Posted in N&V

Russy and Anita- As Young As The Peace Corps

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This is part of a series of articles on the experiences of RVM residents in the Peace Corps.  Also in this issue is the article on Jean and John Herron; the November issue featured Joni Johnson and Asifa Kanji and David Drury.  Stay tuned…

by Joni Johnson

Russy and Anita Sumariwalla were trainers in the Peace Corps almost at its inception. They were both students (close, but not married) at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst when Russy was tapped as the Assistant Training Project Director for the first group of volunteers to go to Senegal, the Ivory Coast and Niger. This was in the Fall of 1962. President John Kennedy started The Peace Corps in 1961 as a project to promote world peace and friendly international relations. The first trainees went to Africa and South America in the summer of that year. Russy and Anita were right on the cutting edge of the Peace Corps, providing training for their groups just one year later.

At the time, Russy was working on a project for John Ryan, the Secretary of the University, while doing post graduate study. Russy had come from Bombay (now called Mumbai) and had only been in the country since 1959, first getting his Master of Laws degree in Charlottesville, Virginia, and then moving to the University of Massachusetts for study in International Law and International Organization. Ryan admired his work and thought that his multicultural background would help him in running the nuts and bolts of a training program which took volunteers from everywhere in the United States with plans to send them to three French speaking African countries. Anita had arrived in the United States by boat from Rotterdam in 1961. Having been born in the French speaking region of Switzerland, Anita was a perfect addition to the team of eleven French teachers for these 60 students. The goal was to get the new volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 64, ready to take part in a two-year program to help and support the citizens of these African countries, largely in rural areas.

Almost none of the students spoke French when they arrived on campus. Anita and her fellow teachers needed to get these students able to speak passable French so they could carry out their lives in their new environments. So Anita not only taught these students during their 7am to 10pm daily schedules of classes and activities, but she ate meals with them as well. The Peace Corps had provided materials for teaching French, which they used in class. Meals and outside activities were a time to help them develop their vocabulary and conversational and reading skills in their new language.

Those fifteen hour days might include Physical Conditioning, Breakfast, and then classes in French, and, depending on their country, Food and Nutrition, Water and Waste, Goats, Irrigation, and Farm Machinery. Then more French, Lunch, American Studies and World Affairs, American Culture, Art, Music, The American Character, Rural Community Development, Mental Health, First Aid, Dinner, and more French.

Russy, as the Assistant director of the program, was charged with making everything run smoothly from housing to dining to problems between students. By the second week of fifteen hour days, students were generally exhausted, and that was the time that issues arose. Typically, many of the problems were with people who, from all over the country, from all ages and all walks of life and all types of American accents, were learning to get along with one another while experiencing exhaustion and anxiety as well as excitement. Both Russy and Anita emphasized that listening was probably one of the most useful tools of the trade in working with the volunteers as these problems arose. And of course, as the volunteers solved these problems with each other, they learned skills that would benefit them in the long run as they worked with their African colleagues.

Not only did the volunteers need to learn French, but they all had to become knowledgeable in the fields in which they were expected to support their African brethren. These areas included health, childcare, dealing with the sick, new skills to avoid Typhoid and Malaria (by boiling water, etc.) and help in the area of agriculture.

All the volunteers were idealistic and wanted to change the world. They all had a sense of adventure. But part of training was also to help them prepare for the disappointments that lay in store, like the possible non-existence of hot showers, or their programs being held up by lack of materials or promised materials not arriving for weeks. So that meant that training needed to include providing volunteers with the idea of never giving up and ways to maintain their spirits. One of the big adventures for the volunteers was a trip to the United Nations in New York for a reception, as invited guests of the Ambassador of Niger. This trip helped the volunteers form a deep connection to the Peace Corps and its goals.

I asked them both Anita and Russy what they would want their readers to know about their experience. Anita expressed her admiration for the volunteers: “They were so eager and courageous. Many of them had little idea of the country they were assigned to. Good training was such a vital part of their future success. I told them that they were ambassadors. Whatever they did or said would reflect on the U.S. Also, we cautioned them to respect the culture of their hosts even if they did not understand them. Seeing the generosity of the American spirit may have even influenced me to become an American citizen.”

