While 20-somethings with a wealth of ideals (but far less practical experience) continue to make up the bulk of the Corps, skilled professionals now pack auditoriums at information meetings -- to the point where doctors and lawyers who have spent decades building their careers find themselves sitting on the floor, listening to recruiters discuss the rewards of suddenly feeling like a minority for the first time.
Retirees are joining Peace Corps, bringing valued skills with them
Retirees are joining Peace Corps, bringing valued skills with them
By CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I REPORTER
Caption: Michael Fieman, 77, of Olympia, is preparing for a two-year stint with the Peace Corps.
The new rules of retirement are well-known now: Bridge games are on the wane; volunteerism is in. But anyone still seeking evidence that the senior years have been reinvented need only look to the Peace Corps, that legion of shaggy-haired, footloose college grads intent on changing the world.
Today, the foreign service organization created by President Kennedy is retooling itself to answer interest from a growing number of baby boomers and their elders, particularly in and around Seattle.
While 20-somethings with a wealth of ideals (but far less practical experience) continue to make up the bulk of the Corps, skilled professionals now pack auditoriums at information meetings -- to the point where doctors and lawyers who have spent decades building their careers find themselves sitting on the floor, listening to recruiters discuss the rewards of suddenly feeling like a minority for the first time.
Neal Hansen, 66, got so much out of it that he became a recruiter himself.
"Both my wife and I wanted to make sure that we didn't become old, narrow and judgmental," the former financier said. "We wanted to become broader, more accepting of other cultures, other ideas."
The Hansens served in Slovakia from 1998 to 2000, when baby boomers were still a relative minority in the Corps. But over the past three years, the number of local applications from people in their age group has jumped by more than 50 percent, with Seattle-area boomers serving in Ukraine, Tanzania, Romania, Namibia, the eastern Caribbean, Togo, Moldova, Macedonia, Kenya, Azerbaijan and Albania.
Currently, 24 such homegrown volunteers are in the field, and 43 more have applied. In all, the Corps has 8,079 people at work around the world -- the most since 1971.
Seattle is, in fact, home to the oldest living Peace Corps volunteer -- retired postal worker Evangeline Shuler, 101, who served in India, building a well with her husband, when she was in her 60s.
Shuler's husband died there of spinal meningitis, but she stayed on, completing her term, and has only glowing things to say about the Corps.
"What should you know about being older and serving? Good health, for one thing," Shuler said. "And being able to adapt."
She might also add language skills to the list. What has daunted older volunteers more than tough conditions, logistical difficulties or physical exertion is learning a new tongue, officials said, and the Corps is looking for new ways to teach older recruits. About 14 percent of them leave their assignments before the two-year completion date, compared with a 9 percent early termination rate for younger volunteers.
"Generally, it's for family and health reasons," said Amanda Beck, a spokeswoman for the agency, talking about those 50 and older. "In other words, for reasons beyond their control. But Peace Corps is not for everyone -- not for all 20-somethings and not for all 50-somethings."
Michael Fieman, 77, a former fashion executive, has heard all the caveats and dismissed them. He expects to be sent to the Middle East this fall.
"I really didn't think because of my age that the Peace Corps would be an option," he said. "But I got a very warm reception. I was pleased that they took me seriously."
That, no doubt, is a result of the Corps' new campaign to boost the ranks of older applicants to 15 percent of the total pool.
"We do a pretty good job of recruiting young people right out of college," said Rosie Mauk, associate director of volunteer recruitment. "But not many come with real work experience, and quite a few of our countries these days are looking for some real specific skill sets."
Fieman, an Olympia resident who once held top jobs at Liz Claiborne and Esprit, envisions himself helping crafts people and fledgling business owners to set up shop.
After 52 years working in retail apparel, he had no wish to retire. But opportunities were beginning to dry up, and Fieman's son, Galen Van Rensselaer, eventually suggested that his dad check into the Corps.
"It's a youth-oriented business that he's in, and people just weren't picking up on him," Van Rensselaer said. "I thought, instead of looking for someone to pay you for what you want to do, why don't you just do it anyway through a group like the Peace Corps?"
The opportunity to show people another side of America also attracted Fieman. But the medical application -- known for its exhaustive detail -- nearly changed his mind.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "I don't really know how I got through it. They wanted facts about some surgery I had 20 years ago."
Despite the Corps' hunger for seasoned recruits, acceptance is hardly assured.
Nancy Keith, 67, a spry and avid gardener who was among 150 older attendees at an information meeting earlier this month -- even though she'd already applied -- learned this week that she had been rejected. This, after completing a lengthy questionnaire, spending months on the application's two required essays and handing over a raft of medical records.
Results from an MRI years ago apparently did her in, and Keith was crushed.
"I'm going to go have a little cry now," she said Monday, after receiving the Peace Corps letter in her morning mail.
P-I reporter Claudia Rowe can be reached at 206-448-8320 or claudiarowe@seattlepi.com.
