While many people in the United States contemplate
visiting developing countries, few have spent two years working in one.
Paula Leslie and Joe Leitmann, recently returned Peace Corps
volunteers, said they had the opportunity to do just that.
"I was feeling like I really wanted to do something meaningful…to learn
about different parts of the world," Leslie said. Her
decision to join the Peace Corps led her to Paraguay, she said, where
she worked in the home extension program. "I tried to
encourage people to build wood burning stoves," she said, adding that
many Paraguayan women cook on the ground which "can cause a lot of back
discomfort (and) accidents." She also tried to get
Paraguayans to "recognize the importance of women in development" in
areas such as health and food production, she said.
Leitmann said he started a center for rural technology while serving in
the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in the Cook Islands.
"We were an object of curiosity," he said "because we could speak the
language, were familiar with local customs and…brought a lot of new
ideas into their lives." He said the Cook Islanders'
"only other experience with Maori-speaking Americans had been with
Mormon missionaries….They were glad we didn't proselytize."
The impressions the Islanders had of Americans came from pirated
videos, Newsweek magazine, tourists and the missionaries, he said.
Leitmann said the Peace Corps afforded him "the opportunity to take on
a fair amount of responsibility. When you get out of college, you're
competing with a lot of other people. Therefore it makes you more
competitive when you get back to the states…(if) you have skills other
young people don't." Both Leitmann and Leslie said they found their experiences working with people in developing nations rewarding.
"I thought I made a positive contribution to the Cook Islanders, but I
think they taught me a lot more than I was able to give them. I made a
lot of friends," Leitmann said. Leslie said "the highlight of the Peace Corps was the people. The Paraguayans are wonderful."
The Peace Corps was launched when presidential candidate John Kennedy
addressed a group of students at the University of Michigan.
Michigan students expressed interest when Kennedy proposed a "youth
service program" and organized a petition to support it.
Leslie said the Peace Corps has evolved from "generalist people to
people with technical specialties. The average age of the volunteer is
30, whereas in the '60s it was 22." Leitmann said,
however, that adults of all ages, majors and specialties are considered
for positions as volunteers. Both said their outlook changed after their tours.
"I came back with a renewed commitment to change things and work for
economic development (and) an improved attitude toward the values of
relaxation and leading a balanced life," Leitmann said.
"I think the culture shock is worse when returning," Leslie said. "The
two hardest things for me to adjust to (were) how wasteful Americans
are and the technological advances. Actually, I had a hard time using
the phone again," she said.