Russy said that he was very impressed by our country’s enlightened approach to spreading our sense of freedom to developing countries. He admired all of the volunteers for wanting to make a better world and in a sense sacrificing two years of their lives to do this. He says, “I found myself lucky to have had that experience. It broadened my outlook. I had always felt that I was a citizen of the world, but this took it out of the abstract and made it a reality. I saw respect, love, care, tolerance and dignity for others.”

Russy’s and Anita’s experiences in the Peace Corps as trainers mirrored in many ways the experiences of the volunteers.  It was a life changing and life affirming event.

Peace Corps Adventures in Ecuador with David Guzetta and Carolyn Auker

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This is one of the last two of our series on  the experiences of RVM residents in the Peace Corps.  Also in this issue is the article on Betsy Portaro.  The December issue featured Jean and John Herron and Russy and Anita Sumariwalla; the November issue contained articles on Joni Johnson and Asifa Kanji and David Drury.

 

by Joni Johnson

Unlike the other volunteers in our series on the Peace Corps, David Guzetta and Carolyn Auker joined the Peace Corps in 1988 right in the middle of their careers. Many join right out of college or shortly after retirement.  David and Carolyn joined in their early 40’s.  Both had moved to Amarillo, Texas from Columbus, Ohio for what was supposed to be a long contract with the Department of Energy for David.  The contract ultimately disappeared within months, leaving many of its employees without home or resources.  Luckily, David and Carolyn had lost nothing other than expectations since they had sold their home in Ohio and were footloose and fancy free.  And so, rather than go back to what they had been doing before, they decided to search for adventure with the Peace Corps.

Fortunately, they were able to find placement as a professional couple in Ecuador. They did all of their training in Tumbaco, about thirty minutes away by bus from the capital of Quito and then moved to Quito for their projects.  They lived in a three bedroom flat in a nice neighborhood in Quito.  Dave had 15+ years of experience and a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering, and so his first job was as Advisor to the National Director of the Ecuadorian Institute of Sanitary Works.

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Carolyn had been a Medical Lab technologist for 15+ years and was expecting to serve in some health care project. She found herself involved with MAP International, which provides medicinal assistance in developing countries.  Her particular job was getting lab results from tests of local children for parasites in their blood.  The hope was that there would be no parasites.  However, the results were far from their expectations, and many children had three to six or more parasites living in their system due to the pollution in water and food.

Ecuador is a Spanish speaking country, and both David and Carolyn needed to improve their language skills.  Dave had had only two years of Spanish in high school plus the three months of Peace Corps training.  According to both of them, Carolyn had an excellent ear for languages, but they both needed work to improve their Spanish. Two years in Ecuador certainly gave them that opportunity. Dave spoke mainly Spanish during his tenure in Ecuador. And when Carolyn would travel to southern Ecuador once a month or two to a clinic, she would also have more of a chance to speak Spanish.

One story very vividly etched in their memory was the number of times Carolyn was robbed. They were never physically harmed, but they found that robbers, mostly old women, would work in pairs, so that one might squirt mustard on your back and then say “sucia” which meant dirty and then when you were trying to get rid of the mustard on your back, the other person would rob you in the front.  After a while, Dave and Carolyn got very good at picking out who might try to get them, so it became much less of a problem.  Once, they cornered one of the robbers, an old lady who Dave held against a car while yelling, “Ladrona, ladrona,” which means thief.  She responded, “Yes, I’m a ladrona. Can you let me go now?”

After Dave’s first year with the Ecuadorian Institute, he changed his project to identifying where the sources of pollution existed for the city of Quito.  Those included pollution in air, water and solid waste.  He would meet face to face with his Ecuadorian counterparts and would help them complete a questionnaire on pollution.

Towards the end of their time in Ecuador, Dave helped a Russian woman translate a book on Air Quality Modeling from English to Russian. First, Dave translated it from English to Spanish (which became very useful to his office at the Institute) and then the woman translated it from Spanish to Russian for her office.

