Former Peace Corps volunteers Elene and Dale Hertweck are part of a growing trend of older Americans who heard the call of President Kennedy to serve in the Peace Corps when it was created in 1961, and can now finally enlist.
Older Americans join peace corps
No longer tied down, more hear call
By Sophia Kazmi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
It was Christmas, and Dale and Elene Hertweck gathered their grown children around them and made their surprise announcement.
They were going to do something both had wanted for a long, long time. They were joining the Peace Corps and had a 27-month teaching assignment in the Ukraine.
Two of their children were fine with the decision. But one son told them they were crazy. It seemed a little much for his parents -- 59 and 57 at the time -- to run off and join the Peace Corps.
"But he eventually came around," said Elene Hertweck, now 62.
The Hertwecks of Walnut Creek, and other East Bay volunteers, are part of a growing trend of older Americans who heard the call of President Kennedy to serve in the Peace Corps when it was created in 1961, and can now finally enlist.
Back then, at the start of their careers, with small children, or other commitments, they couldn't take part. Now, in or near retirement, their children grown, they are finally free to join up.
The number of seniors in the Corps has grown since the agency's start, said Dennis McMahon, spokesman for the San Francisco regional office. In the 1960s, fewer than 1 percent of volunteers were over the age of 50.
In 2004, older volunteers make up about 6 percent of the Corps' 7,733 volunteers. Volunteers must be at least 18, but there is no upper age limit.
"I think it's a number of reasons, people are retiring younger and are healthier these days, and they want to do something meaningful," McMahon said.
Margaret Pratley, 78, first served in the Corps in the African country of Lesotho from 1986 to 1988 at the tender age of 60. Now the Berkeley woman is getting ready for a third tour, which begins Jan. 10. She will serve in Thailand for two years.
"I had forgotten about the Peace Corps because it wasn't an option" for her when it was founded, she said. "I remembered when Kennedy signed it. I thought, 'Boy, does that sound good. That's the way you live overseas.'"
In the mid-1980s, when her children had grown and she found herself divorced, Pratley looked into it. At first she wondered if she could qualify because of her age. When she asked if there was an upper age limit, the recruiter told her she had to be at least 18 years old.
"I can do that," she told him.
And Pratley didn't stand out that much. Of the 36 volunteers in Lesotho at the time, eight were over 60.
"It was a revelation to join Peace Corps and know that they didn't care about your age," Pratley said. "They cared about your commitment and your skills."
The oldest current volunteer is an 82-year-old man working in Kenya.
The work done by older volunteers is not necessarily different from that of younger volunteers. Volunteers don't spend much time toiling away on fields or digging ditches, McMahon said. The goal of volunteering is to help the volunteer's host community learn new skills in a wide range of fields, from education to computer science to health care.
The idea of moving to a different country isn't hard for Pratley, who has spent most of her life moving. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1949, she taught in Hawaii, served as an air stewardess during the Korean War, and taught in Germany for the Department of Defense.
After she was married and had children, her husband's job required the family to move throughout the country.
"I really like moving around, and I like experiencing different cultures," Pratley said.
She taught primary grades in Lesotho and again when she served in Sri Lanka from 1990-1991. While serving in Sri Lanka, she tried to submerge herself in the culture, like learning to bathe like everyone else, at the well.
The hardest thing to do as a volunteer is picking up the local language, said Ruthann Rhodes, of Castro Valley. At age 55, Rhodes volunteered in Honduras from 1986 to 1988.
In the Ukraine, the Hertwecks found themselves in the unusual spot of trying to explain American culture.
In the Ukrainian town where the Hertwecks worked, locals would ask if they personally knew singers Ricky Martin or Britney Spears. Ukrainian university teachers puzzled by the Florida election debacle of 2000 asked Dale Hertweck, a retired small business owner, to explain American democracy to an auditorium of 120 students. Everything from hanging chads to the electoral college was discussed at this impromptu civics lesson.
Elene Hertweck, a retired journalist, said she's glad to have gone when she did. Even if she could have gone when she was younger, she doesn't think she would have enjoyed the Peace Corps experience, she says.
"It's stressful," she said. "Daily life is hard. I would have said, 'This is too much.'"
Rhodes was 55 when she served in Honduras from 1986 to 1988. Her children were traveling around the world and she was inspired to do the same.
"I think I always knew about it," she said about the Peace Corps. "I was looking for some sort of adventure-type thing to do, and I don't think I felt comfortable just picking up and going by myself to a foreign country the way my children did. It seemed a safe way of doing it, and it was a safe way of doing it."
Rhodes was a business volunteer helping local business cooperatives. She also helped a group of displaced women start a bakery cooperative.
Rhodes said she made every effort to stay healthy. She didn't drink the water unless it had been boiled or bottled. She only ate what was fully cooked.
Pratley, the Hertwecks and Rhodes say volunteers of any age have to be willing to learn to live with little. Even the larger towns didn't have things like running water or electricity all the time. Markets carried very little variety in terms of food. All of them took whatever was available.
But the volunteers say that's what makes the experience so valuable.
"It's not for everybody," Pratley said. "It's for the young at heart and for the people who are looking for something of value."
Reach Sophia Kazmi at 925-847-2122 or skazmi@cctimes.com.
