As an agroforestry volunteer and regional volunteer leader in the Peace Corps in Mauritania, Eirik Omlie lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water and endured sandstorms like those depicted in movies
Mission: A better quality of life
Clive native returns to Africa with Crisis Corps to help improve lives of villagers
By DOLLY BUTZ
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
November 19, 2004
For two years, Clive native Eirik Omlie called the desolate West African nation of Mauritania home.
As an agroforestry volunteer and regional volunteer leader in the Peace Corps, Omlie lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water and endured sandstorms like those depicted in movies.
When many would have left Africa, Omlie stayed. And when recently faced with the decision to return to the continent as part of the Crisis Corps, which mobilizes former Peace Corps volunteers to help countries in Zambia, Omlie jumped at the opportunity.
Omlie, 30, returned to Africa for six months in late October and now lives in the remote village of Nkandela in Zambia's Southern Province. He trains others in literacy, HIV/AIDS prevention and agroforestry, which combines agriculture and forestry technologies to improve land-use systems.
"As I loved living in Mauritania, I love living and working in Zambia," Omlie, a graduate of Valley High School and Drake University, said via e-mail.
He is working with Panuka, a community-based organization, to improve the status of rural women and children through literacy. He is also assisting with the creation of an HIV/AIDS program to educate Zambians about the disease and provide home-based care for those with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
The 2001-2002 Zambia Demographic Health Survey estimates that 18 percent of Zambian women are infected with HIV, with the number climbing to 23 percent in urban areas. The life expectancy in Zambia, which has a population of 10.5 million, is just 37 years.
Omlie said he is also working on several smaller projects to improve the villagers' quality of life, such as planting an organic garden and tree nursery for the Panuka women's institute.
The rising number of orphans in Nkandela, due to the AIDS epidemic, inspired Omlie to develop a sports and fitness club for youth. As he did in Mauritania, Omlie is using his love of music to promote environmental education.
"This project is an extension of some of the most rewarding work that I did as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania, where I traveled to numerous villages along the Senegal River Valley playing guitar and singing songs in the local language," Omlie said.
Omlie uses music to educate villagers on the environment, water sanitation, nutrition and HIV/AIDS. Omlie said many people in Zambia speak English, but he is learning the local language of Tonga to communicate with villagers.
With the planting season under way, Omlie will join villagers in the fields for the next few months to plant maize.
"This is an excellent opportunity to not only lend a hand and get to know the villagers, but also to begin a 'hands-on' agroforestry-focused literacy program," Omlie said.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has weakened Nkandela's food-supply chain.
"Food security becomes a major problem," Omlie said. "Many of those that used to plant maize each season may currently be suffering from HIV/AIDS or have passed away."
With her son thousands of miles away in a foreign land, Edie Omlie worries like any parent would. But Edie Omlie said the Peace Corps is a perfect fit for her son.
"It's something that makes him happy, to do good for other people," Edie Omlie said. "It was law school or Africa, and he chose Africa."
Edie Omlie said she is proud of her son's accomplishments.
"We're happy for him. You always want your children to feel satisfied and to be successful," Edie Omlie said.
Working with the Peace Corps is something Eirik Omlie hopes to do for a long time.
"I hope to continue doing work of this nature in rural Africa long after my contract with Crisis Corps/Panuka ends," he said.
