By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 1:47 pm: Edit Post |
Ferol White - Honduras 90-92 Agriculture Sector
Ferol White - Honduras 90-92 Agriculture Sector
Ferol White
Honduras 90-92
Agriculture Sector
Ferol left for Peace Corps on April Fool's Day 1990 and closed her service in September of 1992. She worked as an agricultural extensionist promoting soil conservation and improvement. Ferol lived in a small rural community named Nuevo Celilac, Santa Barbara in Honduras, Central America. More than one-hundred years ago, the people of this village moved from Viejo Celilac to this new location after many of the people died of Cholera. They believe this terrible disease was contracted from the drinking water they took from the nearby river, (Rio) Jalapa.
"The community of Nuevo Celilac was especially understanding listening to me butcher the Spanish language. I basically had no Spanish language training before Honduras. I left for Peace Corps with about a ten word vocabulary. I asked lots of questions not just about Spanish, but about everything. I am sure they must have thought me a strange bird, but they never let on. I gained so much respect for them. Peace Corps was truly the most humbling and amazing experience of my life. I would like to do it again. I wonder if President Kennedy realized the day he formed Peace Corp, how this organization would change lives. In 1961 I was only three years old, but that day the President's actions would change my life.
I have one thought for those contemplating the Peace Corp experience. It is a Belizean saying, 'a rock at the bottom of the river never knows when it's hot. If you aren't out there or close to it how can you know?' So, if you want to know, join."
E-mail: pat_ferol@yahoo.com