Readiness Review Reminder

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By Bob Buddemeier

Autumn is here, and we are almost out of wildfire season.  That means you can take a break from worrying about how Slithers, your pet rat-snake, would adapt to being evacuated to the Plaza.  Does it mean you can take a break from worrying altogether?  No way!  Winter is coming.

Let’s suppose you are an outdoorsy aesthete, waiting eagerly for the first snow to come so you can drive up into the back country to feast your eyes on the winter landscape.  It does, and you do, and the car slides off the road into a narrow ravine with no cell coverage.  “Aha,” you think proudly, “I have my Car-Go-Bag in the trunk.”  So you scramble around, open it up, and pull out — a broad-brimmed hat, some sunscreen, and two extra water bottles.  Uh-oh.

Or maybe you are the homebody type, planning to stay snug and warm inside all winter.  So when the precocious 8-year-old in Fresno who got a laptop for Christmas crashes the entire U.S. power grid, you decide to go to bed to keep warm.  But that little light on the electric blanket control doesn’t go on.  Think!  Did you bring any real blankets, or were those all downsized?  Uh-oh.

Moral:  Eternal vigilance is the price of preparedness, with organization, self-awareness, and other very scarce commodities mixed into the price along with vigilance

But, FEAR NOT! The Residents’ Preparedness Group (RPG), with complicity of the RVM Emergency Preparedness Task Force, has devised a plan for keeping all of us somewhat ready to survive the next earthquake, wildfire, power outage, or other misadventure, foreseeable or unforeseen.

The Plan:  Every 6 months, Fall and Spring, we’ll have a Readiness Review week.  The selected times are (1) the week containing the 3rd Thursday in October (the Great ShakeOut – more on that below), and (2) the week containing April 15 (Tax day – considered a disaster by many).  RPG and RVM will be reviewing their own programs, but especially reaching out to residents with reminders, information updates, demonstrations, advice and assistance with emergency preparations, and for those interested, classes and exercises.  Your local coordinator (the neighbor in the lime-green safety vest) will be in touch.

Upcoming – the week of the Great Shakeout (shakeout.org/Oregon/) – October 17-23, with the actual Shakeout on 10/21/21, at 10:21 a.m.   We expect everyone to luxuriate in the expanded significance of the whole week, but to focus down on the core event – The Great ShakeOut is an international promotion of earthquake awareness and safety.  Any number can (and do) play.

Here are the rules:  pay attention because we are in the area of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is thought to be ripe for a Great or Very Great Earthquake just about any old time.  So, we are going to simulate a serious earthquake beginning at 10:21 and lasting for 4 minutes or so (this is not one of your quick-and-dirty California quakes).  You are supposed to take the appropriate action for your location and condition at the time.

First, if you are lucky and attentive, you feel a very noticeable but not devastating shaking.  That is your friend the p-wave arriving to let you know that in not more than a minute, the big bad s-wave will arrive and shake the crap out of everything.

Whatever you feel first, ACT!  Inside, DROP, COVER, AND HOLD.  Anywhere, get away from things likely to fall on you, such as tall furniture, overpasses, power lines, breaking windows, etc.  If you’re not sure of what to do or how to do it – well, that’s why we have these days and weeks.  Find out.

The following linked references are available on both the myRVM Emergency Preparedness page, and on The Complement/Prepare.  Both sites have other information as well.

Recommended Earthquake Safety Actions  What to do when it hits.

Earthquake Preparedness Guide — Disabilities  Not limited to people with disabilities – preparation advice is good for everyone.

 

Book Review –  The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

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  by Bonnie Tollefson

Book Review –  The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World, Laura Imai Messina, The Overlook Press, 2021

A few months ago a fellow resident said to me with a subtle curl of the lip and a wrinkle to the nose, “Eww, you read series fiction.”  Yes I do.  I enjoy the continuing story of the characters and reading books that feel comfortable.  Sometimes the characters develop and occasionally the author does.  Series can be found in almost every genre of fiction, so it is not as tho I read only mysteries.  However, in recognition of her tastes, this quarter I went to the RVM library to find a book to review that was not part of a series or by an author known for series work, and I found a gem.  The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina is a novel set in Japan, written in Italian, translated into English.  The author is Italian, born and raised in Rome, who went to Japan to improve her Japanese.  Fifteen years later she still lives in Japan with a husband, two children and a job teaching Italian.

