July 20, 2005: Headlines: COS - Lesotho: Older Volunteers: Chicago Tribune: Hazel Domangue, 65, is serving as an HIV/AIDS adviser in Lesotho in southern Africa, where she has been for nearly two years
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July 20, 2005: Headlines: COS - Lesotho: Older Volunteers: Chicago Tribune: Hazel Domangue, 65, is serving as an HIV/AIDS adviser in Lesotho in southern Africa, where she has been for nearly two years
Hazel Domangue, 65, is serving as an HIV/AIDS adviser in Lesotho in southern Africa, where she has been for nearly two years
Domangue coordinates workshops on HIV/AIDS for students, faculty and staff at the National University of Lesotho. She initiated bimonthly workshops, which showcased local experts on topics such as nutrition, voluntary testing for HIV and community home-based care for AIDS patients.
Hazel Domangue, 65, is serving as an HIV/AIDS adviser in Lesotho in southern Africa, where she has been for nearly two years
Peace Corps tour is all about heart, not age
By Claire Landes Altschuler
Chicago Tribune
July 20, 2005
Life in the Peace Corps is not for the faint of heart. It's hard work under challenging conditions--anything from digging ditches to planting crops to teaching in primitive facilities. Volunteers must live the way the locals do, which often means in a one-room hut or concrete building, sometimes without electricity or indoor plumbing.
Such demands have long meant that the Corps was a young person's pursuit. But increasingly, people 55 and older, who are generally healthier and better educated than previous generations, are signing up.
[Excerpt]
Hazel Domangue, 65, is serving as an HIV/AIDS adviser in Lesotho in southern Africa, where she has been for nearly two years. Before joining the Peace Corps, Domangue was intergovernmental relations director for Chicago's health department. After her children grew up and her marriage dissolved, she began considering how she wanted to live the rest of her life. Domangue made a list of things she wanted to accomplish, "and [joining] the Peace Corps was No. 2." Getting a master's degree, which she received in 2002, was No. 1.
Before joining the Peace Corps, Domangue had a comfortable home in Hyde Park with "huge rooms, high ceilings and hardwood floors." She now lives in a one-room brick house with an indoor toilet and shower. Despite the change in living conditions, Domangue said she's enjoying herself and will be sad to leave. She is scheduled to come home in August.
Domangue coordinates workshops on HIV/AIDS for students, faculty and staff at the National University of Lesotho. She initiated bimonthly workshops, which showcased local experts on topics such as nutrition, voluntary testing for HIV and community home-based care for AIDS patients. She also introduced the university community to people living with HIV/AIDS. (According to UNICEF, one in four southern Africans aged 15-49 has been infected with the virus.)
Domangue said she thinks the workshops have made a difference. In previous years, the number of people who volunteered to be tested for the disease was in the single digits. "This year," she wrote in a recent e-mail, "there were so many students and staff who [volunteered] we had to bring back the [testing] organization the following week."
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Story Source: Chicago Tribune
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Lesotho; Older Volunteers
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