Dave and Carolyn found that they could travel on an amazingly small budget.  They were able to manage a six-week trip through Bolivia, Peru and Chile by bus, staying in small hotels, for less than $1500 for the two of them.

Dave’s work with Pichincha Province was extremely helpful.  It provided baseline data on the quantity and sources of pollution.  Quito and the Province used this information to prioritize their work.  The information collected was also used to apply for grants to international aid organization and non-government organizations (NGO).

Similarly, the work Carolyn did also helped to identify and quantify health issues that could be addressed by Medical Assistance Plan (her organization) and other health organization.  Identifying a variety of parasites would also identify the source of these parasites.  Most of them were water-born.

When asked how their PC experience had affected them, they said that it was important to learn how to live in a third world culture.  They became more appreciative of the US and its relatively strong infrastructure as compared to the minimal help that people might receive in Ecuador.  On the other hand, they were amazed at the ability to choose a live chicken at the market and then come back twenty minutes later to find it already plucked and ready for the oven.  They appreciated the immediacy of that culture. They felt that what they gave to their Ecuadorian companions was a way to look at problems differently and more creatively since math was usually taught by rote in Ecuador.   In looking back, they were so happy to have had the experience in Ecuador.  It was really irreplaceable.

 

 

 

Haaappy Biirrthdaay to us!

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The Complement is ONE YEAR OLD!!  Issue #13!!

It has been an exciting and enjoyable year, as we’ve learned and reached out to bring you more and more varied material.  We have presented many contributed articles, reviews, and photo-feature topics, involving non-staff resident writers, artists, and collectors.  We’ve wrestled with how to reach more contributors and readers, and we’ve been gratified by the growth of feedback, compliments (yes, this one is with an “i”), and sign-ups for our notification list.  We’ve tried to stay out of the way of what hillTopics does, and take up the slack for what it can’t do.  We’ve made a conscious effort to post quality coverage of topics that haven’t been prominent in standard discourse at RVM — and we think we’ve been successful.  So Hooray for us and Hooray for you for helping and supporting us.

Now, about those birthday presents….

For you:  we expect to give both more of the same and more of the different, and as a special modification we have embarked on a major ongoing restructuring of the Prepare page, both because we want it to be better, and especially to build on the increasing partnership between RVM and the residents in developing emergency preparedness and responses.

For us?  Well, we want you.

Success is great, and we are eager to share it.  E-journalism certification is readily available, we have virtually no editorial bureaucracy, our software is dirt-simple, there’s wide latitude in what you can do — and most important, we have a lot of just plain fun working on this together.  Come try us out for a few hours a week or a few days a month; it’s pretty amazing.

Your dedicated Complementarians:  Joni Johnson, Connie Kent, Reina Lopez, Tom Conger and Bob Buddemeier

This Too Could Be You!

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“Neighbors Together” Has A Bang Up Affair on Village Center Drive

By Joni Johnson

On Friday, August 27 at 4 pm, Village Center Drive turned into Party Central thanks to“Neighbors Together”, an idea originating with Carolyn Bennett, Willi Zilkey, Holly Lawson and Lynn Ogren. After all the isolation from the Pandemic, this group was on a mission to create social connectors throughout the campus. Well, they certainly succeeded on Village Center Drive.

 

With the help of a few interested residents on the drive, the Neighbors Together party was born. The small group of Village Center Drive residents chose a date and picked a spot on their street with a parking cutout and a bit of shade. They booked their time with Sarah Karnatz who then arranged for delivery of tables and chairs on the day of their gathering. They publicized their “Neighbors Together” with a flyer given to each resident and signage placed at the end of their street on the day of the event. The signage was designed and supplied by the Marketing Department. The signs have been designed to be able to pass from one neighborhood to another. Drinks were BYOB and foods were kept to a minimum. Bag snacks were purchased at Costco and put in inexpensive plastic bowels found at the dollar store. With ease and simplicity, the party was born!!!! I arrived a few minutes after four and the gaiety was in full swing. For all that showed up, the joy was apparent. People were just plain happy to be together. Even with a less than stellar air quality, the slight breeze at 4 pm made it all quite comfortable. Some people kept their masks on as a caution against either the smoke or the Delta variant.