Yuri, a main character in the book, became the host of a call-in radio show in Tokyo after losing her mother and young daughter in the March 11, 2011 tsunami.  She hears one evening about a garden with a phone booth where one can talk to the dead.  The Wind Phone helps many people deal with the loss of loved ones.  This is a book about grief, a book about hope, and a book about love.  It can be a quick read or savored, but it contains something for everyone.  The author includes the information on research conducted on how many hugs are required in a day for survival, as well as acknowledging that the truth is “that love is a miracle.  Even the second time around, even when it comes to you by mistake.”  I won’t include a spoiler about what happens to Yuri, but since hope and love are components of the story you might guess. Near the end of the book “Yuri came to understand that there was always joy somewhere within unhappiness.”

The March 11 tsunami was an actual event just as the Bell Gradia garden and the Wind Phone are real.  In the author’s note Laura Imai Messina says “For me the Wind Phone is mainly this: a metaphor that suggests how precious it is to hold on tight to joy as well as pain. That even when we are confronted by the subtractions, the things that life takes from us, we have to open ourselves up to the many additions it can offer too.”  An important lesson for us all.

The book can be found at both the RVM library and the Jackson County Public Library.

October Library Display

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by Anne Newins

This month’s display will feature fiction and non-fiction books about actors.  Why are people interested in actors’ lives?  It seems to me that when young, one reason many people are curious about actors is because it gives them vicarious pleasure.  Most of us are not simultaneously rich, good-looking, and famous.

However, by the time actors have been in the business long enough to have biographies written about them, our interest in them may have changed because we have aged ourselves.  It is hard to believe that a seasoned actors  like Audrey Hepburn, Michael Caine, Robin Williams, or Ingrid Bergman would not have had challenges, some sort of artistic insight, or viewpoints different from our own as well as unusual life experiences.

Fictional work about actors gives an author tremendous leeway in terms of character development, usually skewing towards their flaws.  After all, who wants to read a novel about a boring, nine to five sort of person?  Suspense writers are drawn to actors, including popular authors like Jonathan Kellerman and Michael Connelly.

This month’s display also will include biographies about Michael J. Fox, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, novels by Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, Kristin Hannah, Stuart Woods, and many others.

The display table is located near the main entrance of the library.

 

Emergency Power at Home- Why, What and How

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By Joni Johnson

When the power goes out, it is very nice – and could be life-saving – to have a back-up source of electricity. Power supplies can be battery packs that are charged when there is power and used when there isn’t, or they can be battery packs attached to an independent source of electricity, like solar panels or car batteries.

Tom and I were very devil-may-care about getting a generator until the second power outage this year.  Because of a need to keep some health machines going and the desire to see in the dark, we started looking into options for power supplies that would work here on campus.

Gas:   For reasons of safety, RVM does not allow gas or diesel generators in our homes.  If someone needs to be hooked up to electricity during a power outage, their main option is to be moved to the Manor for an electric hook-up to the emergency generator there.

Solar:   After simple stored-power battery backups, the next and most viable choice is solar powered energy, and there seem to be a lot of these power supplies on campus.  After inquiring, I was contacted by a number of people directly and others gave me names of people with this equipment.  The big questions are, what do you want to charge, how heavy do you want the machine to be, and how much do you want to spend?  All of the batteries discussed in this article can be charged from your electric socket while you have power, from solar panels, or from a 12v car charger.

Important – before you buy a power supply, make sure that it will work with the equipment you are interested in using. Voltage – AC or DC? All of these batteries do have both options but some of the less expensive ones might not. The Watts (power requirement) – if it doesn’t tell you, multiply Volts times Amps. Watt-hours of the supply will tell you how long it will power an appliance of specific wattage.  For example, most  home medical gear (CPAP, oxygen concentrators) will run on 12 volts DC, although you may need some accessories, but air purifiers are AC only, and some power supplies do not have AC output.

Small Power Supplies –

 1.  David Drury bought a setup from Amazon with an 80-watt solar panel strip (which he can hang from his back deck), and a 296 watt-hour storage battery. It weighs 6.6 lbs.

In his words, “I can charge all kinds of small electronic appliances — up to laptops — as well as batteries for flashlights etc. The storage battery is very versatile, produces both AC and DC current, and even includes a 12-volt attachment for connecting to car batteries. The important point (or one of them) is that using the solar panel in conjunction with a storage battery provides a lot more flexibility. You can charge things when the sun isn’t shining, and take maximum advantage of the sun when it IS shining — whether or not you’ve got anything that immediately needs charging.

