Marcy Spaulding always has liked keeping a journal, but during the two years she spent as a health educator for the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, her journal became a trusted confidant



Marcy Spaulding always has liked keeping a journal, but during the two years she spent as a health educator for the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, her journal became a trusted confidant

Woman shares her African experience

Marcy Spaulding writes about her Peace Corps tour.

By Paula Lloyd / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Thursday, February 10, 2005, 9:06 AM)

Marcy Spaulding always has liked keeping a journal, but during the two years she spent as a health educator for the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, her journal became a trusted confidant.

"It was very important to my experience, very therapeutic," says Spaulding, a 1996 graduate of Edison High School.

Spaulding's three volumes of journals form the basis of her book, "Dancing Trees and Crocodile Dreams: My Life in a West African Village," published by Poppy Lane Publishing Co. of Fresno.

Publisher Bette Peterson says Spaulding's journals "reveal a very sensitive worker trying to understand the culture which often was bewildering to her."

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The title is taken from a Malian proverb: "No matter how long a tree trunk stays in water, it will never become a crocodile." Like the tree, Spaulding always stood out as a white American women. "I was living in a mud hut and carrying water on my head, which got a lot of laughs," she says. "I was always feeling out of place."

Spaulding speaks French, the official language of Mali, but she struggled to learn the Bambara language.

"I could jot down my thoughts in English," she says, and her journal also was a safe place to vent.

"It was just very frustrating at times," she says, "trying to do the work with only my cultural understanding."

Spaulding lived in Bendougouba, a village with about 1,400 people that was like a county seat, she says, governing 20 other villages.

As a health educator, Spaulding formed a committee of village residents who she trained to teach nutrition, hygiene and HIV/AIDS awareness.

"I had the barrier of being a foreigner," she says, so she always worked alongside local people. "I was trying to help them make their changes." Now living in San Francisco, Spaulding works for the San Mateo County Public Health Department.

AIDS was the hardest topic to teach. "They don't know a lot about it. For the most part, they didn't believe it. How can someone be sick if they don't look sick?" she says. Later, Spaulding brought in an HIV-positive person as a speaker. "That made a big impact."

Spaulding fell in love with Africa as a college junior studying abroad in Cameroon. "I always knew about the Peace Corps, and I knew I wanted to travel," Spaulding says, so after graduation from Vassar College with degrees in anthropology and sociology, she volunteered in 2000.

"It was a really great experience. I enjoyed the culture and the people," she says. "I really enjoyed the life, living pretty much outside."

The best part of the experience was the friendships she formed with villagers, Spaulding says. "They got to see what I'm like as an American, and I got to know them."

Spaulding's 248-page memoir sells for $15. She will be at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 to sign copies of her book.

The reporter can be reached at plloyd@fresnobee.com or or at (559) 441-6756.

When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 27,000 index entries in 430 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

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February 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Peace Corps swears in 12 new Country Directors 4 Feb Kenneth Hawkinson studies oral traditions of Mali 4 Feb Tony Hall urges politicians to bring religious faith to office 4 Feb Dodd opposes Gonzales nomination 3 Feb Dr. Robert Zeigler to head Rice Research Institute 3 Feb Taylor Hackford going into television with "E-Ring" 2 Feb President Bush's past promises in State of the Union 1 Feb Moreigh Wolf says gays cannot volunteer with partners 1 Feb Coleman to chair Peace Corps Subcommittee 1 Feb Vasquez assesses need in Southeast Asia 31 Jan James Bullington says Bush Inaugural speaks to PC 31 Jan Allen Andersson creates foundation to promote libraries 31 Jan Joseph Opala to film "Priscilla's Homecoming" 31 Jan Donna Shalala embarks on aggressive UM expansion 31 Jan Thomas Dichter says Poor Countries Need Smarter Aid 30 Jan Alberto Ibargüen to head Knight Foundation 28 Jan Helen Sheehy organizes "Endangered Peoples" exhibit 28 Jan

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Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."

RPCVs active in new session of Congress In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.

Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?

The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005.

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