Candice Bushell describes what it is like to be there

The masks did not seem to deter their sharing of greetings. In spite of the difficulties this summer to plan an outdoor gathering, I would guess that there were at least 35 people there if not more. Residents commented that for many it was the first chance they had in a long time to see people from the other end of their street. Another said that in the past, much of our socializing took place around mealtime; but, that sort of thing had been so difficult during the past year and a half. At last, this was a way to bring back some casual socializing amongst the neighbors. The bottom line is that it takes very little effort for a great return: Bringing “Neighbors Together”! Someone put it perfectly. “It was just wonderful to be together”.

Carolyn Bennett explains a little bit about the process

If you would like to do this for your street, it is easy. This event was resident driven, not a catered event. You can contact Sarah Karnatz directly (x7246) to set up the date, time, and location. If you need tables or chairs, she can assist you. For any other assistance please feel free to contact Carolyn Bennett (cjosmith341@gmail.com or 6249) or Willi Zilkey (willizilkey@gmail.com or 6871). They are willing to give you a packet of information regarding the advertising for your event and the information necessary to make your arrangements with Sarah Karantz.

We’re All First Responders

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by Bob Buddemeier

As Hurricane IDA  bore down on Southern Louisiana, the mayor of New  Orleans warned that residents would have to look after themselves for a while.

“Look, this is our time, your time, to prepare yourselves. Now. This is it. Check on your neighbours, check on your friends, of course your family. What we learned, particularly during Katrina, we are first responders, all of us, our neighbours, we’re all first responders.”

The recently issued RVM Campus Evacuation Guidelines for Fire  focuses on the role of RVM in evacuating cottage residents to shelter in the towers in the event of a wildfire threat, and the role of residents — specifically, the Resident Preparedness Group (RPG) — in supporting that activity.  Given those specific plans and objectives, what does it mean to say that we are all first responders?

It does not mean that we can function as policemen, firefighters, or paramedics.  Set aside the technical aspects of emergency response  — what it does mean is that your neighborhood or floor coordinator will be at your door sooner than RVM staff, and that in many cases your next-door neighbor can be there sooner still.  Does somebody need an explanation of what’s going on, or what to do?  Help with crating a pet?  Assistance  getting a walker and go-bag out to the driveway for pickup?

These needs for assistance will not be limited to the cottages.  Tower residents will require clear information and instructions and will have to deal with major life disruptions when a hundred or more cottage residents are quartered in their building.  In both types of residences, there will be confusion and traffic problems as some residents choose to self-evacuate, and others to shelter in place.

The mayor’s statement had one other key element — “to prepare yourselves.”  Initially RPG focused heavily on preparations for the Cascadia earthquake.  The 2020 wildfire evacuation experience refocused attention on emergency response, but now that the shelter-in-place policy has been put forward, it’s time to revisit preparation.  There are more different kinds to consider — short-distance and short-time shelter, as well as the long haul following an earthquake.

What doesn’t change is the importance of “first response” — whether it’s in preparation or in response, neighbors helping neighbors is the key to getting everybody through it.

The New Friendship Table

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By Fred Sommer, member of the RVM Dining Services Advisory Committee

 

“Do you have friends or neighbors who do not use a computer, or who do not read RVMlist?  If so, please consider giving them a copy of this article.

Download the pdf file here: The New Friendship Table.

 

It is estimated that there are more than 150 RVM residents living independently who are single or whose partners cannot dine with them. With COVID there are limited options for dining or for meet and greet. Hopefully once all dining options are open and there are no restrictions, we can implement plans for welcoming and including those who might otherwise dine alone.

Meanwhile, there is a great need. Some of the postings on ListServ are “my hardest thing is finding people to dine with here at the Manor” or “I’ve lived in a cottage for 5 years. Without a friendship table life would have been very lonely”.

I am glad to report there is now a grass-roots movement of friendship tables. I believe it started with Yvonne Lynne suggesting “Invitation Tables”. This was picked up as a challenge by the Millers who reserved a table for six and invited others to join them. The response was so great that they could have had filled five more tables. At least six residents have reserved tables and invited others to join them. Most invitations were open, some preferred newer residents, others preferred foreign service or Peace Corps graduates. All tables were filled and all hosts had a good time.

