|
The Peace Corps: The ‘After’ Life
Editor’s note: Author Carolyn Fineran was a successful business owner for more than 30 years in Denver, stepping out of her storefront shop, Tapestry, on New Year’s Eve 1999, and moving on to the next chapter of her life. Her life after business ownership is more fluid, less predictable, and definitely more interesting, she says. After graduating from SoutheasternLouisianaUniversity in 1964, she spent the summer at Notre DameUniversity preparing to enter the Peace Corps. She served in Venezuela, eventually landing in Caracas as an art therapist in a clinic for boys. The experience transformed her life. She learned to rely on herself, to laugh, to recognize fear and loneliness, and to forge lifelong friendships. The ability to speak Spanish ranks as her favorite accomplishment. Knowing how to live in another culture, to slow down and enjoy the spaces in life were important lessons. Her two years in the Peace Corps brought her to who she became. Enterprising Women asked Carolyn to write about how other entrepreneurial women who are approaching retirement are using their life experiences to benefits others through the Peace Corps.
BY CAROLYN FINERAN
What could inspire hundreds of people—many ‘seasoned adults’ over 50—to leave comfortable homes, and busy, active lives in safe places throughout the United States to pull up stakes and move to the South Pacific, The Philippines, Eastern Europe, South America, Asia or Africa for more than two years?
There comes a time in many lives when it is possible to make a clean break and transform your life. A calling comes to use your skills, test your mettle, and see if you have the right stuff to serve your fellow human beings. Finally, the right time arrives. You can move out of your old life and transform yourself. All it takes is courage. For others it is the realization that time passes too quickly and lifelong dreams best be acted upon while faculties and health permit.
Travel can transform you, change your life, bring you out of a crisis, and land you squarely in the next chapter of your life. You immerse yourself into another culture, and hear a language not your own spoken. You don’t understand it in the beginning, but by listening harder, you begin to hear the rhythms.
Smells come to mean a place or a time in life. Colors and lighting in new latitudes can brush away the familiar. The new place becomes “home” and the daily, basic exercises of eating, walking, talking, which at first overwhelm you, lose the charge and mellow into softer routines.
Ask most people about adventure and many will say, “I’d love to join the Peace Corps.” President Jimmy Carter’s mother, Miss Lillian, was the poster girl for older volunteers in the 1980s. Now, a growing number of women business owners are choosing the Peace Corps after selling their businesses or turning them over to their grown children. Instead of opting for a traditional retirement, they are using their business skills to help small business owners and others who need them on other continents.
Six percent of current Peace Corps volunteers are over 50, and that number is growing. The Peace Corps is quietly signing up volunteers who are fifty, sixty, and seventy plus years old. Their Web site, www.peacecorps.org offers great stories about older volunteers and how to join. You soon realize that age is nothing but a number if you are healthy, energetic and ready to serve.
Trailblazing in your later years
Where does the courage come from to leave a business in your later years and move on to an experience like the Peace Corps? Who are the people who are willing to volunteer? How will the Baby Boomers use what used to be called “the retirement years” in new ways?
Dr. Pam McLean, director of the Hudson Institute in Santa Barbara, is an expert on the subject of human development, and is excited about the changing way that people are entering the later decades of their lives. “We are living longer, healthier lives, with more possibilities,” McLean says. “”There is permission to explore new ways of being by pioneering new territory and a whole new stage in the adult lifespan is being created.”
“What we are seeing,” she adds, “is a vitally determined, passionate cohort of early elders ready to transform and trailblaze at a very different time in their later years.”
One of the most notable characteristics as we age is the desire to give back and to leave a legacy. While our early years are usually filled with work, family, social pressures, and responsibilities, as children grow up and leave home, our finances become more secure. The opportunity for volunteering can become more realistic at that stage in your life.
Meet Pam Anderson
An award winning business owner, floral designer, retailer, wholesaler, mother and grandmother, Pam Anderson was ready for a break. Her Colorado-based business, Gatherings, offered home delivery to put bouquets in the best homes. Like many entrepreneurs, she knew how to create something from nothing. With a lifetime of business experience behind her, she was ready to take some time out to use her talents to benefit others in a new way. She applied to the Peace Corps in the spring of 2001.
Pam began the process of letting go of her old life—giving away, loaning or selling her things. She found a home for her beloved pets and was ready for an assignment when 9/11 changed all of us forever. There was uncertainly about the future of the Peace Corps. Pam put her life on hold. During the months that followed, she found a place to stay, worked part-time, and waited it out—ultimately landing in a remote mountain village in the Philippines for her Peace Corp assignment.
