwln”ln, %Dtemb,, 1986. CoDim of the I&t will be d[8tributd ti grad.. at~chml d~na, denatiment hemb, s“d ““de,. graduateadmissio”~ directim-many of whom re”r~ent ecbools which he,. ex,rmsd I“terat I. ettracti.g ret.r”cd Vol”.~m to their cam.u.~, An aDDllcat[o” fom can & obt.ind from C.1.S, Oremn State Unl.erB1ty,. “rogram i. i.ter. “atio”nl a,rlcuit”re nflem two ,cholamhi,. f., the 1966.66 scad,mio year @ former Vol.”. tmm. The echooi hm w,ently k“ work[”, with htin Am,,! <,. m“”trl~, a“d is Datiic”. Inr]y anxious to hear fmm .m.le with s know]dge of Sm”lsb, Potiuguee, JaD.nee. Other . . . %“thewt &i...... Wtite wil~.m R. Furtick, Depatime”, of AsmnomY, OrWon S,.,, Univemit,, Comalfi,, Ore. 97331. Teaching Our man in Uruguay TonyDike,right,istheVolunteerinUruguay(see‘ imprimis How wouldyou liketobe a Volunteerwithyourveryown exclusive imprimis: projectnumber? We happen to have such a Volunteer,If you asked prisiine Uruguay 64-01-06toriseen masse,you’dtid onlyTony Duke, of New bloodless absewe of color Haven,Corm. In fact,Duke isatthemoment theonlyVolunteerinthe the purity of dabuter smallSouthAmericancountr~47 potentialVolunteersae now tratiig unblemished pallor at Texas Christian,preparingto coach basketballand work with rural ‘m snow is wh;re youth,but theywon’tgo abroaduntilfall.Meantime,Duke carrieson. m m;lk is white Ithappenedlikethis: as chalk is white InJuneoflastyear,Duke enteredtrainingwith16 otherVolunteers. seemingalbinoism He wm to work in agriculture,the otherswere scheduledfor urbm- and yet todW: community development.He took hisa~iculturtitrainingaway from chromatic therestof hisgroup,thenwent abroada month beforetheywere set a kaleidoscope of to go. Meantime,the Government of Uruguay decideditdidn’tneed Saflron urban Volunteersafterall.In a fmt about-face,the 16 Uruguay-bound magenta Volunteersbecame 16 Venezuela-boundVolunteers.Duke wmn’t alone emerald for thefistyear—18 agricultural-extensionVolunteershad arrivedthe cobalt yearbefore,completingsemicethisJuly.Washingtonwfllbe gladwhen viuid.i”teme hues thenew Volunteersamive;Uruguay istheonlycounwy where the stti here dappled outnumbersVolunteers, here blendi=g i“ a patchwork quilted design ❑ 00 Translation:Today I found my favoritewhite blousecov- Ithap~ned h MoroccK Volunteerswho complainthatPeaceCorps eredwithmildew. meetingsmore oftenthan not se a wroteof time might turn to the 31 I.V.S. in Vietnam (Continued from page 2) ‘A high standard of etiquette’ He joinedmalariaspeciahstWilliam In April,justthreemonths beforehe was fatallystrickenon a Bettsand otherI.V.S,-ersto work in London street,Adlai Stevensonaddressedhimselfto the Peace lashingwinds for 15 hews a day,7 Corpsina replytoan invitationhe had receivedtoattenda dinner days a week, loadingand unloading forreturningVolunteers: reliefsupplies,vaccinatingthepeople ,.. The work which thq [Volunteers] have done in the areas of againstcholera,and teachingthem education and welfare k comiderable, But I have always felt that theymust boiltheirwater. the greatest contribution oj the Peace corps is not a material one, Agriculturalteamsaremainlycon. but its demomtration of the concern of indipidua/ A ~erico”$ for cernedwithdevelopingnew cropsand our fellow man inallcornersof the earth. new technique~alwaysinthefrme. work of resourcesrighttherein the We have never had to wor~ about the Ogden Nmh poem the! community, George McDowell, who goes: isstationedwith hiswife,Renie,at “There wm a brave girl