He stated in his presentation that the hardest part was changing the people’s minds about hygiene, a people who were told by their eldest generation that parasites were normal and to use dirty toilet paper. Frodsham expressed the hardships of working with a large crew of people by inviting up six volunteers to take a long shaft of Styrofoam and, together, put it on the ground evenly. Of course, through the bungling and laughs, his point was made as the group struggled. Other difficulties he noted were a bureaucratic government, local grudges and a lack of funds. He stated that he even changed villages because the first village couldn’t work together. “The village and I worked together,” Frodsham said, when he found the two villages that would be willing to sacrifice for the project. While the manpower was there, the funds were not. For that he came back to Waverly and asked for donations from people. The community responded by filling up his request of $7,000 within two months. Even when he needed more money to offset increased costs, the community responded. After two years water would be pumped through five miles of piping into the homes of the people. According to Frodsham, one family even let it run for 20 minutes, content to just watch it flow. At the end of the presentation he thanked the community for helping “to change the lives of people that changed my life.”
For two years David Frodsham worked in remote Panama helping to bring clean water through aqueduct piping
Peace Corps volunteer tells of his adventures
BY CHRIS MANNING
STAFF WRITER
03/31/2008
WAVERLY — “What kind of fool would do such a thing?” David Frodsham declared, to a few laughs, about working as an engineer for pretty much nothing in the Peace Corps at a remote location in Panama.
Of course, no one thought he was a fool at the Waverly United Methodist Church when he recently gave a presentation on his experiences.
For two years Frodsham, a Waverly graduate and Junior Rotarian, worked in remote Panama helping to bring clean water through aqueduct piping. He stated in his presentation that the hardest part was changing the people’s minds about hygiene, a people who were told by their eldest generation that parasites were normal and to use dirty toilet paper.
Frodsham expressed the hardships of working with a large crew of people by inviting up six volunteers to take a long shaft of Styrofoam and, together, put it on the ground evenly. Of course, through the bungling and laughs, his point was made as the group struggled.
Other difficulties he noted were a bureaucratic government, local grudges and a lack of funds. He stated that he even changed villages because the first village couldn’t work together.
“The village and I worked together,” Frodsham said, when he found the two villages that would be willing to sacrifice for the project. While the manpower was there, the funds were not. For that he came back to Waverly and asked for donations from people. The community responded by filling up his request of $7,000 within two months. Even when he needed more money to offset increased costs, the community responded.
After two years water would be pumped through five miles of piping into the homes of the people. According to Frodsham, one family even let it run for 20 minutes, content to just watch it flow. At the end of the presentation he thanked the community for helping “to change the lives of people that changed my life.”
The experience, Frodsham said, “makes you look back at your own” culture and examine how you live. He stated that he had to reintegrate to that society and learn the different pace of life there.
“The desire to do something interesting, helpful” he said about why he joined the Peace Corps, plus to “see the world.” His first thought was he was going to be swept away by mosquitoes, which obviously didn’t happen. Frodsham did say that within a few months a person’s prejudices would either be “reinforced or destroyed” when he visited someplace new.
As for his advice to others who may be thinking of joining the Peace Corps, he said, “make sure you got your own reasons, outside humanitarianism,” that you can “cope with something totally different.” He also said they should make sure it “thrills them.”
©Daily and Sunday Review 2008