Her last few months were a round of goodbyes to friends, family, and pets. Her parents supported her choice and she said goodbye, not realizing it would be the last time she saw her father. He passed away unexpectedly within the first few months of her Peace Corps assignment. Pam decided not to come home for the services, preferring to honor him with her dedication to her new life. Her letters were signed with affirmations that she had made the right choice and that her father would be proud of her.
The Adventure Begins
Pam took all of her friends with her on her adventure, writing long stories in her letters about her work and new friends. Titled “Pam’s Adventures,” her network of friends kept up with the community of Tadian, coming to know the players in the local government, fellow teachers, other Peace Corps volunteers, and the vigorous grandmothers who trekked the mountains with her.
She introduced her friends to the process of “Baliniham,” which is the community working together to get the desired results for all. When this concept works, Pam said, it was amazing. She cited an example:
“Three vehicles were stranded in the muddy, washed-out road, which was a single lane. The van had a dead battery and it sat almost at the top of the long hill, blocking passage. Eight strong backs joined together to push the van back down the hill and back up the previous hill so they could push it back down for a jump start. This solution involved lots of mud, sweat and toil, but there were no complaints. Instead, there was a feeling of accomplishment at having done their part and the security of knowing they were assured of the same treatment when they were stranded.”
Or, another example:
“An army of women who clean the weeds along the side of the road, worked together to pile the weeds into vast potholes and puddles—providing a cheap way to fill the holes and make travel a little easier until the next rain.”
Travel in the remote areas of the Philippines, Pam noted, was a true adventure.
Using the same enthusiasm and energy that had made her business a success, Pam launched a number of projects to benefit her adopted community as a Peace Corps volunteer. She started a reading center with activities like “The Good Readers Club,” story times, and art workshops—projects that delighted the kids who came to the center. She proudly noted that after the project was started, more than a thousand books were read in one month alone. She enlisted her network in the States to send donations for books, educational games and puzzles. The National Peace Corps office coordinated tax deductible donations for Pam’s projects.
“The Old Tales of Tadian” book was a project that the elders accomplished. Over seventy old folktales, chants or songs were translated from Kankanaey to English. During the process of editing the book, three of the elders passed away and their stories would have been lost if they had not been collected. With community funding, 330 books were published. Later, an Irogot celebration of songs and stories was video taped and recorded as their legacy.
Another project involved working with Cagubatan High School students creating an action plan to raise awareness of environmental problems. Their bamboo and recycled materials sculptures for the provincial science fair won first place.
The Girls Leading the World Club (GLOW) had a campout at the base of Mt. Magao and Pam was able to participate with 60 teenage Filipinas. They shouted “Napigsa ay babae” (strong women) at the mountain until it yelled back.
As Pam finished up her assignments, her letters were filled with accomplishments and sadness as the time came for her to leave Tadian, her adopted home. The community came to love her and honored her with a special farewell. The “Despedida” party was a two-day long celebration, with roasted pigs, speeches and awards. She was deeply honored when the whole community turned out to give her an Irogot name and adopt her as a sister.
Pam’s main concern as her Peace Corps experience in the Philippines ended was whether the projects she developed would be sustained by the community. The arrival of new Peace Corps volunteers, asking the same questions she had asked three years earlier, made her departure easier. Her replacement, Rachel Maddy, is a 24-year-old civil and environmental engineer from Berkley, CA. Raised in Boulder, CO, Rachel is a smart, energetic, problem solver, and Pam’s worries were eased. “It’s exciting to imagine what will be accomplished here in the next two years,” Pam noted.
Life in the Peace Corps for Pam has included typhoons, world security problems, health issues, hard work, homesickness, occasional lack of communication to the outside world, and enough experiences to fill a lifetime.
Her culturally candid moments, revealed in letters home, included these humorous words of wisdom:
- It feels so luxurious when you can wait until lunch time when it’s warm to heat up the water for your bucket bath.
- It’s nice to know that it’s still a thrill to go to a prom and dance with the boys even when you are 56.
- It’s good to pick your battles when it comes to the critters who want to move in.
- It’s smart to do your laundry the night before, get up at 5 a.m. to hang it out to dry, and know that you have a 50-50 chance it will be dry enough to finish drying inside without molding.
- It’s good to learn to live in the now (mawa-aw-ni), difficult to achieve, but a worthwhile endeavor.
- It’s always good to remember that transitions are stressful, but complacency breeds boredom or dependency.
Reflecting on the most important personal changes that had occurred during Pam’s nearly three years in the Peace Corps., Pam noted: “I had reached a stage in life where I desired a slower pace and a chance to reflect on what really defined happiness for me. At the same time, there was wanderlust—a desire to seek out new places and surroundings.”
“The Peace Corps was one of the ‘always wish I’d done that’ things in my life,” Pam continued, “and my decision to apply at age 51 seemed very right for me at the time. I have never regretted that decision. This is the work and the lifestyle I want for my life now. I like the liberating feeling of having very little ‘stuff,’ fewer choices, and less rush and stress in my life. The challenge of learning a new way of living and speaking has been fun for me.”