If I had any buyer’s remorse, it would be that I got the 80 watt rather than the 100 watt panel (which is 6 feet long, as opposed to my more convenient 4 ft panel). Likewise, the smallish battery unit which would probably not be enough to run an oxygen concentrator. The next higher battery pack is 504 watt -hours.

His solar panels are connected and can be folded into a briefcase.  They can be hung as he does or can be mounted at an angle of 40 degrees with their kickstands for better efficiency.

  1. Keith Maxfield wanted to buy locally and wanted a machine with the smallest possible footprint and with a collapsible handle so that he could keep it in his RV. He chose a Goal Zero Yeti Lithium 500X Portable Power Station.

He also chose a 4 panel connected 100 watt solar panel by Goal Zero, called the Nomad 100, which can fold up.

Medium Power Supplies

 Tom and I wanted a higher capacity battery, but I needed to be able to carry it. We had to run a battery-powered oxygen concentrator (how many watts?).  With a lot of help from Ron Constable, I ended up buying a Jackery 1000 package which included two 100 watt solar panels.  The solar panels charge the battery from 0 to 100% in 8 hours in full sun.  In our case, Tom’s battery powered oxygen concentrator could last about 10 hours on the battery pack. We have a charger that can charge one of the two concentrator batteries separately, which leaves a lot of room for charging other things like iPhones, iPads and computers.  We should also be able to light one lamp, although we did buy a battery-operated lantern. The Jackery 1000 weighs 22 pounds and is fairly easy for me to carry. I bought from Amazon because Home depot’s Jackery was listed as the 880 and in fact only ran 880 watt-hours. When I searched for their 1000, it was significantly more money.

You can see the size of the battery compared to a bottle of wine and how easy it is to store the two panels in a closet.  This is what it looks like open.

 

 

Larger

 Bill Anderson has a Jackery 1500 plus the four 100 watt panels included in his package.  The Jackery 1500 wasn’t available on Amazon, so he bought it through the Jackery company itself.  It weighs 35 pounds.  With the 4 solar panels you can recharge the battery in 4 hours of sunlight.

This is what it looks like out on the trail:

Bill also has a Tesla which can provide electricity, and can have him living the life of Riley for weeks on end without the need for any other power source.  With that, he could use his coffee maker, a small refrigerator, an electric frying pan and a toaster.

If you have or want a Tesla, he is the man to talk to about what it can do for you in a power outage.

Really Large

There are other people on campus who have much larger batteries.  For example, one person has a Goal Zero Yeti 3000X battery plus two 200 watt solar panels that will cost around $3000 plus the panels, but will run things for a significantly longer period of time.  However, it is bigger and heavier (69.78 lb).  The Yeti 3000 comes with wheels.

The weather is changing.  If we are caught in another power outage or worse yet, an earthquake with indefinite loss of power, what would you do? The bottom line is that there are many choices of solar powered back-up battery systems. The three brands mentioned in this article are well respected.  The Jackery and Goal Zero can be bought on-line or in stores such as REI or Home Depot, depending on the brand.  Pricing can be vary a lot, so it pays to double check.  If you have any questions, the companies seem very accessible.  And the owners here on campus have allowed me to post their names as well, and can serve as advisors and references.  And there are all sorts of YouTube videos comparing one power source with another.  It is worth a look!

Below is a link to a chart showing typical wattage for various appliances and equipment:

https://www.donrowe.com/usage-chart-a/259.htm

 

for example

cell phone      10

laptop             20-75

iPad                10-20

tv-led 32”       50

tv-42 plasma  240

refrigerator    500-750

CPAP 20-60 W depending on model and accessories

Oxygen concentrators    high power, 100-600 W

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bringing Lawn Bowling Back to its Former Glory

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By Joni Johnson

Did you know that one of RVM’s residents reached the quarter-finals in the National Lawn Bowling Championship in Seattle? That was Eleanor Ritchie in 1985, when more than 200 men and women from all over the United States had competed in that event.  In addition, in 1983, also at the Nationals, Eleanor won the “triples” (bowling with 2 others) and was runner up in doubles.  It is still possible to find her name on the internet.

       First Bowling Green at RVM

Did you know that 1961, the very same year the Manor opened, was the year that RVM broke ground for a natural grass, three-rink green that existed approximately where the current exercise room and indoor pool exists today?  That was also the same year that the indoor one-rink green was built.  One might wonder why an ecumenical community group of Methodists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians who were creating Rogue Valley Manor for retirees might be so interested in creating two lawn bowling greens at the very beginning of RVM’s existence.  No one knows for sure, but the guess is that one of the members of the RVM executive Board, the Rev. R.V. Bolster, who was a native of County Cork, Ireland, educated at Trinity College, and a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was the initiator.

