Making a Difference at Home and Abroad

by Suzanne Marks, AARPCV President I am here today as President of AARPCV. AARPCV is the Atlanta Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. We say "returned" rather than "former" volunteers because former implies that we no longer serve our country, which is not true. While RPCVs are not technically veterans, as PCVs we risked our lives to improve conditions for and relations with people in the countries where we served. There are currently 7,000 PCVs serving in 77 countries around the world. Over 155,000 US citizens have served as PCVs in 134 countries since the program's inception in 1961. RPCVs remain very active in serving our communities both here in the US and abroad through their chosen careers, volunteer work, advocacy for foreign and domestic policies, and through monetary contributions to local and global development efforts. There are notable RPCVs here in Atlanta, including the Rev. Gerald Durley (Pres., Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta), Lillian Lewis, first African American to serve in the Peace Corps works at Clark Atlanta as the Associate Director of International Affairs and development, Tejan Muata at Morris Brown, Sam Bacote, VP of Jackson Securities, and Atlanta City Councilwoman Cathy Woolard. Other RPCVs include Dr. James E. Lyons (Pres, Jackson State U), Gordon Radley (Pres, Lucasfilms), Donna Shalala (Secretary of DHHS), Elaine Jones (Dir, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund), Carol Bellamy (Executive Director of UNICEF), Lillian Carter (Pres. Jimmy Carter's mother), Sam Bacote (VP, Jackson Securities), and Chuck Baquet (acting Director of the Peace Corps), along with many, many others active in the public arena. AARPCV has 300 active members in the Atlanta area. I am inviting you now to join our group once you return to Atlanta from PC service. AARPCV's mission is to educate US citizens about other cultures and to continue our commitment to positive social action, global education, and community service. We fulfill our mission by: International activities to further global polio eradication efforts. This involves collaborating with and providing funding for international agencies conducting immunization activities in various countries. Domestic service activities. These activities have involved volunteering at local homeless shelters, with refugee groups, and at the MLK center. We participate annually in AIDS Walk Atlanta, the Hunger Walk, and Hands On Atlanta Day. And, we give presentations on our PC experiences to children in local area schools. Many of our members who are teachers incorporate into their curricula subjects about their PC experiences. PC Partnership projects. We raise money to give to development projects around the world. We educate our members by inviting speakers on various topics to our regular meetings and through educational articles in our quarterly newsletter. We also play a part in educating the general public and trying to influence policies towards developing countries. For the Atlanta Regional Summit on Africa last year, AARPCV brought together interested RPCVs and others to develop topics which were written into position papers and submitted for the National Summit taking place in February 2000. One member of our organization was elected to represent the Atlanta area at the national conference. As part of the National Peace Corps Association, AARPCV also provides input into PC policies and advocacy on foreign affairs by the NPCA. As many of our members here in the Atlanta area are working in or involved with the health field, AARPCV is currently involved in reinstituting formal relationships between the Peace Corps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RPCVs through AARPCV are truly continuing their service to make a difference here in Atlanta, in the US, and abroad. I want to end with a description of how PC made a difference in my own personal life. I made the decision to join PC my Junior Year in college, after hearing former Ohio Governor Dick Celeste give a speech to Congressional interns about experiences of Peace Corps volunteers. In particular, I remember him mentioning the challenges faced by a blind PCV, how she overcame all her obstacles, and how her life was enriched by her experience. I actually joined Peace Corps 3 years later, after completing most of my graduate studies in economics. In school, I learned about economic development theory, but really had no clue as to how these theories worked in real life. I joined PC to learn about the practical realities that developing countries faced in trying to raise income levels. When I was selected for PC service in Togo, I had to get a map to locate the tiny country wedged between Ghana and Benin. I entered the community development program and was sent to a region in Northern Togo, after a 3 month training along with about 30 other trainees. Friendship bonds, that would last a lifetime, were immediately formed with my training group. The challenges of speaking exclusively French, eating a new diet, having frequent illnesses, living far from friends and family, and basically surviving in a totally new culture united us, more so than any other training that I have since experienced. All of us, regardless of race/ethnicity, were viewed as Americans, as people from an alien culture ho had somehow uprooted ourselves to spend 2 years in a foreign land helping others. Fortunately in Togo, Americans were favorably viewed. We were known to live at the same level as villagers. I worked with 400 village women, who spoke a total of 12 different languages. My job was to serve as small business advisor to 22 weaving, soap-making, and dry-season gardening groups. What I learned about the challenges of everyday living for rural women in a poor country changed my view of the world and made me a committed feminist. These women faced constant work from an early age (mostly agricultural with soil poorer than the red clay of Georgia); they had responsibilities for clothing, feeding, educating, and caring for their children, which were many since they didn't have access to family planning services; they frequently suffered illnesses or death related to non-stop childbearing; and, they had few practical legal rights. Yet, these women persevered by forming groups to unite and consolidate what power they did have, to share their commonalities and arrive at solutions to their problems. As a PCV, I realized the inextricable link between economic development and health. The nonstop childbearing and illnesses directly affected their productive capacity and income potential. Likewise, lack of income directly affected their ability to access available health resources. When I returned to the US, I worked for the USDA as an economist to examine the links between nutrition and income. Then, my partner (also an RPCV) and I moved to Philadelphia, where I worked as a research associate for the Family Planning Council of SE PA. There, I learned about the similarities between poor populations in the US and those in Africa in examining STD and HIV rates, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and access to reproductive health care. I returned to school in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University to receive an MPH and complete all my course work for a DrPH in International Health. Now, I work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an epidemiologist, where I analyze socioeconomic and other factors related to tuberculosis, which is the number one killer of persons with HIV in the world. I remain active in international health organizations, as well as RPCV groups. In my private life, I advocate for the rights of women, lesbians and gays, and disadvantaged groups. What has Peace Corps meant to me? It has provided me with unforgettable life-changing experiences, job opportunities, life-long friendships, a commitment to lifetime service in improving conditions for disadvantaged people, and the belief and realization that I can do anything. Do I recommend it to you? YES