As this issue of the Complement goes to press, dinner services have been temporarily suspended due to staffing shortages.  However, any meal can be shared, and many prefer the lower key ambience of breakfast or lunch.  And, of course, dinner will come back.

We have found that the responders that filled the tables were overwhelmingly established residents who have resided at the Manor for many years. We have not reached our newer residents, either as hosts or as responders, who are in greater need of creating friendships. Perhaps some of them are too shy or uncomfortable, or they are awed by and afraid to try Open Table.

       Open Table Tutorial

Open Table is easy. Go to MyRVM.org, click on “Dining” in the top row, and scroll to the bottom. You will see a headline “Open Table Online Reservations”. Simply select the number of people, the date, and the time for your reservation. You will see a new screen showing what times are open. If you see a time that works for you, click on it and confirm. This takes you to a new screen where you are asked to fill out your name, phone, and address. That’s All.

The problem is getting the reservation on the date and time you requested. My solution is to make a reservation as early as 7:00 AM for a date one week out. Please note that there are only a few tables for six and these tend to go quickly. If you can’t get one, try a table for four.

Now that you know how to make a reservation, all you have to do is have the courage to make one. Then send an email to rvmlist@groups.io (this is ListServ) inviting others to join you by responding to your email. You select your meal companions from those responding. You have nothing to lose, and who knows, you may meet a new best friend. Do try it!

So far, this program has been limited to residents who have and use a computer. We need suggestions for expanding it to those without a computer.

Please email any suggestions to fredsommer4@gmail.com. Thank you.

Neighbors Together

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Reaching Out to Create Community Connections

by Carolyn Bennett

We have had almost 16 months in altered reality. We are now dealing with changes that have made it difficult to function in the manner that was familiar and comforting. The concerns we are witnessing and hearing include:

  • It is easier to stay in one’s apartment to continue to receive “bagged” meals.
  • The reservation process is overwhelming to many
  • There is a loss of spontaneity for all of us to just show up for meals
  • or to go the The Bistro
  • The community table has disappeared
  • Many have lost their soul mates, altering life & creating isolation
  • And one of the biggest complaints is the quiet, closed door corridors in the Manor and the Plaza: There is a lack of connection with neighbors.

Recognizing these issues, Carolyn Bennett, Willi Zilkey, Holly Lawson and Lynn Ogren formed a committee, Neighbors Together, to address some of these issues. Thanks to the efforts of Sarah Karnatz and neighbors throughout RVM, lots of activities have provided a renewed sense of community. People are coming out to enjoy Mexican Train, Bingo, the RVM Farm Stand, and the Beverage Cart roaming throughout the cottages. Neighborhoods within the cottage area have gathered in driveways, under shade trees or on grassy slopes. Coffee and tea have returned to the Manor lobby and the Bistro.

However, not everyone has gotten involved and many still feel excluded. Some residents have become complacent with their “bag” life style. The new committee respects people’s choices; however, the main objective of Neighbors Together is to show kindness and caring to those who feel isolated and unimportant at RVM.

In collaboration with Sarah Karantz, the Beverage Cart will be in operation at the Plaza and the Manor during the month of August. The Neighbors Together is promoting this effort and providing hostesses for each of the following stops:

 

The new committee is on a mission to create social connectors throughout the campus. In the high-rises and in the cottage neighborhoods they hope to promote “Neighbors Together” time.

The hope is that in the Manor, the Terrace, and the Plaza, each floor will create a time for their neighborhood to come together by just gathering in one of their community areas. It is thought that perhaps each floor could have a person in charge of birthdays or other special recognitions to promote community well wishes. The list is endless of how we can create a feeling of belonging and kindness.

Sarah Karantz will assist any neighborhood with making reservations for a room and supplying tables & chairs either for a room setting or for a street party. The committee is here to help in any way they can. They are looking for some volunteers to assist with making their floor an inclusive and happy environment.

The testimony of the majority of residents at RVM is that this is one of the most beautiful and congenial campuses in which to live. We now just have to go the extra step to maintain this reputation. Thanks to all of you for extending your care and kindness to all who live at RVM!!!!

