Marty Smith serves as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho



"There is nothing in the world like Peace Corps for the amount of immersion into a foreign culture that it lets you have," Smith said. "I understand that even more now, but when I was thinking of applying many years ago, it was definitely a big factor."

Marty Smith serves as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho

Northridge grad learning while he teaches
Peace Corps volunteer serving in Lesotho
By L.B. WHYDE
Advocate Reporter

Caption: Marty Smith, left, is pictured with Sister Crecentia, the principal of St. Mary's High School in Roma, Lesotho.

NEWARK -- Marty Smith didn't even know how to pronounce Lesotho before he left the United States to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the small African nation.

Completely surrounded by South Africa, the developing country has a relatively low profile on the global stage. The economic effects of being surrounded by a much wealthier nation and the impact of apartheid from South Africa have played a major role in shaping the psyche of Basotho, the people of Lesotho.

"They are very proud to be from Lesotho," said Smith, a 1999 graduate of Northridge High School, via e-mail. "So it was unexpected to immediately deal with 'I am from Lesotho and you are crazy American guy.'"

After graduating from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in journalism, Smith, now 24, went through a considerable amount of training, including lessons in Sesotho, the language of the country, before he left in June of 2004. When he originally applied to the Peace Corps, he was hoping to work in the agriculture field, as he grew up on a farm. But instead he is teaching English and computer skills at St. Mary's High School, an all-girls school in Roma, Lesotho.

"There is nothing in the world like Peace Corps for the amount of immersion into a foreign culture that it lets you have," Smith said. "I understand that even more now, but when I was thinking of applying many years ago, it was definitely a big factor."

During his training, they talked about "African time" and the required adjustment that clock-watching Americans have to make. Smith was unsure how he would make that adjustment. "I have to say that one can get used to African time," Smith said. "Patience is not so much a virtue as a necessity."

Smith, son of Mark and Linda Smith of Utica, recently was visited by his mother and his siblings, Jacob, 19, Melissa, 16, and Joshua, 12. The family spent two weeks in Lesotho. "We loved it," said Linda Smith, a teacher at Homer Elementary. "It was an interesting learning experience. On the other hand, the poverty is overwhelming and hard to handle. Unless you see it, you can't understand it."

The life expectancy in Lesotho is only 37 years, in part because 30 percent of the population has AIDS. It has the third highest prevalence rate in the world, behind only Swaziland and Botswana. During Smith's time there, the deaths of people who suffered from AIDS have been attributed to tuberculosis or even the common cold.

"While this may technically be true, it completely removes HIV from the picture and this blew, and still does, me away," Smith said. "It is a disease that is banished to a darkened corner of the house and only comes out to go to the clinic when things are already too far along, or for the trip to the funeral home."

Smith will finish out his service in Lesotho in mid-June and plans to return home in August.

L.B. Whyde can be reached at (740) 328-8513 or lwhyde@newarkadvocate.com.

When this story was posted in April 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world.

---

---

PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

---

History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

---

PC announces new program in Cambodia Director Vasquez and Cambodia's Deputy Chief of Mission Meng Eang Nay announced a historic new partnership between the Peace Corps and the Kingdom of Cambodia that will bring volunteers to this Southeast Asian country for the first time. Under King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia has welcomed new partnerships with the U.S. government and other U.S. organizations.

---

Top Stories: March 23, 2006 Peace Corps celebrates 45th Anniversary 9 Mar Celeste joins Stonebridge International 21 Mar Spain plans Peace Corps 20 Mar Rita Botts learns about living in layers in Ukraine 18 Mar Melanie Boyer writes "About Last Night" 17 Mar Pat Waak files campaign complaint 15 Mar Tom Bissell is a 'Yooper' 15 Mar Toledo keeps Peru's dispute with Yale in the public eye 14 Mar Lack of teachers for 'Critical Languages' 14 Mar Keith and Jenny Gelber met as PCVs in Zambia 10 Mar Bush presents award to Amber Davis-Collins 9 Mar Brian Singer founded Project Zawadi 9 Mar Christopher R. Hill speaks on East Asia in Transition 9 Mar Edmund Hull says patience will win war on terrorism 7 Mar Miriam Gray reconnects with Brazil RPCV after 40 years 5 Mar Ashley Tsongas keynotes Women's Week Breakfast 5 Mar Sari Long says PC has much to teach us 3 Mar Dana Priest calls for Peace Corps for the 21st Century 4 Mar Vasquez says PC needs to be more racially diverse 4 Mar Peace Corps Fund ready for first round of grants 2 Mar Shriver Peaceworkers Celebrate 12 Years 1 Mar White House plans to close Americorps NCCC Program 1 Mar

---

Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say.

---

Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: Volkart reverses stance, takes new assignment in Paraguay.

---

March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. "

---

Paid Vacations in the Third World? Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think?

---

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

---

Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

---

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

---

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.