Mike and Cindy Cound served in the north African country of Tunisia in the early 1990s
Peace Corps turns 40; area members look back on experience
BY DUANE W. GANG
Staff Writer
For Chattanooga residents Mike and Cindy Cound, becoming Peace Corps volunteers was a life-changing experience.
The two served in the north African country of Tunisia in the early 1990s. He was a physical education teacher. She taught special education.
The couple met there and became engaged just before they were forced out of the Arab country by the start of the Gulf War in 1991.
"I wanted to learn languages and meet people," Mr. Cound said. "Knowing about other cultures is very valuable and very enriching.
"Most importantly, I met my wife there," he said.
Mr. and Mrs. Cound are among the more than 160,000 volunteers who have served in 134 countries since the Peace Corps' creation nearly 40 years ago.
Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the time when Americans were first urged to volunteer overseas.
On Oct. 14, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy spoke at the University of Michigan and challenged 10,000 students to offer their skills to foreign countries.
Less than five months later the Peace Corps was created. There are currently about 7,000 volunteers in 76 countries. Volunteers stay in a country for up to two years.
The Peace Corps lists three main goals: To help interested countries meet the need for trained workers, to help promote a greater awareness of Americans and to help Americans better understand other peoples.
Before serving in Tunisia, Mrs. Cound, 37, worked on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. While there, she worked to create a school for disabled children.
When she returned to the United States, she asked to go to another country. The Peace Corps sent her to Tunisia.
Mrs. Cound said it is often harder to adjust to life back in the United States than to move on to another country.
"When I came back I called Peace Corps and told them to reactivate my file," she said. "I kind of had it in my blood."
Mr. Cound said Peace Corps volunteers do more than just teach English and agricultural skills.
Mr. Cound, for example, coached basketball in Tunisia. He even played in a Tunisian league.
"I was in a program officially called Rural Youth Involvement," he said. "Unofficially, it was a sports program. I was a basketball coach for all age groups."
Mr. Cound, whose father also was a Peace Corps basketball coach, said sports is not an area typically associated with Peace Corps volunteers. But he said sports are an important part of society all over the world.
"The Peace Corps director told me, 'In my 10 years here we have never gotten so much attention for the Peace Corps,'" said Mr. Cound, 35, who is now a sports agent for many overseas and WNBA basketball players.
Mr. and Mrs. Cound said they have no regrets about their time in the Peace Corps. After all, they said, that is where they met each other.
"It was the greatest thing I ever did," Mrs. Cound said. "I think all Americans should do it. You just get so much out of it."
For Joyce Campbell, who was the first person from the Chattanooga area to volunteer for the Peace Corps, it creates a bond with people that lasts a lifetime.
Ms. Campbell, 60, said she is working on creating an organization in the Chattanooga area for returned Peace Corps volunteers.
Ms. Campbell served in Ethiopia from 1962-1964 and taught English to seventh- and ninth-graders there.
When she first decided to join the Peace Corps, Ms. Campbell said she encountered mixed feelings from friends and family.
She said her family was concerned for her safety. Her friends, she said, thought of it as an adventure.
Older people wondered why she wanted to give up two years of her life, Ms. Campbell said.
"Those were two years of my life that I would never, ever exchange," said the retired school teacher. "On the whole, the two years are the ones that I learned the most and probably gave the most."