                Bowling in 1973

What happened next? you ask.  After more than 10 years, the natural-grass green became very difficult to maintain, so a new green was created in 1973 using donations from 27 people for the artificial turf.  The single green ran between the old health center and what is now the gym area, but went north south. And then, in 1992, to make room for the new health center addition, the current, two-rink green facing east-west was created.

All sorts of tournaments took place in the ensuing years.  Someone said that “a day without bowls is like a day without orange juice.”  In 1987, RVM’s bowling club accepted invitations to tournaments with three clubs in Oregon and individual members bowled in Arizona, California and Washington.

I started bowling shortly after I arrived on campus in the spring of 2019.  At that time, Alan Bushell gave us several classes to understand the game and how to roll the bowl.  For those new to the game, it’s called a bowl rather than a ball because it is not symmetrically round and therefore, when it leaves your hand, it goes straight for a while and then it curves. So it’s not only a physical game, it’s also a game of strategy.  When I started, there were meetings and dinners, and it was very hard to get on a team.  I was a sub for quite a while until someone decided to quit and there was a place for me.

Then Covid hit and all turned to naught.  While people still played, rather than being a club that felt cohesive and strongly bonded, we became just a gaggle of teams.  Nobody met as a group beyond the teams and so enthusiasm sort of waned.

                 Norm Boice

Norm Boice, the new president of our RVM Lawn Bowls Club, wants to return us to our former glory.  He would love to have receptions and tournaments and events and meals again. “We have to be a little cautious because of the pandemic,” he says, “but with almost all of the residents and employees vaccinated, life might return somewhat to normal here at our cocoon on the hill.  Lawn Bowling used to be THE sport.  And the fact that we have both a beautiful outdoor two-rink green and an indoor green for winter is extraordinary.  There are only two other lawn bowling clubs in Oregon.  One is in Portland, and the other is in a retirement center in King City. How lucky we are, and we should take full advantage of our good fortune.”

If you are interested in knowing more about the game, please contact Norm Boice at X6164 or email him at normb2306@gmail.com

Coordinators’ Corner

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Anybody may read it, but it’s mostly handy info and recent updates for RPG Coordinators

Report on Coordinators’ meeting 10/6/21:  Q&A, input, reports on RPG activities present and future  To view or download the PDF, CLICK HERE

Topics:  Radio training, Safety vest gear, subject of review documents (below)

 

Documents posted for information, or for review and comment

RPG Personnel Needs.  Announcement, 10/15/21.  To view or download PDF, CLICK HERE

RPG Functional Reliability: Personnel Backups  Draft for Review 10/02/2021  To view or download the PDF, CLICK HERE

This document describes the need for having backup replacements for absent coordinators, and suggests approaches to addressing the need.

Preparedness Review and the Great Shakeout  To view or download the PDF, CLICK HERE

Proposed semiannual readiness review, linked in the Fall to the international earthquake safety awareness program (The Great Shakeout)

Getting in Touch, Staying in Touch: Draft for Review 10/02/2021  To view or download the PDF, CLICK HERE

Workshops designed to assist coordinators in developing relationships with residents to build individual and local community preparedness

Why the Fake Quake?

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by Bob Buddemeier

On October 21, at 10:21 a.m., some of us joined in the Great Shakeout event – an imaginary earthquake, for which we were supposed to take appropriate action (Drop, Cover, and Hold is the relevant  slogan).  I happened to be in the deep end of the pool, for which I had encountered no instructions.  I settled for hanging on tightly to the ladder rails.  I had a good view of the gym, and I did not see anybody drop to the floor and crawl under the treadmill, or any of the other appliances.

I rather suspect that overall participation was underwhelming.  In part that can be ascribed to current conditions – it’s still COVID season, RVM staffing issues, etc.  Jens Larsen put out a reminder memo and we ran some notices on Channel 900, but we didn’t come anywhere close to the kind of “light ‘em up” festivity that Sarah Karnatz is known for.  She has to be on the recruitment list for next year.

But what’s the point?  Why should we even think about 10:21 a.m. much less get down on the floor and crawl under a table?   And then, as Teddie Hight pointed out, try to figure out how to get up again.