Pam added that the rush she used to feel when meeting a big floral deadline in her business has been replaced by the rush she feels in the ‘self-contest’ she has set for herself to learn the vocabulary of a new language.
“I felt very assured that I would end up in a community that would use my skills and I had no expectations of how much of an advantage it would be to be an older Peace Corps volunteer. Because of my life experience, I was confident that some of my skills would be needed. Looking back, it’s interesting to see how I was able to use my writing and botanical design skills. I developed a much stronger interest in environmental issues and this interest became an important part of the projects I coordinated in Tadian.”
Pam’s final letter before departing the Philippines and heading back to the United States summed up her feelings. She wrote: “I’m still happy, healthy, and dancing the adventure, while poised on the edge of this nest. Smiles and blessings.”
Carolyn Fineran writes about ‘Life After Retail.’ A successful woman business owner for more than 30 years, she often writes about transformational travel.
The Road to Morocco
At press time, Enterprising Women Publisher Monica Smiley was helping her mother, Barbara Smiley, condense a lifetime of treasured possessions into two suitcases as she prepared to leave for 27 months of volunteer service in the Peace Corps.
Joining the Peace Corps was a lifelong dream for Barbara. She and her husband, Harry, had applied to the Peace Corps several years ago, but had not been accepted. Harry’s health declined and Barbara put her dream on hold. After his death in 2003, she reconsidered whether the Peace Corps might still be a viable option for her. She began the application process last year and received a letter in June informing her that she had been chosen for a small business development assignment in Morocco.
At age 77, Barbara will be among the older Peace Corps volunteers, but she has no qualms about embarking on this adventure at her age. She is in good health and is eager to spend her retirement years seeing the world and making a difference in the lives of the people she meets. Moroccans, she has been told, value age and experience so older Peace Corps volunteers tend to do well in this country.
Her first three months will be spent in training, learning basic Arabic, and becoming accustomed to life in this Muslim country. Then she will receive an assignment in a small town or village—mostly likely working with women artisans to help them develop small business skills.
Barbara brings a lifetime of experience to this role, including a partnership in an interior design business in Bay City, MI, accounting and bookkeeping experience with several retail businesses, and decades of volunteer experience with the Red Cross, March of Dimes, and a local hospital in Bay City, among other organizations.
“I realized this past year that I am free of responsibilities and I can spend my time helping people in other countries who need my help. At the same time, they can teach me about their way of life and I can promote the good things that we do in America,” Barbara said.
“One of the missions of the Peace Corps,” she added, “is to promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and vice versa. Tourist travel just doesn’t do.”
If You Choose to Volunteer
These outstanding women are just two examples of the thousands of volunteers who are making a difference in the world. Most volunteers are quick to point out that they receive far more than they give.
If the 27 months required by the Peace Corps is too long to leave your life, there are many reputable organizations that would benefit from your skills and expertise. Community organizations, church groups, and international service organizations like Rotary International have developed programs for service from collecting money and supplies to delivery of services and goods for extended periods of time. Start your search on the Internet and talk to others who have served.
The Peace Corps has offices in most major cities. Contact them and see if the Peace Corps is right for you. They have special programs for executives and highly trained and experienced people. If you are a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), check into the many ways to complete the mission of bringing back your experiences to the States.
Volunteering is good for the soul, and for many women entrepreneurs who are nearing retirement from their businesses, it can add a whole new dimension to their lives.
Here are some respected possibilities for putting yourself to work:
International Executive Service Corps (IESC)
http://www.iesc.org
ISEC seeks retired business executives and professionals to volunteer as business development advisers abroad. 333 Ludlow St., P.O. Box 10005, Stanford, CT 06904, (203) 967-6000.
Citizens Development Corps (formerly Citizens Democracy Corps)
http://www.cdc.org
Opportunities for experienced executives, professionals, and skilled workers to work globally in business development as volunteer consultants. CDC, Suite 1125, 1400 I St. NW, Washington, DC 2005, (202) 872-0933, (800) 394-1945.
Habitat for Humanity
http://www.habitat.org
Habitat is an ecumenical, Christian-based organization dedicated to eliminating the effects of poverty through the construction of inexpensive, quality housing. Skilled and non-skilled volunteers are welcome. 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA 31709, (229) 924-6935.
Global Volunteers
http://www.globalvolunteers.org
Volunteers spend one to three weeks in a developing nation and do what the villagers need done such as building school houses, teaching English, digging latrines or providing health care to women. 375 E. Little Canada Rd., St. Paul, MN 55117, (800) 487-1074.
(This article is reprinted from the Summer 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)
|
