Peace Corps needed now, more than ever
Sept. 22 marks the 60th anniversary of the Peace Corps.
On that date in 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed the legislation creating the agency which he described as a “manifestation of the American spirit.”
I am one of the more than 240,000 Americans, including 7745 Ohioans, who have chosen to serve, learn, and work for peace in countries around the world.
In Ohio, Peace Corps has educational partnerships with 11 universities, including Ohio State University, which sent 223 volunteers overseas in 2020, ranking 10th in the nation.
Stories of four former central Ohio volunteers illustrate the power of one person to make a difference in the lives of others and the power of the people in the host community to forever change the volunteer.
Gail and Mike Messick first served in the Peace Corps from 1976-78 in St. Lucia where Mike worked as a small business advisor and Gail was a public dental health educator.
After their retirement, they renewed their commitment to the Peace Corps and served in Swaziland (now Eswatini) from 2010-2014 where they worked at an HIV/AIDS orphanage, teaching and tutoring children.
The Messicks have continued their commitment to the orphanage, returning to Eswatini for two to three months each year to volunteer.
Craig M. Chavis Jr., returned from his service in Peru from 2014-2016 thankful for a challenging experience which changed his life. His work in community economic development included helping students in a youth entrepreneurship program at an agricultural institute to develop business plans for the wine industry.
This opportunity led to his own post-peace Corps distillery business, which was unsuccessful. But he is grateful that his Peace Corps service taught him to overcome setbacks, to think creatively and to adapt to change and contributed to his growth as an entrepreneur.
Jamie Rhein, a volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa, from 1982-84, was homesick as her first Christmas away approached, so she invited eight other volunteers to her village for the holidays.
Her Muslim neighbors helped her shop for not so scrawny chickens and greeted her for weeks with “Christmas is coming.” On Christmas Eve, villagers stopped by with warm welcomes and to listen to Christmas carols sung by the volunteers.
A man from the village killed the four chickens in the Halal custom so her Muslim friends could join in the holiday feast.
Volunteers who had traveled for hours on unpaved roads came together with villagers sharing in traditions not their own. Now a teacher, Jamie shares her experiences with her high school students.
In these complex and confusing times, I believe former volunteers will bring a much needed realistic, yet empathetic, understanding of the world to their communities, their work and their country.
New volunteers will apply their knowledge of health, engineering, business, and education to seek solutions to shared global problems and to continue the mission of a renewed Peace Corps to advance peace.
It’s never too late to consider joining the Peace Corps to be a part of that mission.
Wallis J. Harsch served in Panama from 1966-1968 where she worked with women’s groups in community development and nutrition programs. She is a member of the Central Ohio Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association and the National Peace Corps Association.