February 19, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Presidents - Kennedy: Religion: Islamic Issues: Home Town Annapolis: Morocco RPCV George Gorayeb recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: "I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps."

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Morocco: Peace Corps Morocco : The Peace Corps in Morocco: February 19, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Presidents - Kennedy: Religion: Islamic Issues: Home Town Annapolis: Morocco RPCV George Gorayeb recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: "I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps."

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-25-123.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.25.123) on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 7:07 pm: Edit Post

Morocco RPCV George Gorayeb recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: "I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps."

Morocco RPCV George Gorayeb recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps.

"What I learned in Marrakesh is that Americans have a lot of gross misunderstandings about other cultures and religions, as do other countries about us. The Americans' impression of Islam is distorted. They see Muslims as violent, suicide bombers and terrorists, when the opposite is true." A devout Eastern Rite Catholic and former altar boy, he was struck by "how God is an important part of a Muslim's daily life. The devout pray five times a day. They've got to think about God at least five times and that affects how they interact with other people."

Morocco RPCV George Gorayeb recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: "I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps."

Former Peace Corps volunteer contributing again
By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital

George Gorayeb was a teenager in middle class Clifton, N.J., when he heard a televised portion of then U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy's pitch.

It was 2 a.m. on a rainy Oct. 20, 1960, when the future president encountered a group of enthusiastic students at the University of Michigan. He looked out over the young faces and made a campaign promise he kept.

"How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world?" the candidate challenged. "On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past."

As the Peace Corps commemorates its 45th anniversary this year, it's marking Peace Corps Week, Feb. 27 to March 5, by encouraging current and former volunteers to share their experiences with local schools, organizations and Scout troops.

Mr. Gorayeb, now a 55-year-old real estate sales director who lives in Arnold, has stepped forward again. He recalls hearing Mr. Kennedy's speech like it was yesterday: "I decided, then and there, I was going to join the Peace Corps."

"I went out of altruism, I went because I wanted to save the world," said Mr. Gorayeb. Holding a high draft number - No. 272 - in 1971, he could have gone straight into business or academia when he graduated that year from King's College in Pennsylvania with a degree in philosophy. "I wanted to give other people a positive image of Americans. For 45 years, the Peace Corps has done that."

He chose the country - Morocco - and was on his way there two weeks after graduating with a planeload of teachers.

Of Syrian and Lebanese ancestry, Mr. Gorayeb learned Arabic from his parents, so he fit in while in Marrakesh.

"It looked like a 14th century Disneyland," he laughed. "It was a collection of every movie cliche: souks and palm trees in a desert, encircled by snow-topped mountains. All the buildings were the same shade of dusty pink."

He taught English as a second language to high school students. Many kept in contact with him for years afterward.

"What I learned in Marrakesh is that Americans have a lot of gross misunderstandings about other cultures and religions, as do other countries about us. The Americans' impression of Islam is distorted. They see Muslims as violent, suicide bombers and terrorists, when the opposite is true." A devout Eastern Rite Catholic and former altar boy, he was struck by "how God is an important part of a Muslim's daily life. The devout pray five times a day. They've got to think about God at least five times and that affects how they interact with other people."

During his years in Morocco, Mr. Gorayeb didn't return home. Since phone calls were too expensive and e-mail didn't exist, he wrote a lot of letters. When he walked into an American supermarket after his two-year absence, "I was in a total shock at the choices and excesses that we have."

He worked for a while at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington before landing a job in the Middle East as an export sales manager.

Mr. Gorayeb has lived in six countries and visited 77. He and his wife, Carmen, a native of Ecuador, met near her office in New York City. They have two daughters, Lauren, 23, and Danelle, 21, and a waterfront home decorated with art collected from his travels.

Peace Corps volunteers are currently active in 75 countries. Since 1961, nearly 200,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in 138 countries.

Like most, it didn't take him long to realize he gained more from the experience than he gave. He called it "one of the most transformative and gratifying experiences in my life"

"Working in the Peace Corps is a privilege," he said. "You're not sacrificing. You're not in a grass hut, suffering. The majority of volunteers live in apartments in urban settings. You go to work with people in an intimate way. You get vacation pay - I went to Paris for six weeks to study French - and you can always quit. You have a ticket home."

According to Peace Corps spokesman Nathan Arnold, a Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2001, there are currently 7,810 volunteers around the world. Half of them will be coming home this year.

"We are always looking for 3,000 to 4,000 new volunteers every year to replace the ones whose tour is done. We look for volunteers of all ages and abilities," he said. "If you want to join the Peace Corps, we can find a place for you."

Groups interested in having Mr. Gorayeb as a guest speaker can contact him directly at georgegorayeb@hotmail.com.

---

Wendi Winters is a freelance writer on the Broadneck Peninsula.





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Story Source: Home Town Annapolis

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Presidents - Kennedy; Religion; Islamic Issues

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