Carrie Wallinger, 24, is experiencing several challenges in Mongolia



Carrie Wallinger, 24, is experiencing several challenges in Mongolia

Volunteers help others improve lives

By Jonathon Shacat
Northern Virginia Daily
March 5, 2005

Going halfway around the world to help people in developing countries for two years is tough.

Friends and family are left behind. Modern day comforts become virtually nonexistent. The climate can be unbearable. Foods are entirely different. Language barriers are a challenge to overcome. And, adapting to new cultures and customs can be demanding.

But for four people from the Northern Shenandoah Valley, the sacrifice is worthwhile. Working as Peace Corps volunteers, they are sharing their knowledge and skills to help improve the lives of others across the world.

Tommy Schultz, of Winchester, is a community development worker in the Philippines; Carrie Wallinger, of Mt. Jackson, is teaching English as a foreign language in Mongolia; Paul Negley, of Winchester, is working in hygiene, sanitation and disease control in Morocco; and Nicholas Heltzel, of Maurertown, is an organizational and community development specialist in the Kyrgyz Republic.

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Wallinger, 24, is experiencing several challenges in Mongolia. Since meat is the staple food there, she has had to get used to not eating fruit and vegetables on a regular basis. Also, as a result of the 20 degree below zero temperatures in the winter, she has faced difficulty in keeping her house warm. She hauls her own water from the river, chops her own firewood and washes clothes by hand.

She now has a better appreciation for the simple pleasures commonly available in the United States, as she indicates in a Jan. 18 journal entry on her Web site (www.carrieinmongolia.blogspot.com) in which she describes the differences between staying in her town, Bayanmunkh Soum, and the capital, Ulaanbaatar, which is abbreviated as UB.

"Coming back from UB was difficult … in many ways it was like starting over. I went from a place with hot showers available every day, pizza and English-speaking friends to a place where no one knows English to speak of, no one knows what pizza is, and showers are the stuff of dreams," she wrote.

Wallinger is an English teacher in a town of about 1,000 people. She teaches fifth- and sixth-graders. In addition to the regular classes, she teaches one adult class twice a week and an English Club once a week. She also teaches a youth development program.

"Sometimes I wonder how much good I'm doing teaching English or teaching in such a small place but to me it's worth it when I see how much my students are interested and how welcoming my community is. Sometimes I meet people who were taught by a [Peace Corps volunteer] 10 or 15 years ago and now they're doing something amazing. I wonder if any of my students will get there," she says in an e-mail to the Daily.

Despite all the struggles, it's a worthwhile experience, said her mother, Rosemary.

"She didn't go over to have fun. She went over to administer peacemaking skills in a world that doesn't show too much evidence of having peacemaking skills at this particular time. She has gone to make a difference. She has gone to make friends with someone in an entirely different culture," she said during an interview.

When this story was posted in March 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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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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March 5, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Senate FR Committee approves $345 M PC budget 4 Mar RPCV's "Kennedy's Kitchen" records second CD 4 Mar Sam Farr asks Army to reconsider burial policy 3 Mar Bayanihan jewelry designed by Philippines RPCV 2 Mar Todd Vetter receives calling during PC service 2 Mar Sargent Shriver still on Washington's A-list 2 Mar Photographer Bill Owens publishes new book 2 Mar Crisis Corps to open new program in Sri Lanka 28 Feb PC wants new stories for "The Great Adventure" 28 Feb Ukraine PCV asks "Is Bush right on Iraq?" 28 Feb Carol Bellamy defends "feminism" in aiding children 28 Feb John Bridgeland discusses role as Bush assistant 28 Feb Paul Theroux recalls high times with Hunter Thompson 28 Feb Elaine Chao Leads Delegation to Uruguay 28 Feb RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years 27 Feb Kay Muldoon-Ibrahim's photography on exhibit 27 Feb Jim Doyle displays political brilliance on tax cuts 26 Feb

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler Coates Redmon, a staffer in Sargent Shriver's Peace Corps, died February 22 in Washington, DC. Her book "Come as You Are" is considered to be one of the finest (and most entertaining) recountings of the birth of the Peace Corps and how it was literally thrown together in a matter of weeks. If you want to know what it felt like to be young and idealistic in the 1960's, get an out-of-print copy. We honor her memory.

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.

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.

Read the stories and leave your comments.