of Connecticut SOC Trang in the Delta,introduced Who flagged the express with her pecticut huge watermelonsfrom Georgia— Which critjcs defined whichbecame sucha successthatone As a presewe of mi=d peasantkept threeof them on his But a deplorable ab.rence of ecticut.,, Buddhistaltar. Teachersin I.V,S,have found that The members of the Pcme Corps have demomtrated “of only theVietnameseareextremelyeagerto exlraordina~ presence of mind, bui a high standmd of etiquette learnhome economics,experimental which will pq our countq fm greater dividends than their weisht science,and particularly,English,Jay ingold, We can all be proud of the job they have done. Parsons,who liveswitha Vietnamese familyinHuL, teachesEnglishtomore than200 students41 hoursa week. A correction Art-exchange program The primaryfocusof I.V.S,(which alsooperatesin Laos,Cambdia, ~. To THE VOLUNTEER: An organizationthatsponsorsthe geria,Syria,Jordan,and hbanon) internationalexchange of children’s I would liketo callyour attention hasalwaysbeenlesson plantsor proj- arthasinvitedPeaceCorpsVolunteer to one smallerrorin your articleen- ectsthan on developinghuman re. titled“Nepal Rated High by F.S.I.” teachersand otherVolunteersworking sources,In Vietnam ithas achieved June-July,1965]. withchildrento takepartin itspro thisby working through traditional[THE VOLUNTEER, @ We (Nepal11)didnottrainatGeorge gram. localleadershiptoteachvillagerswho WashingtonUniversity. Art for World Friendship,which inturnwillteachothers. The reason1 bringthisto your at- beganin 1946,sponsorsexchangeson It has also sparked a “domestic tentionis thatthe trainingprogram a group basisbetween schools,art I.V.S,,’—theVol””taryYo”tb ASSO. givenus attheUniversityof Oregon centers,libraries,colleges,and chil- ciationof Vietnam.Recentlya Viet- was excellent,The staffwas sincere,dren’sorganizations,More than 80 namese writertoldme, “There isno intelligent,and informed.We had few countrieshave participatedsincethe hope forour count~ unlessthepeas. complaintsand once we amived in program’sstart, ants feelthe centralgovernmentis Nepal we had much to thank our Childrenexchangepic(uresthatper. reallywith them. And one way to trainersfor. The man who directed achievethatisto send out teams of traytheirlives,theirfriends,or their our program, Dr, Egbert Wengert, studentsto work.with the peasants,,, idea~the onlystipulationisthatno diedabouta yearago.As atributeto Itwas a Vietnamese,too,who corn. pictureswithwar themesbe sent.The him and totheotherinspiredand con. mented,“11,sa pityI.v.S.hastowork organizationhas helpedPeace Corps scientiottspeopleat Oregon,1 hope on’so smalla scale.It’sthe greatest Volunteerswho wereinneedofrepro- you willcorrectthiserror. American success. in Vietnam, These ductions,artpublications,ormaterials. young peoplehavehelpedusrecognize MURRAY GREGG SMITH Suppliessuchascrayonsand paperare therealproblemsof ourcount~: low Independence, Mo. oftenavailableto exchangegroupsin productivity,ignorance,divisionbe- —Our apologies IO Oregon and the other countries.More information tween classes.I.V.S.-ersare actually Volunteers of Nepal IJ, and our co”. may be obtainedfrom kt forWorld doingthethingstheCommunists are granulations to both on their fine per. Friendship,FriendlyAcres,5 I W. 8th alwayspromising,,, formances.—Ed, St.,Media,Pa. 19063. ——— ———______-— —- ——-—-— ——— ——— —-- CHANGE OF ADDRESS POSTAGE AND FEES PAID PEACE CORPS Effectivedate Pleasesendwithmailinglabelatright.