Reflections on my Peace Corps experience in 1960's by Chris Matthews



Reflections on my Peace Corps experience in 1960's by Chris Matthews

Commentary: Reflections on Peace Corps experience in 1960's

"If you were lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man," Ernest Hemingway wrote, "Then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

My moveable feast is the two years I spent in Swaziland riding through this Southern African country on my 120 Suzuki, teaching Swazi traders how to keep their books.

"I work for your government. I've come to teach you business."



I got to know those small businessmen personally, and in every little way they could, they showed their kindness. Before we talked business, they always insisted I had a Coke. As Swazis say, a `cold drink,' even if they didn't have any way to make it cold.

I got a lot out of those two years in the Peace Corps, hitchhiking alone up through East Africa, crossing Victoria Falls Bridge in the dark, loving Mozambique and Mombasa, and Zanzibar, falling for Darsalam.



I was reminded of something at a big meeting of former volunteers last weekend.

We did it all, the jobs, the hitchhiking around, everything, at the ground level, person to person, the way the founders of the Peace Corps, Jack Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, wanted it.

I liked being an American abroad.



Back then, there was the kid on the Cairo street corner who asked me if I knew John Wayne and then told me not to say anything bad about Muhammad Ali.

There was the Indian kid in Zanzibar whose walls were covered in rock 'n' roll albums, who thought America was heaven.

I came back from all of that with some baggage I hope to never lose. People are people; they want to be respected. Countries are countries; they want to be respected. Different from us in so many outward ways, they are, in this essential way, just like us.

When this story was prepared, here was the front page of PCOL magazine:

This Month's Issue: August 2004 Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and who can come up with the funniest caption for our Current Events Funny? Exclusive: Director Vasquez speaks out in an op-ed published exclusively on the web by Peace Corps Online saying the Dayton Daily News' portrayal of Peace Corps "doesn't jibe with facts." In other news, the NPCA makes the case for improving governance and explains the challenges facing the organization, RPCV Bob Shaconis says Peace Corps has been a "sacred cow", RPCV Shaun McNally picks up support for his Aug 10 primary and has a plan to win in Connecticut, and the movie "Open Water" based on the negligent deaths of two RPCVs in Australia opens August 6. Op-ed's by RPCVs: Cops of the World is not a good goal and Peace Corps must emphasize community development.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By rob stevens (gatekeeper.lvh.com - 192.234.106.2) on Wednesday, September 08, 2004 - 8:26 am: Edit Post

I had a few chills of nostalgia reading Chris Matthews'remarks about his PC years. Brought back memories of my time in Upper Volta in the late 70s. The poverty, pride and kindness of the poorest in the world seemed interlinked. After a quarter century, some memories of names and places may be fading, but I won't forget the most profound lesson: that we're all related, rich and poor, black, yellow, red and white. I don't think I would have learned this if I hadn't served in the Peace Corps.