Dakake and the rest of his fellow Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from Uzbekistan, an Asian country formerly part of the Soviet Union, because of the volatile situation in May 2005, just five months after his two and a 27-month tour began. As it were, about three-quarters of the volunteers decided to return home. Dakake was not among them. "The rest of us wanted to pursue placement in a different country," he said. "I had learned the Russian language so I wanted to continue my tour in another Russian-speaking country." Dakake was reassigned for the remainder of his service to Moldova, another former Soviet state, which has the unenviable distinction of being the poorest country in Europe. There, he worked in the office of a local mayor and took an active role in many of the village's projects. Dakake's hosts were able to get a better idea of American culture. For many, all they knew of the country before Dakake arrived was the popular culture "like 50 Cent or 'The Terminator,'" Dakake said. But the chance to meet "a real live American" changed the perception, at least for some. Dakake and another Peace Corps volunteer brought along an acoustic guitar and harmonica and played music, which their hosts appreciated. Among the most popular songs was "Hotel California" by the Eagles (to which many knew the words) as well as anything by Johnny Cash or the Beatles, which was the most commonly requested.
Evacuated from Uzbekistan Brad Dakake completed his service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova
Peace Corps experience
Monday, June 25, 2007
Caption: Brad Dakake shows off some souvenirs accumulated during his time in Uzbekistan and Moldova. Photo by Steve Novak/New Jersey Herald
By STEPHEN J. NOVAK
snovak@njherald.com
FREDON — Brad Dakake has always been involved with community service.
So involved, in fact, not even a national revolution could stop him.
"Fortunately, I was on the other side of the country, so there were no bullets whizzing through my window," Dakake said. "But we still didn't know what was going to happen."
Dakake and the rest of his fellow Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from Uzbekistan, an Asian country formerly part of the Soviet Union, because of the volatile situation in May 2005, just five months after his two and a 27-month tour began. As it were, about three-quarters of the volunteers decided to return home.
Dakake was not among them.
"The rest of us wanted to pursue placement in a different country," he said. "I had learned the Russian language so I wanted to continue my tour in another Russian-speaking country."
The Kittatinny Regional High School graduate was reassigned for the remainder of his service to Moldova, another former Soviet state, which has the unenviable distinction of being the poorest country in Europe. There, he worked in the office of a local mayor and took an active role in many of the village's projects.
When he wasn't digging wells or helping to erect water towers, he was helping schoolteachers and government workers become better acquainted with technology. Some of the village's accountants, he said, were handwriting spreadsheets even though they had computers and the appropriate programs available.
"They had the equipment, they just didn't know how to use it," he said.
The 28-year-old Fredon resident's world-spanning adventures, which concluded earlier this year, were recounted recently for seniors at his old high school, where he discussed the goals of the Peace Corps through his own experience.
The corps was started in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. It currently has its approximately 7,700 volunteers spread out over about 70 countries all over the world.
"The general goal is to promote world peace and friendship," Dakake said. "There are three parts to that goal. First, an American citizen goes overseas, lives and works in a community, learns the languages, even makes the same amount of money. They want you to walk in another person's shoes and at the same time, explain what America is really like.
"The second is to actually work to help those people. And the third is once you get home ... you have to spread your knowledge."
Dakake spent more than two years fully immersed in former Soviet sub-cultures, in the homes of host families, living as they did. In his presentation to the Kittatinny seniors, he included a 10-minute video that showed his walk from his Moldovan apartment down the street to the village well (where nearby, the neighbors were slaughtering a cow) and back again to fill his water bucket. To show how long it took to completely fill the bucket, which usually lasted four to five days, the video would have to be replayed four more times.
"One of the most interesting things of the experience is coming to an understanding of that part of the world, how these people live," Dakake said. "It makes you appreciate America. We have our problems, but I feel really lucky to come from a country as great as this."
Though Dakake has been involved with community service programs in high school and college, including working as a consumer advocate for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and later for the American Cancer Society, he quickly found that such programs were eyed with suspicion in other cultures.
As a member of a non-governmental service organization in Uzbekistan, he was often followed by the Uzbek equivalent of America's FBI, since part of his work was to "open up the government" to the country's citizens. Dakake said he "never felt in danger, but they definitely wanted to know what we were doing."
Many Moldovans were equally suspicious. Because of the country's struggling economy, many citizens are trying to leave, either legally or illegally, to find work. "They have no culture of philanthropy," Dakake explained. "It's a foreign concept. They think, if everyone's trying to leave ... why would an American come here?"
But by becoming living among the locals, accepting their customs and conversing with them, Dakake said he discovered a culture that he said is "very hospitable." Where in America, you must generally call ahead to your neighbors to tell them you are coming over, in Moldova, friends simply expect you to show up, Dakake said. They will break open homemade wines and foods they jarred themselves.
"You have to be willing to truly embrace another culture, to put aside preconceived notions," Dakake said. "In the process, you learn a lot about yourself. In America, you have ideas that are never challenged because everyone around you is American. It's like if you eat apples your whole life, you can't really describe what it's like. But if you eat an orange, then you have something to compare it to.
"I think I now have a better idea of America."
Of course, Dakake's hosts were also able to get a better idea of American culture. For many, all they knew of the country before Dakake arrived was the popular culture "like 50 Cent or 'The Terminator,'" Dakake said. But the chance to meet "a real live American" changed the perception, at least for some.
Dakake and another Peace Corps volunteer brought along an acoustic guitar and harmonica and played music, which their hosts appreciated. Among the most popular songs was "Hotel California" by the Eagles (to which many knew the words) as well as anything by Johnny Cash or the Beatles, which was the most commonly requested.
Now that he is back home, Dakake plans to attend the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia in the next few months to earn a Master of Business Administration degree in small business management, an area he had not considered before the Peace Corps.
"I never would have thought I would want an MBA, but overseas ... I worked with a lot of government aid programs," Dakake said. "What really interested me was small business development. That's what is going to push (Moldova's) economy."
But first, he must continue his mission for understanding. Besides the high school presentation, he is also scheduled to discuss his Peace Corps experience with the Newton Rotary in July.
"If I'm the only one that benefits from this two-year experience, then maybe it wasn't so worthwhile," he said.
