African Americans Make Impact
In Peace Corps
By DANA HALLMAN
This is a story dedicated to
the Tanzanians, with whom I'
lived for two years as a Peace
Corps volunteer. It is a story
about their kindred spirit,
ingenuity and compassion. And
it is a story told for the village
elder whose words still remain -
with me to this day.
"When you return to
America, carry this message
with you," the old man told me
as I was leaving Ichenjezya in
the foothills of Tanzania’s Rift
Valley Mountains. "Tell our
brothers and sisters, long since
stolen from these shores that
they too are welcome. Tell them
to come and see for themselves
what a great place this is.
"Tell, them, yes that we are
poor and that life here is not
easy," he said. "Say that we
work hard and wish for our
children good health and a good
education so that their lives are
not as difficult as their fathers
before them. Tell them that
although we speak a different
language our hopes for our
children are not that different
than the hopes they have for
their own. Yes, they too are
welcome and as you return
home do not forget us. Let our
Brothers and Sisters in America
know that their struggle is our
struggle and our struggle theirs.
Take with you these greetings
in peace."
September 1983
As the Swiss airliner made
its descent at sunrise into
Tanzania’s international airport
in Dar-es-Salaam, the view
unfolding below revealed a land
rich in natural beauty, unspoiled
by the concrete reality of
modern day development.
Spirals of smoke rose over the
plush green landscape as
farmers tended their fields for
the approaching planting
season.
As the jet set down on the
runway, my group of 21 Peace
Corps trainees scrambled for
the few belongings we were
allowed to carry onto the plane.
There was a sense of
excitement mixed with anxiety.
Two months of intense training
in the United States had ended
and, having finally reached our
destiny, we all were relieved
and ready to begin a new
adventure.
Stepping off the plane, we
felt the warm tropical sun
beating down. One long journey
was ending, another just
beginning. I had dreamed of
living in Africa, of learning
about a culture and people that
were so foreign in many ways
and yet so much a part of me
and my cultural background.
But I had come less in search of
my rrxrts and more in search of
some untold truth about this
great continent I felt the only
way I could develop my own
ideas and convictions about
world issues -- especially those
concerning people of color was
to experience life in a
developing nation.
Although, I knew that there
was much starvation and
political strife in many
countries in the developing
world I also knew that there
must be more than the continual
negative images portrayed by
the media. I wanted to divelt^
an understanding that went far
beyond the mystique of the
Masai warriors and the wildlife
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Black Americans are working in a wide variety of areas as Peace Corps volun
teers. Clay G. Young of Los Angeles teaches Ecuadoran students design for
graphic arts and photo mechanics. Young is one of a growing number of
senior Americans who are joining the Peace Corps after retirement.
You are never too old to join the Peace Corps. Dorothy Bullock Hamilton's 20
years of teaching experience is a valuable resource for the town of Limuru,
Kenya. At age 72, Hamilton teaches physios and English as a Peace Corps
volunteer.