Sue Boucher was evacuated from Morocco to Romania in 1991 during first Gulf War



Sue Boucher was evacuated from Morocco to Romania in 1991 during first Gulf War

Peace corps
Oct 8, 2000 - Herald Rock-Hill SC

The Peace Corps lists a triumvirate of goals: to help interested countries meet the need for trained men and women, to help other cultures understand Americans, and to help Americans understand other cultures.

Volunteers receive language and cultural training. Today, more than 7,000 volunteers are serving in 77 countries.

Sue Boucher, 35, of McLean, Va., spent 1990 in Morocco before being evacuated in January 1991 because of the Gulf War. She then was among the first group sent to Romania.

The two experiences were day-and-night different. Morocco had long had Peace Corps volunteers, and the country knew what to do with its volunteers. She worked with the Save the Children Fund, and taught disabled children daily living skills. In Romania, she worked in a poverty-stricken orphanage. Romania, she said, was a tougher experience - the weather was freezing, and the aftermath of communism left the country destitute.

Still, she has good memories of Romania. The people's favorite show was "Dallas," and she had to convince them that not all Americans had pools in their backyards. A 70-something woman taught her Romanian swear words. And the opera cost 26 cents.

The experience gave her a new appreciation of what she has.

"I smile when I go into a grocery store," she said. "It's so amazing how clean it is, how there are so many choices, how everything is available."

Though the idea for the Peace Corps was launched in October 1960, it wasn't until March 1, 1961, that the Corps officially was established. Volunteers stay for up to two years, and are expected to represent their countries upon their return to the United States.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., who served in Colombia in the 1960s, once rode in a taxi cab in Virginia driven by a Ghanaian.

"Did you know Ghana was the first country the Peace Corps went to?" the congressman asked the taxi driver.

"I'm in America," the driver replied, "because of the Peace Corps."

Before the Peace Corps came to Ghana, the driver explained, he never thought Americans cared enough to live and learn from Ghana.

The Peace Corps representatives he met changed his perspective. Now, he's issued a mandate to his son: "No matter what he wants to do in life," Farr said the taxi driver told him, "before he does that, he has got to join the Peace Corps."

Contact Jessica Wehrman at WehrmanJ@shns.com.

When this story was posted in December 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

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December 10, 2004: This Week's Top Stories Dodd says Rumsfeld's answer was unacceptable 9 Dec RPCV Blake Willeford runs classic movie theatre 9 Dec RPCV says education is key to curbing AIDS 9 Dec RPCV Dannielle Tegeder opens exhibition 9 Dec Shalala 1st Woman In Touchdown Club 9 Dec "Today we have a new country" says Toledo 9 Dec DDN wins Investigative Reporting Award 8 Dec Celeste on Panel to study Colorado finances 8 Dec RPCV leads Rotary Club medical team to Togo 6 Dec Vasquez to speak at Hawaii, Wisconsin commencements 6 Dec Tom Murphy warns Pittsburgh on budget abyss 2 Dec Venezuela RPCV Martha Egan runs Pachamama imports 30 Nov more top stories...

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