\ PEACE CORP! P SEPTEMBER 1968 I33 PHILLIPS RUOPP hnrlcs Duncan, a former \'olitnteer C,.IB~ Fcncc COI.I>S Fello\v, now an associate directol. in Iran, is not to THE TICKBIRD AND THE THRUSH, a fable? h1:~rnc for the fable. I found it else- where. However, he is responsible for One lazy Deccmbcr afternoon. from ticks and othcr insects. I'm a pit~~bi~~gdn\vn for nie the most useful tickhird, a cattle egret." The \\*l>itc a West Indian thrush was floating concept for thinking about an ex- in the cool southeast trades after bird's modest tone failed la hide chnnge in the southern \'ermont hills a bold raid on three kitchens. his pride. A down-draft carricd him to\vard "Incredible!" I~et\veenThe Experiment in Interna- a cow pasture. As he had gro\\,n "Why? Don't you \\.ant debugged tional Living and the Pence Corps last "11 undcr the hoois of cattle. the co\\,s!" Fel)n~at.y. After the first session, he thrush paid little attention to the "To hell with the cows. Especially remarked that a Pence Corps \'olun- clumsy beasts. Indccd, lhc fclt somc il they \\son't fork over a little grain. tccr must be credible to the people disdain for them because a mean- Tell me, whitey, \\,hat's in it for among whom he is living and work- tcmpcrcd old girl had almost tram-. yo"?" ing. Exactly. pled him once while Ire was trying "For me? I guess I just like help- The theme of the seminnn-, hunorecl to filch a few grains 01 her lccd. ing cows. Even when it means Suddcnly he scrccchcd, "Ya\\,k," going a long $vay lo do it." more by the questions that were as a thrush has a way of doing "Man, don't your own cows l;~oncheclat us as openers than by our \\,hen it is startled. There, sitting need debugging? Why hug us?" discussions, \\.as the future of volun- on the back of one cow was an "Because you didn't have any- tary service all-o;td. \\'bile that future elegant white bird, calmly prccn- one around to do the job until m:ty be perplexing, nothing will affect ing itself. I came." it more the indi\zidual volunteer's The thrush iluttcred awkwardly "Thank Cod therc's only one 01 credibility to the people he hopes to to a branch that brought him eye you." help. to eye with the newcomer. "Oh, more are coming. It takes "Where'd you come from?" he one of us to an animal to do a This is eqrtnlly true of volun(ary demanded abruptly as soon as he'd good job." service at home. caught his breath. He fixed the The thrush thrashed the branch The examination of our assumptions othcr with a hostile stare. It \\,as \%*ithhis wings. ;~nd programs and actions niust, of the only way he knew how to deal "You African tickbirds are mov- course, be continual. Credibility re- tvith strangers. ing in here without ever consulting (luires regular exercise in self-evalua- "Africa," the white bird replied us local birds? Fantastic!" tinn and change. serenely. The thrush flew off in a rage lo "Where's that?" agitate ior the immediate expulsion \\'hat is a volunteer? Jack \\'nllace, "Toward the morning sun, a long 01 the foreigner. As he pulled a vice president of The Experiment, way east of Barbados." bloated bug from the cow's back, touched off a lively dehnte \$.hen he The thrush flapped angrily up the tickbird wondered why the said that, in his opinion, a volunteer and down on his branch. thrush failed to see that the island cnn be paid n living \\,age and still be "Why'd you come over here?" needed a cattle debugger. What, n volunteer. He \vent on to suggest he exploded. he asked himself, could be more that the idea of a career in internn- "To debug your cattlc." obvious? tionnl senrice does not inevitably con- "To what?" MORAL: For most of the \\aorld, tradict the spirit of voluntarism. "To help you develop a better credibility, like grain, is a scarce breed 01 cattle by protecting them commodity. It seems to me that it is the degree of his credibility, not the degree of his sacrifice, \r.hicli characterizes the in- In Peace Corps, mutuality is the key to The credible Volunteer dividual who freely assumes personal at our colleges and universities who Mutuality is the key to credibility. ~.esponsihility for performing some would have been Peace Corps en- It has to he defined for each uroeram p~~blicservice. If a man's social role, thusiasts a few years ago. through give and take with hdst Gun- attitudes, behavior mnd life style are As thc sides in the cold war at home try leaders, not only at the ministerial credible to the people of the host have become increasingly polarized, level, but above all at the local