2011.01.21: January 21, 2011: John and Peggy Davis of Worthington joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and were assigned to Gondar, Ethiopia
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2011.01.21: January 21, 2011: John and Peggy Davis of Worthington joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and were assigned to Gondar, Ethiopia
John and Peggy Davis of Worthington joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and were assigned to Gondar, Ethiopia
John taught history and agriculture and Peggy taught home economics. While there, he said the high school enrollments doubled. One third of the teachers were Peace Corps volunteers, one third were Indian, and one third were Ethiopian. "We received the same pay that the job paid in that country," Davis said, "which was $100 a month. We had a house, two monkeys, and a pig that we butchered before we left. We also had a full-time maid and a gardener." John noted that one of the highlights of their assignment in Ethiopia was the summer he and Peggy climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and one of the saddest days while in Africa was in November 1963 when they learned that President John F. Kennedy had been killed. "President Kennedy gave us a going away speech, but, sadly, he couldn't welcome us home," noted Davis.
John and Peggy Davis of Worthington joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and were assigned to Gondar, Ethiopia
Death of Sargent Shriver brings back Peace Corps memories for rural Worthington couple
Friday, January 21, 2011
By Jo Chiparo, Staff Writer
Caption: John and Peggy Davis of Worthington joined the Peace Corps in 1962. They were assigned to Gondar, Ethiopia, and John taught history and agriculture and Peggy taught home economics.
When John Davis of Worthington recently heard of the death of Sargent Shriver, he said many memories flooded his mind.
In 1962, shortly after Davis and his wife, Peggy, were married, they both joined the Peace Corps (PC). At that time, Shriver was its first director overseeing 200,000 volunteers.
"It was a time of golden summer days of youth," noted Davis. "We were young, idealistic, adventurous, and a little bit crazy. The only thing that is different now is that we're not young anymore."
Peggy and John met while both were attending Harding University in Arkansas. Peggy later transferred to Indiana State University. They both were the first students from their respective college to volunteer for the Peace Corps.
Caption: Peggy Davis is pictured (third from left) with some of her students.(Contributed photo)
To prepare for the organization, the couple had to attend an eight-week training course at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. While there, they underwent vigorous physical training and hours of academic studies including history, anthropology, psychology, and language. Along with studies, Davis said they had many interesting experiences.
"We practiced on the same field as the Washington Redskins." Davis said. "They (the Redskins) watched us exercise one day and weren't impressed. The next day there was an article in a Washington newspaper making fun of us saying that we were not very well represented."
Davis said the PC volunteers answered by saying the Redskins shouldn't brag as they weren't having a very good season that year.
To prove their fitness, the PC members challenged them to a three-mile run and a rope climb. However, the Redskins declined the offer.
Also while in Georgetown, Davis said the group visited Sargent Shriver's estate and also the White House where they met President John F. Kennedy. In his remarks, Kennedy told the new members of the PC that they were doing what he had asked in his inaugural speech when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country."
Peggy and John's overseas assignment was teaching high school in Gondar, Ethiopia. John taught history and agriculture and Peggy taught home economics. While there, he said the high school enrollments doubled. One third of the teachers were Peace Corps volunteers, one third were Indian, and one third were Ethiopian.
"We received the same pay that the job paid in that country," Davis said, "which was $100 a month. We had a house, two monkeys, and a pig that we butchered before we left. We also had a full-time maid and a gardener."
John noted that one of the highlights of their assignment in Ethiopia was the summer he and Peggy climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and one of the saddest days while in Africa was in November 1963 when they learned that President John F. Kennedy had been killed.
"President Kennedy gave us a going away speech, but, sadly, he couldn't welcome us home," noted Davis.
Before they returned to the states, John and Peggy toured the Nile on a riverboat. Then they went on to India and boarded an Indian ship and traveled to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) Singapore, and Japan.
On their return home, they stopped in Hawaii, and for the first time in two years saw an American flag.
"I was never so glad to see the American flag in my life," he said. "The first thing we did was go to a Dairy Queen and get a banana split."
Davis said he would encourage anyone who wants adventure and who has a teaching degree to join the Peace Corps.
"It changes your life," he noted. "It broadens your life and gives you confidence to do whatever you want to do.
"In a very real sense, we (Peace Corps) took America to the world with a good face, and when we returned, we brought the world back to America."
Upon returning to the states, John and Peggy settled in Worthington for five years. With adventure beckoning, they then moved to Alaska and taught Eskimos for 18 years. They are now living in Worthington where John farms and Peggy works for Purdue Extension services.
Always following his dreams, John has spent one year at the National Science Foundation at the South Pole and tackled Mount Kilimanjaro the second time with his daughter who was a missionary in Uganda.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: January, 2011; Peace Corps Ethiopia; Directory of Ethiopia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ethiopia RPCVs; The 1960's; Indiana
When this story was posted in May 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
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Story Source: Greene County Daily World
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ethiopia; 1960's
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