For more information please contact:

Carolyn Bennett (cjosmith341@gmail.com) or 6249

Willi Zilkey (willizilkey@gmail.com) or 6871

Holly Lawson (hflawson22@gmail.com)

Everything You Want to Know About Secret

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By Joni Johnson

Thanks to Janet And Jerre Scott, many of us were first introduced to Secret, the 6-year-old Australian Shepherd that is taking the world by storm with the video on dog and human yoga poses.

She belongs to Mary Peters, a resident of Bellingham, Washington, who is also taking the world by storm.  Unbeknownst to many, Mary has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum and Secret is her therapy dog.  She found her as a puppy in Scio, Oregon, and Mary started her Instagram account in 2015 at the age of 14, just a few months after Secret was born.  This picture appeared in her Instagram account “my_aussie_gal” in August when Secret was just shy of her 8 month birthday.  She chose an Australian shepherd because they are known to have a strong work drive and according to the American Kennel Club, they are remarkably intelligent, quite capable of hoodwinking an unsuspecting novice owner and a brainy and a tireless trainable partner for work or sport.

The reason that I say that Mary is taking the world by storm is that currently she has over a million followers and has been interviewed everywhere including Newsweek.  Her videos of Secret have over three million viewers.  As someone on the autism spectrum, Mary trained Secret to help her negotiate situations that were difficult for her.  Therapy dogs do a great deal to help people of all ages feel socially and emotionally secure.

There are three types of dogs recommended for people with Autism.  One is a companion dog, a second is a therapy dog and the third and most strenuously trained is a service dog.  For more information go to: https://www.autismspeaks.org/expert-opinion/service-dog-or-therapy-dog-which-best-child-autism

According to Loyalty Service Dogs, autism service dogs can help in many ways.  For example, they include tethering, deep pressure therapy, acting as a deterrent for self-harm, calming tantrums and meltdowns, acting as an anchor to help with bolting, confidence building, and more.

One parent described her experience after having a trained autism therapy dog for her daughter.  “I have slept through the night almost every single night since we got him, because Clara is calm and sleeping! This is such a huge change in our lives, I’m not even sure how to describe it, except to say that Clara is awake and cheerful when I come to get her in the morning!”

Mary is now 21 and will be entering University of Washington in Seattle in the fall majoring in Japanese with her service dog, Secret, beside her. She says in her interview with Newsweek that she couldn’t have made it through her community college classes without Secret. Mary started her journey as a home-schooled child.  When she started her Instagram account, she hoped her followers might help her with some teaching tips.  She spent a year training Secret as a therapy dog.  Then the training took off.

Mary uses a method called progressive reinforcement, a term created by San Diego-based dog trainer Emily Larlham. If you visit her YouTube channel, “Kikopup,” you will find more than 350 free in-depth dog training tutorials. “Progressive reinforcement is positive-oriented training without the use of physical or psychological intimidation,” Mary explains. “For example, I reward Secret’s desirable behavior and prevent unwanted behavior.” Each time that Secret completes a trick or something new, Mary gives her a treat.  She says it would take too long to explain how she trains Secret for complicated tricks such as playing piano or sledding, but Mary generally trains in very small, incremental steps over time to teach Secret a new skill.

From what I gather, Secret first started learning to paint because Mary found a video on Instagram of a dog who could paint.  From there it has morphed into yoga, skate boarding, sledding, Irish jigs, vacuuming, doing the laundry and then hanging up the dry shirts and much much more.  I thought her painting was extraordinary for a dog and even for many of the humans that I know.

In 2019, Mary taught Secret to play Jenga which is a game where each person must extract a piece of a wooden pyramid without causing the pyramid to fall.  Check out the video of her ability to concentrate and her knowledge of the game.

One of the amazing features of the bond that Secret and Mary have is Secret’s willingness to fall backwards into Mary’s outstretched arms even from a significant height.  This shows the incredible faith and trust that Secret has for her human.  Falling backwards is very difficult for most people, let alone for a dog because you can’t explain to them that you will be there to catch them. In one of her video posts she wrote, “ You need to show them that in everything you do, not just when they are physically falling.  Secret trusts that I will catch her, but more importantly, she trusts that I will be there for her in every aspect of life.”