level. country with whom lie is working, the credibility of many forms of vol- At the ministerial level our aims must surely he has achieved, in his rela- untary service has been hurt. The be acceptable to those who administer tions with them, those qualities which reaction of Black Power militants in the country's development plans. If we attribute to the Petice Corps T7ol- this country against white civil rights they are not, we won't last long. At unteer at his best. workers will be paralleled abroad by the village or neighborhood level, the It is fortunate for the Peace Corps sharpened resistance to American in- Volunteer's presence and activities thnt it is rlnt the rle"l.ae nf his qar.2.i. tr~winnnnrl infl~aance At the c-minnr -m~~~t-hp-wpl~nm~A..hhhthR. people fice that makes a \.ol;nteer. If it were Brent Ashabranner, deputy director thiAselves. a question of sacrifice, few Peace of the Peace Corps, stressed the ac- No Volunteer can.cover his vulner- Corps Volunteers would be credible. celerated growth of t.acial pride and ability with whole cloth. He is not As someone pointed out at the semi- ardent nationalism throughout the likely to please everyone. Within his nar, it is not unusual for host country Southern hemisphere. It is the kind host country, will service thnt is cred- villagers to think of Peace Corps Vol- of rmtionalism \vhich will take nothing ible to the dominant minority also be unteers as "rich, young people." for gl.;unted. Nor should it. credible to the majority for whom A voluntecr is an enigma to his The Peace Co1.p~'credibility will be radical social change is the only hope? armts and cousins. He must nlake judged with an increasingly \vary and Will voluntary service which is cred- himself credible to his host community hostile eye. The rules of the game ible to other governments always be at this risk of appearing incredible to \\.ill be changed frequently, m~dwe credible to the United States Con- his home to\rzn. Cumt~lative experi- \\,ill be expected to behave credibly gress? Questions of this kind can ence has enabled voluntary scrvice according to the new rules. As Mr. only be answered country by country organizations, including the Peace Ashabmnner pointed out, this will and program by program. Corps, to strengthen thc t.elevnnce of mean finding ne\rz channels and new their personnel and plans and activi- fo1.m~ for providing the outside as- Political factors ties. Thcy are less naive, more real- sistance needed by de\.eloping coun- The Peace Corps is, rightly in my istic about the tenacity of old patterns, tries. Each new approach nlust ad- opinion, active in countries with gov- Icss hooked on American kno\v-ho\v, dress itself to the priorities of the ernments ranging from effective repre- more responsive to the values which countries where Volunteers are as- sentative democracies to authoritarian give meaning to the lives of others, signed. \\'here we have attempted to regimes of the right or left. This posi- less doematic about the \vav the \vorld irnpose our own, we have been left tion does not, however, exempt us is supposed- to be run, more troubled high and dry after the first polite ex- from examining the political implica- by the distortions in American society. lxessions of interest. Agreeing with tions of our activities. Development the foreigner is a.time-honored way is not only social and economic. It is Credible service to defuse him. Paul Sack, director of inescapably political. There ' is never \\'e have lost the confidence we the Peace Corps' office of program a guarantee that a service program, once had that somellow Americans planning, underscored the fact that, no matter how nonpartisan and altru- hclong evel-ywhe3.e in the name of to be useful, the T'olunteer must have istic, will not be exploited for partisan progress. That is why domestic volun- a job to do which fits into the coun- political purposes. tary service appears more credible try's development strategy and is com- A voluntary organization must be than service abroad to many students prehensible to its people. sophisticated enough about host coun- try politics to know when it is being culture to make themselves credible needed for human development. used for purposes that will skin the in the Southern hemisphere without I have said that the key- to credi- wrong cat. It must sometimes be pre- special education and experience. The bility is mutuality. Mutuality means pared to face the fact that it can no success of America's technoloeical- and shared power.