Ambassador Mike Retzer's Dispatch #3

The US Peace Corps is without a doubt the best investment of US Taxpayer dollars that I have even seen.  In Tanzania there are usually 115 volunteers serving at any one time, although that number may grow to as many as 150.  This past November 24, I invited the entire group along with their support staff to have Thanksgiving Dinner at my residence in Dar es Salaam.  It was a remarkable event.

While most Peace Corps volunteers are in their 20’s, there are volunteers in Tanzania that have retired from other successful careers and decided to volunteer their service to others in the autumn of their years. These 50 and 60 year-olds are just as remarkable as their younger counterparts.  To a person, every volunteer I met was highly intelligent (many are Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Computer Science majors) deeply committed to helping someone who is less fortunate; and very enthusiastic about the jobs they are doing. 

All of this despite the fact that more than a few of them have suffered from malaria, bilharzias, and other severe ailments; and all of them have endured “Tanzanian tummy” from local food and water.

 Every volunteer lives in an assigned village, and are usually the only American around for many miles.  The volunteers are involved in three key areas:  Teaching in high schools, usually the hard sciences; working in health care, particularly  involved in counseling for HIV/AIDS, and finally; helping to preserve the environment.

These outstanding Americans are volunteering their time for virtually nothing.  They are given free housing (and it is very humble) and a small allowance for food (little more than enough to buy one extra value meal at your local fast food restaurant, if there was one.)  In fact, they eat the local diet which is composed of fresh fruits and vegetables and ugali, a local starch similar to grits.

This, of course, makes them all very hungry.  When they arrived at the Thanksgiving table they truly ate every thing in sight.  It was a heart warming scene.

Because of these outstanding Americans we are able to place not one ambassador in Tanzania but 116 ambassadors.  These mostly young people carry the message of American value and spirit to every corner of this large country.  Watching them I have also come to understand that serving in the Peace Corps helps make every volunteer a better American citizen.  Each one has had the experience of service in a far corner of this world, and this experience will make our country wiser and more tolerate of other cultures.  It is this two way experience that makes the Peace Corps our best investment.  Not only is America helping out in less fortunate countries, but Americans are gaining the patience, wisdom and judgment that will serve them in the rest of their lives; as they come back home to enrich our country with their experience.

An excellent example of this is a young man from my hometown of Greenville, Mississippi, Barthell Joseph III.  As a young man, Barthell served in the Peace Corps in Wes Africa.  I remember his stories of how difficult it was to reach his small village in Mauritania.  His tales of riding in the back of an ox cart seemed an unbelievable fantasy.  I now know he was telling the absolute truth.  Service in Africa is unbelievably challenging, but extraordinarily rewarding emotionally.

Another example is Mayor Heather Hudson, also of Greenville.  Mayor Hudson served in a program called African Crossroads, which is a program similar to Peace Corps but shorter in duration.  Her primary service was in Kenya, but she also visited Tanzania.  Both Barthell and Heather would happily tell you that their service in Africa changed their lives.  It not only taught them about different cultures, but it also gave them a better appreciation of American values. 

This year in Tanzania the US government is spending hundreds of million of dollars helping the government of Tanzania fight AIDS and malaria, but it is the $ 2.5 million we spend supporting 115 American Peace Corps volunteers that is truly the best investment we could ever make.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Peace Corps, you can contact them via their website (www.peacecorps.gov).  It would be a truly life changing experience.