That kind of relationship is a very special one but not impossible to duplicate.  How lucky we would all be if we had someone like that in our life.  Or if we were there for someone in that way.  It really is an inspiration.

Here is a five minute clip of ALMOST everything she does-including her painting!

Sources: instagram.com/my_aussie_gal, whatcomtalk.com, thesun.co.uk, https://encoredog.org/australian-shepherd  Newsweek.com,Autismspeaks.com

 

 

 

Peace Corps in Turkey 1967-1969

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by Joni Johnson

This is a series of articles about the Peace Corps as they were experienced by RVM residents.  They will be offered over the next few months.

My actual memories of my time in Peace Corps are limited because they happened so long ago and because I didn’t really keep a diary or make notes.  But what remains clear is how that experience was absolutely instrumental in my growth as a person.  Each story in this Peace Corps series will be different.  One happened around the same time as mine but in a different context.  And the other two stories took place in the lives of the volunteers when they were in their forties and fifties and sixties.  And of course, that in itself would affect a person in totally different ways than it affected me.  But in all cases, as you will see, being a Peace Corps volunteer was a life changing event.

I went into the Peace Corps in 1967 with my first husband.  I was a teacher of ESL at a Boys Boarding School in Izmir, Turkey, and he was there to help the new Tourism industry.  I can honestly say that it was one of the most important experiences of my life because of my exposure to another culture in spite of the beginning of the huge cultural upheaval going on in the United States thanks to the Vietnam War and the beginning of the Hippie movement.  I missed a lot of the major events of that era in the US- The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Kent State Protests and those in Chicago as well as the trial of the Chicago 7.

View from My Apartment

On the other hand, I was immersed in the wonderful Turkish culture.  Many people talk of their Peace Corps life of fabulous emotional experiences but somewhat physical deprivation.  I definitely had the fabulous emotional experiences, but my physical existence was fabulous as well.  We were paid what others were paid for the same position in the same town where they lived.  That meant that we got the equivalent of $100 per month, which allowed us to live in an apartment in a very middle-class part of town with views overlooking the Aegean sea.

Joni and a Turkish friend and another Peace Corps volunteer hanging out together

It was true that we didn’t have a refrigerator, so that meant that we bought our meat, fruit and vegetables each day at the market on the way home.  It was true that we didn’t have a clothes washer, so we did have to boil our clothes in a large pot on the stove. But if I remember correctly, we made enough to hire someone to clean our house and boil our clothes, so life wasn’t so bad. I remember the daily baked bread being delivered to the apartment, and so I started my day with freshly baked bread and freshly ground peanut butter. I gained 10 pounds the first month on the job and had to seriously rethink my diet.

I worked at the Bornova Maarif Koleji which was in a suburb of Izmir.  It was a boarding school for boys and went from late elementary to high school.  I taught all levels of English.  I had taught science in my real life, but my minor in college was English. However, the Peace Corps gave us the tools with which to teach our students. Unlike many of the schools in Turkey, where teachers had to teach classes of 60 or more students, our classes were more like twenty-five.  We got to know our students very well.  Many of them went to summer camp with us which was lots of fun.

A Turkish friend wearing an antique Turkish wedding dress

My Turkish never gained the competence of those living in more rural areas. Living in a big city, most of my Turkish friends spoke English better than I spoke Turkish.  But the relationships we built there were unforgettable.  I can honestly say that the Peace Corps experience continues to change and affect my life.  I appreciate other cultures and peoples in ways I doubt I would have.  I know it has helped me with jobs.  And I still keep in touch with some of my old friends.

We were the first Peace Corps training group that did not have to pass a “boot camp” requirement. Thank goodness. I don’t know if I could have joined.  The biggest challenge in Turkey was not physical.  It was political.  At the time, Turkey and Greece were not friendly with each other.  And there was some tension around how our government was dealing with the two countries, especially as it related to Cyprus.  In fact, the Peace Corps only stayed in Turkey until 1971 largely because of the political issues and their concern for their volunteers.  One time, several volunteers jokingly said that Ataturk had been Greek.  They were sent home.