Well, the first part of why is because you might need to.  In case you haven’t heard, or don’t remember, we live in the region that will be affected by a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.  Not might, WILL.  And what is a CSZ earthquake?  It’s BIG.  Like 9.0 at the epicenter and maybe 7 by the time it gets to Medford.  This is not your California 7, however – those have durations measured in seconds.  Up here, the CSZ goes on for minutes  — lots of shaking time for things to come unglued.

Now, it is true that we may all die of something else before the CSZ produces a 9.0, but if not, it’s reassuring to think that you can do something to keep from being crushed into a pulpy mess.  And if asked what that is, you might think for a moment and then say “Drop, Cover and Hold.”  The trouble is, it’s that moment that’s going to get you.  You need to be headed under the table at the fist wiggle, not after a period of intellectual reflection on the appropriate course of action.

And, few if any people can take that kind of immediate action without practice, or at least frequent visualization.  Remember the first time you let out a clutch in Driver’s Ed class?  A lot of hesitation, followed by slow action, followed by an abrupt jerk.  Equivalent to hitting your head on the leg after being too slow to get under the table.  Or the first dive into the pool?  Rocking back and forth and flexing your leg muscles on the edge before getting the inevitable nose full of water?  After doing those things a number of times, you got pretty good.

The problem is that we don’t get a lot of practice quakes to warm up on.  So fake it.  By now you should be feeling remorse for having failed to practice when the rest of the world did.  You can make up for it – make a deal with your partner or a friend to just say “Earthquake!” occasionally.  And practice your response.  There’s something you are supposed to do even if you can’t drop, cover, and hold.  Find out.  Or teach Alexa to say “earthquake” instead of “boodle-dee-oodledy-boodle.”

So, see you at the Great Shakeout next year.  Unless the Big One comes first and you haven’t practiced.

NIT WIT NEWZ

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(Nit WIt Newz is an unauthorized, often unreliable, on-line news service designed to keep Manor residents abreast of the inconsequential, sometimes fanciful, and most always superficial events that dramatically shape and inform our everyday lives here at Rogue Valley Manor.)

Campus-Wide Newz Briefs

                             

 CUTTING GARDEN (FINAL) SOLUTION AT HAND

Last summer’s devastation of dahlias in Manor’s cutting garden by area squirrels flummox RVM Sub-Committee for Rodent Control.

As reported in July minutes of Resident’s Council meeting: traps, sprays, baits, and fencing prove ineffective. Wily, bushy-tailed rodents prove impervious to deterrents.

Future bleak for dahlia loving residents—until now!

Resolution of squirrel menace reportedly at hand,

Sub-Committee narrows options to two:

-Introduce smoking to squirrels. (Tobacco industry embraces this option. Offers to underwrite feasibility tests).

-Deny squirrels third booster shot. (Non-vaxxers favor this option).

Newly minted Squirrel World wisdom:

Acorns, yes.  Dahlias, no.

 

——————

  

MANOR MART MOVE QUELLS RESIDENT DISAPPOINTMENT

Small set of peevish residents express displeasure at new Manor retail outlet not offering maxi-sized Big Gulp or Slurpee drinks.

Nor, group learns, will Mart be stocking other popular convenience store staples—beef jerky and foot-long, red licorice ropes.

Longing for a time past, another Manor group anticipated Mart would include soda fountain, racks of movie magazines and comic books; health aids like hot water bottles, mustard plasters; and beauty supplies including snoods, face powder, and henna rinse products.

In seemingly unrelated matter, Manor Mart announces the addition of beer, wine, and small bottles of liquor to its shelves.

Discontent of fretting groups fades.

Marked increase in Mart foot-traffic expected.

 

——————

                                                          Is this safe?

THE BRIDGES OF ROGUE VALLEY MANOR

 

Anticipating passage of an infrastructure bill, federal government dispatches members of Army Corps of Engineers to inspect prospective in-need sites throughout country.

Rogue Valley Manor infrastructure included in questionable sites.

Both Manor bridges tabbed for safety inspection.

In day-long examination, engineers put bridge over eastside lake and bridge spanning small lagoon at Village Center Drive and Malama Way through series of rigorous stress tests.

Inspections reveal structural integrity of Manor bridges not compromised.

Report assures residents safe bridge crossings to “…high degree of certainty.”

In addition to walking, residents may cross bridges confidently when using their popular small vehicles—skateboards, e-scooters, motorcycles, et al.

Concluding their work here at RVM, the Corps of Engineers move south for inspections of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.   Before leaving, the safety-cautious engineers suggest to Manor management the posting of “NO DIVING” signs at both Manor bridge sites.

 

 

—A. Looney

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.