Donn Pierson, an apparel product developer from Vista, said he came to hear more about the Peace Corps because he would like to make a difference. "In my work, I've traveled many places in the world and I don't think people see the abundance of our blessing here in this country. It (the Peace Corps) has been on my heart for years and I'm coming to a point in my life that if I'm going to make an impact, I had better get on with it. "Besides," Pierson added, "I think I'm sitting in a room of extraordinarily cool people and I wouldn't mind being associated with them."
Over-50 crowd gathers to hear about Peace Corps in Encintas
ENCINITAS: Over-50 crowd gathers to hear about Peace Corps
More older Americans volunteering to help overseas
By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - For the North County Times | Posted: January 16, 2010 7:25 pm
Caption: Jacob Hall, regional recruiter for the Peace Corps, speaks at a meeting for volunteers over age 50 Saturday at the Encinitas Library. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff photographer)
Almost 50 years since the creation of the Peace Corps, it seems more and more older Americans are interested in volunteering two years of their lives to help others struggling around the world.
"About 6 percent of our volunteers are over 50," said Peace Corps recruitment coordinator Jacob Hall, who played host to an informational meeting especially for those over 50 years old Saturday morning at the Encinitas Library. "They bring a lifetime of skills and technical expertise that can help them from day one."
Indeed, many people who attended Saturday's informational meeting said they could remember listening to then-Sen. John F. Kennedy's speech to students at the University of Michigan in 1960 calling for the formation of a Peace Corps to advance "the great common cause of world development."
Since then, more than 190,000 volunteers have served in 139 host countries to help improve living conditions and promote peace with the Peace Corps.
"Like the others, I remember hearing Kennedy speak (about the Peace Corps)," said Oceanside resident Lynne Nash, who attended Saturday's meeting and just returned in September from a two-year stint with the Peace Corps. "I had a little baby then, but then when I retired, I signed up."
At first, Nash said, her family and some of her friends were shocked to hear that she would be teaching medical English in Moldova, a formerly Soviet state located between Romania and Ukraine.
"My daughter said, 'Say what?', but they got used to it after a while. ... Now, I really miss it."
Peace Corps volunteers agree to serve for 27 months, generally spending three months in training and two years working in a host country.
A panel of four returned volunteers shared their experiences to a large and enthusiastic crowd Saturday morning in the community room at the Encinitas Library.
"I don't know what it is exactly, but I've heard that applications (for the Peace Corps) have increased tenfold," said Vista resident Sigmund Penn, who spoke on the panel Saturday.
Penn served with his wife in a small community in the Ural Mountains in Russia.
"It could be economy, I guess. I know I want to go back, though, my wife doesn't and there is no more Peace Corps in Russia."
Other members of the panel included Lynn Jarrett, who served in Ukraine; Carlsbad resident Richard Chmielewski, who worked in Jamaica; and Deanna Atherton, who volunteered with her husband in South Africa.
"I was at a point in my life when I was a little bored with my job, I was financially independent, and I had no dependents," said Chmielewski, who works in the field of wastewater treatment and engineering. "I was really gratified that about 40 percent of the volunteers in our group were older. We can really contribute and be a mentor to younger volunteers and set an example."
Donn Pierson, an apparel product developer from Vista, said he came to hear more about the Peace Corps because he would like to make a difference.
"In my work, I've traveled many places in the world and I don't think people see the abundance of our blessing here in this country. It (the Peace Corps) has been on my heart for years and I'm coming to a point in my life that if I'm going to make an impact, I had better get on with it.
"Besides," Pierson added, "I think I'm sitting in a room of extraordinarily cool people and I wouldn't mind being associated with them."
