WAGING PEACE

In my previous post, I published my thoughts

on the Peace Corps after attending the 25th Peace Corps

Anniversary Conference in Washington DC in 1986.

The following is an update I wrote three years after

attending the Peace Corps conference held in June 2002.

[In 2005, I wrote:]
         In 2002, I attended the 40th Anniversary Peace Corps Conference. It had been scheduled for September of 2001. After the 9/11 tragedy, the organizers decided to go ahead as planned, because they felt we needed the PEACE, as exemplified by the Peace Corps, more than ever. But when Reagan Airport was shut down, the conference had to be postponed until June of 2002. 

        Like the 1986 conference I wrote about previously, it was a happy, joyous, nostalgic, emotionally-draining weekend.

        I briefly met Jason Carter, Jimmy Carter's grandson, who had recently returned from service in Africa, following in his great-grandmother's footsteps. (The president's mother, Miss Lillian, had served in India when she was 68-70 years old.)
        Sargent Shriver, already suffering from alzheimers, spoke briefly. Bill Moyers, who had been in on the planning of the Peace Corps, was in attendance.

        Alejandro Toledo of Peru was supposed to attend, but he conferenced in by phone due to a national emergency. In 1963, Toledo, then an adolescent shoe shine boy in a family of 16 children, developed a friendship with Peace Corps Volunteers Joel Meister and Nancy Deeds. 

        After Toledo graduated from high school, Meister and Deeds helped him gain admission to San Francisco City College and later San Francisco State University, where Toledo earned a degree in economics by obtaining a partial soccer scholarship and working at a gas station. Subsequently, he earned a scholarship for graduate studies at Stanford University where he earned advanced degrees in economics and education. He became a professor of economics at the Universidad del Pacifico in Peru and a guest professor in Japan. He also worked as a consultant for various international organizations including the United Nations.
        In 2001, Alejandro Toledo was elected to the Peruvian presidency. [During Toledo's presidency, the economy grew steadily and Peru showed one of the world's lowest inflation rates. He served until 2006. He has denied rumors that he may run again in 2011.]

        At the 2002 conference, I enjoyed being with others who had served in Brazil, including two other Returned PC Volunteers from my own Peace Corps group. Gary had been working for the Christian Children's Fund and returned to Brazil often. Vivian remained in Brazil for 20 years where she met her Chilean husband. They had recently moved to the Washington area and kindly allowed me to stay in their spare room. Brunie, the woman who overlapped me for one year at my Brazilian PC site, attended the conference with her husband, adopted son, her niece and grand niece. Several evenings, a small group of former volunteers who had served in Brazil met at several Brazilian restaurants to enjoy feijoada and other Brazilian dishes.

        One elderly woman, 86 at the time of the conference, had served in Brazil for 15 years teaching goat husbandry. Most Volunteeers serve two years, but may extend service to four, especially if time is needed to complete a project. Apparently, the Peace Corps had to travel to her site to physically remove her because she didn't want to leave. I don't remember what years she served, but since the PC stopped serving Brazil in 1980, that may have been her 15th year.

        Since 1961, more than 165,000 [now 195,000] volunteers have served in the Peace Corps, working in such diverse fields as agriculture, small business and community development, education, environmental conservation, healthcare and information technology. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. The oldest volunteer was 84. Most programs require a college degree and all majors are welcome. Non-degreed applicants must have three to five years of experience in business, farming, ranching or a skilled trade. Peace Corps service is a two-year commitment. Its benefits include language and cultural training, medical and dental coverage, housing, travel to and from the country of service, as well as a monthly stipend and 24 vacation days a year. Volunteers may defer repayment of various student loans while serving.

        With the Iraqi War costing this country billions of dollars and thousands of lives, I often wonder how much less it would have cost in both lives and money for us to send teachers, nurses, doctors, farmers and business professionals to Iraq and other mideastern countries to wage peace.

(©2005, with 2009 revisions, C.J. Peiffer)