A volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kherson, Ukraine, Greg Pachuta is lucky to live in a part of the town that has water 24 hours a day. His kitchen and bathroom are small, but functional



A volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kherson, Ukraine, Greg Pachuta is lucky to live in a part of the town that has water 24 hours a day. His kitchen and bathroom are small, but functional

Peace Corps volunteer shares hope

By L.B. WHYDE
Advocate Correspondent
Photo
Submitted photo

Greg Pachuta of Newark is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ukraine.

NEWARK -- Living in a one-bedroom apartment with only $240 a month, Greg Pachuta of Newark is considered to be rich.

He is when compared to university professors and doctors who receive less than $100 a month. A volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kherson, Ukraine, Pachuta is lucky to live in a part of the town that has water 24 hours a day. His kitchen and bathroom are small, but functional.

"It's where I call home for now," Pachuta writes via e-mail. "In Kherson, there are six other volunteers. We get together often, mostly at my place because I love to cook, and I have taco seasoning."

From the inspiration of then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps grew into a federal agency devoted to world peace and friendship. Since 1960, more than 170,000 Peace Corps volunteers have been invited by 137 host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education, information technology and environmental preservation.

Pachuta, 29, is working with an HIV/AIDS awareness program taking information to youth in universities and secondary schools as well as working with drug addicted people. Pachuta is one of the 1,000 new volunteers in President Bush's HIV/AIDS Act of 2003.

"Flexibility, patience and a sense of humor are needed to survive here," Pachuta said. "Maybe a warm coat in the winter, too."

Pachuta joined the Peace Corps for a variety of reasons, but mainly because he felt that he had the experience and skills that he could pass on to others.

"Additionally, I am interested in showing the good will that many back home have for others who are less fortunate," Pachuta wrote. "Personally, it gives me pleasure to know if I've reached one individual and affected his or her life in a positive way. There's a lot of apathy and feeling of hopelessness here. If I can connect and inspire hope with one person, young or old, that's good for me."

Pachuta is the third and youngest child of Ron and Marilyn Pachuta of Newark. The family moved to Licking County in 2003 from Iowa.

Pachuta graduated from the College of Charleston in South Carolina in 1998 with a major in Spanish and Latin American Studies. He then went on to the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif., where he obtained his master's degree in international policies studies.

"Here in the Ukraine, we have a group of dedicated and incredibly experienced individuals ranging from recent college graduates to experienced educators and trial lawyers," Pachuta said. "Every volunteer comes with different reasons for joining PC (Peace Corps) as well as a wide range of knowledge and experience. I'm happy to be amongst a group of great and talented people."

While obtaining his master's degree, Pachuta did an internship in Mexico City in the spring of 2002. He worked at the Agency for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. During the internship, Pachuta attended the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations.

Pachuta then worked in Costa Rica as a country affiliate of Opportunity International, writing grants for micro- finance lending programs.

For his parents, his travels abroad are nothing new. When Pachuta was in high school, he was an exchange student to Spain, and during college he was an exchange student to Amsterdam. He has also visited Indonesia, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, the Czechoslovakia Republic, France and attended a peace conference in Croatia.

"The international scene is his primary focus," Ron Pachuta said. "The Peace Corps is a natural extension of what he has been doing. They only pay him a stipend, but it's an avenue of approach for his future work. He would like to pursue an opportunity with the State Department, UN and agencies that work around the world."

"He believes through education and training, anybody can be anything," Marilyn Pachuta added. "He has always been for the underdog. They develop long-lasting relationships in the Peace Corps. This gives him a good basis for friendships all over the world."

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 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

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February 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories NPCA Board positions are open for nomination 17 Feb Mike Tidwell on trial for climate action protest 17 Feb Katie Dyer is co-owner of Cadeaux du Monde 16 Feb Cyclone misses Tonga and Samoa PCVs 16 Feb Phil Hardberger in debate for Mayor of San Antonio 16 Feb Edmund Hull is Princeton Diplomat-In-Residence 16 Feb Bruce Greenlee is longtime friend of Latino community 15 Feb Mike Honda new vice chairman at DNC 15 Feb Jospeh Opala documents slave crossing from Sierra Leone 14 Feb Dear Dr. Brothers: Aren't PCVs Hippies? 14 Feb Joseph Lanning founded the World Education Fund 14 Feb Stanley Levine draws Marine and Peace Corps similarities 14 Feb Speaking Out: JFK envisioned millions of RPCVs 13 Feb Chris Aquino visits mother's homeland of Vietnam 12 Feb Is PCOL blocking users from posting messages? 12 Feb JFK Library opens Sargent Shriver Collection 1 Feb RPCV responds to Bulgaria Calendar concerns 28 Jan

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WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

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.

RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.

RPCVs contend for Academy Awards Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.

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."

Read the stories and leave your comments.