2009.08.30: August 30, 2009: Headlines: COS - Zambia: The Enterprise Ledger : Joe Lassan recently returned from two years service with the Peace Corps in Zambia
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2009.08.30: August 30, 2009: Headlines: COS - Zambia: The Enterprise Ledger : Joe Lassan recently returned from two years service with the Peace Corps in Zambia
Joe Lassan recently returned from two years service with the Peace Corps in Zambia
Lassan said volunteers are required to immerse themselves in the culture of the country to which they are sent. He met countless individuals during his stay who wanted to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities. "The best learning tool I had was the children," he said. "They are so patient." He initially lived with a sponsor family and then moved into a hut he came to call home. Most of the buildings in Zambia are constructed from handmade clay blocks, he said. "If a building is made out of concrete, you know it's important," Lassan said. He spent much of his first year in Zambia helping to build a health clinic in his village. "When we come to a village, we don't just go in and change things," he said. "We spend the first several months getting to know the village leaders and doing a needs assessment." He taught science and youth reproductive health classes in the village school, which students attended three hours a day. The school was for students up to the ninth grade, he said. Students in higher grades had to travel to the nearest town to attend class. Zambia is about the size of Texas, and as the highest ratio of urban population in Africa because of the poverty in the rural areas. "The people living in the rural areas are mainly farmers," Lassan said. "Maize is their primary crop, but they grow pineapples and harvest honey."
Joe Lassan recently returned from two years service with the Peace Corps in Zambia
Serving the underserved is Enterprise man's goal
By Michelle Mann
Published: August 30, 2009
Serving the underserved in developing nations is what Joe Lassan says he wants to do with his life.
It's part of the reason he joined the Peace Corps.
Recently returned from two years service with the Peace Corps in Zambia, Africa, Lassan is visiting his parents in Enterprise. The middle child of Joe and Kathy Lassan is a 2003 graduate of Enterprise High School and a 2007 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison with an undergraduate degree in medical microbiology. It's a major he says he will use as a stepping stone to his ultimate goal.
"I want to go to medical school," he said Friday. "I'm hoping to get accepted to St. George University in Grenada."
The Grenada school is his choice, he said, because many of the graduates work in "developing nations serving the underserved." His awareness of medical needs in those countries was heightened during the past two years in Zambia.
The Peace Corps' roots were planted in 1960, when then U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy challenged University of Michigan students to serve their country by living and working in developing countries. Nearly 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in 139 host countries worldwide since then.
Lassan said volunteers are required to immerse themselves in the culture of the country to which they are sent. He met countless individuals during his stay who wanted to build a better life for themselves, their children and their communities.
"The best learning tool I had was the children," he said. "They are so patient."
He initially lived with a sponsor family and then moved into a hut he came to call home. Most of the buildings in Zambia are constructed from handmade clay blocks, he said.
"If a building is made out of concrete, you know it's important," Lassan said. He spent much of his first year in Zambia helping to build a health clinic in his village. "When we come to a village, we don't just go in and change things," he said. "We spend the first several months getting to know the village leaders and doing a needs assessment."
He taught science and youth reproductive health classes in the village school, which students attended three hours a day. The school was for students up to the ninth grade, he said. Students in higher grades had to travel to the nearest town to attend class.
Zambia is about the size of Texas, and as the highest ratio of urban population in Africa because of the poverty in the rural areas.
"The people living in the rural areas are mainly farmers," Lassan said. "Maize is their primary crop, but they grow pineapples and harvest honey."
Because the country was once a British colony, English is its official language. While many people speak English, Lassan said, in rural areas tribal languages are spoken. Luanda was spoken in the area he lived for two years and he said he learned to speak that language, he said.
"The people there are awesome," he said. "They are so friendly, so hospitable."
Lassan said there was no electricity or running water in his village and he washed his clothes in a stream. "We take a lot of things for granted in this country," he said. After living without electricity for two years, Lassan said he has a greater appreciation for many things, including daylight. "Your day is determined by the rising and setting of the sun," he said.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: August, 2009; Peace Corps Zambia; Directory of Zambia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Zambia RPCVs
When this story was posted in September 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
| Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez. |
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Story Source: The Enterprise Ledger
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