Tom and I went back to Turkey in 2013, and by accident, I reconnected with one of my old students. All of a sudden, word was out and I was getting emails from students who still lived in Izmir and wanted to see me when we arrived there as part of our trip.  It turned out that one of them was now the president of a major university, and his friend (also an old student of mine) actually remembered where I had lived almost sixty years before and took us there, gained entrée with the current resident and we got a tour of my former apartment.  I can’t even begin to describe my feelings about that wonderful day.

Joni and Tom with her old students in Izmir in 2013

Sick of it…or sick with it?

/in

by Bob Buddemeier

Here we go again — masked, but not yet distanced or locked down.

To consider the future, look at what the Mail-Tribune told us (August 5) about the past and near-present.

COVID cycles tend to run on time scales of weeks — take a look at the smaller hills and valleys in the graph above. That means that if we are very lucky the current spike might be turning around by the end of August.

So what?  The delta variant isn’t killing many vaccinated people. On the other hand it can be a pretty nasty disease even if non-fatal, and introducing it into a community rife with old people having multiple underlying conditions doesn’t seem like a good idea.

From the Mail-Tribune, August 7, p1 — “Breakthrough Cases on the Rise in State:”

In July, 91% of COVID-19 deaths in Oregon were among people who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, according to the report. That’s 50 of 55 deaths. [Note that 5, or 9%, were fully vaccinated. ]  While the state didn’t share specific details for each of those cases, officials say of the 42 fully vaccinated people who’ve died in Oregon of COVID-19 since vaccinations began nearly eight months ago, the median age is 83.  [Which is pretty close to the median age of RVM residents.  How do you like that 9% chance?]

Does anyone else wonder what life might be like if we were to get a breakthrough cluster on campus?

But let’s look a little farther into the future, and check in on our friend, Mr. Science.  Well, OK, Dr. Science.  A very recent paper came up with some answers to a question of considerable interest — how do environmental conditions affect the spread of COVID?

The researchers looked at the relationship between environmental conditions and infections in 5 comparable settings — We are only going to look at the 3 temperate sites.

The conditions considered were temperature, humidity, ultraviolet radiation (UV), and something called air drying capacity (ADC).  If you want to know about that last one, read the paper.

The figures below show COVID cases in gray and the environmental variable in blue for Canada, Germany, and Chile (remember that Chile is in the southern hemisphere, so its calendar is backwards).  The result?  All three show the big COVID occurrence in winter — and not just sort of; the relationships are strong and consistent.

Seasonal variation of COVID-19 prevalence and environmental variables. Seasonal variation of weekly COVID-19 prevalence alongside weekly (a–e) temperature, (f–j) specific humidity, (k–o) air drying capacity, and (p–t) ultraviolet radiation across COVID-19 hotspots, such as (a, f, k, and p) Canada in North America, (b, g, l, and q) Germany in Europe, and (e, j, o, and t) Chile in South America.  GeoHealth, Volume: 5, Issue: 6, First published: 17 May 2021, DOI: (10.1029/2021GH000413)

Take a look at our neighbor, Canada.  Cases are well on their way up by mid-October, with a December-January peak.  Looks like we had better get to that herd immunity in two months.

We all need a little encouragement — will we get it from the uncertainties in our knowledge and predictions?

  • We don’t know if the delta variant will act like the 2020 strains (it probably will).
  • There may be other mutants playing in the game 3-4 months from now.
  • We don’t really know how long the immunity lasts from vaccine or infection (that is, how many infectible people there will be 4 months from now).
  • And the wild card — we don’t know what the regular (non-COVID) flu season will be like this year.  COVID precautions probably suppressed it last year, but that’s less likely now.  Will people get those flu shots?  What strains will be active?  Is it possible to get both diseases at the same time?  If we go into a 2-disease outbreak, will precautions be based on one or the combination?

Several of the uncertainties could turn out on the positive (or at least not-too-negative) side.  So are you encouraged?  If so, congratulations, but don’t let it interfere with keeping  precautions high and expectations no more than moderate.