Fran said the people of Kiribati wanted to learn more about Americans. "When we first got off the plane, the teenagers crowded around us and asked whether we knew Rambo and how many machine guns we owned," Fran said. She said the people would get these images of Americans from the movies that were imported. "Dispelling these kind of myths is probably the biggest impact that we made," Fran said. "The Peace Corps is the most cost-effective good will program that the United States has." She said the Peace Corps not only is a good way for baby boomers to help others, but it also changes one's perspective of the world. "We'd never done anything this adventurous before, but many more doors opened for us after the Peace Corps," Fran said.
Fran Noonan served in the Peace Corps in Kiribati when she was 60 teaching English, geography and mathematics
Peace Corps seeks retired baby boomers
By Todd Smith
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 6:25 AM CDT
[Excerpt]
Fran Noonan, 79, of Kirkwood, is the St. Louis area's Peace Corps recruiter. Now retired, she has served in the Peace Corps. When she was 60, Noonan served in the late 1980s with her husband, Jim, on an island in the Pacific Ocean to teach the children English, geography and mathematics.
After raising seven children here and selling a construction business, Fran and Jim decided to follow their dream of joining the Peace Corps.
Fran said their interest in the Peace Corps began in the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy called his fellow Americans to serve in the newly formed organization. But at the time, their children were young.
She said they then applied in 1987 after retirement. The application process took about a year and then they were accepted. They headed to the southwest Pacific to the Republic of Kiribati, formerly the Gilbert Islands, in 1988. They lived in a concrete block building that also housed the school.
Fran said the island was remote.
"We had no electricity; water came from rainwater collected in a tank; and communication was through a short wave radio," she said. Yet, she said, "It was a tropical paradise with sandy beaches and ocean breezes."
The Noonans also found the people nice and made friends.
Fran said besides teaching, she and her husband provided them with other activities. Her husband taught a woodworking class and she opened a library with donated books.
Jim even started a marching group.
"They would march to a music tape that Jim had of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale song," Fran said.
Fran said the people of Kiribati wanted to learn more about Americans.
"When we first got off the plane, the teenagers crowded around us and asked whether we knew Rambo and how many machine guns we owned," Fran said.
She said the people would get these images of Americans from the movies that were imported.
"Dispelling these kind of myths is probably the biggest impact that we made," Fran said. "The Peace Corps is the most cost-effective good will program that the United States has."
She said the Peace Corps not only is a good way for baby boomers to help others, but it also changes one's perspective of the world.
"We'd never done anything this adventurous before, but many more doors opened for us after the Peace Corps," Fran said.
The Noonans went on to co-manage the Washington, D.C., International Student House for more than 90 men and women from around the world. Fran also enrolled in graduate school at Washington University and has worked from the university's career center as the St. Louis area Peace Corps recruiter since 2002.
