2011.07.20: July 20, 2011: 80-year-old Millicent Agnor foregoes retirement for service in Peace Corps Romania
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2011.07.20: July 20, 2011: 80-year-old Millicent Agnor foregoes retirement for service in Peace Corps Romania
80-year-old Millicent Agnor foregoes retirement for service in Peace Corps Romania
Her primary job is to teach English to students in third through eighth grade, she said. "The most difficult part of the experience for me is not being skilled in the [Romanian] language," Agnor said. "I am in a community where only a couple of people speak English, but I am learning." Learning a new language can be tough. One look at one of her teaching tools will attest to that. "My Romanian/English dictionary is now hung together with duct tape," Agnor said. While on her tour, Agnor has worked to help create "sustainable" projects for the local school and community as a whole. "In my village we have designed a school science lab in our school for biology, chemistry and physics," Agnor said. "It is now fully funded and ready for construction." Agnor enjoys helping the people of Romania, but what she enjoys most is "working with the kids." "I love the kids," Agnor added. "It's a pleasure to teach them."
80-year-old Millicent Agnor foregoes retirement for service in Peace Corps Romania
80-year-old foregoes retirement for Peace Corps
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July 20, 2011
by Tim Troglen | Reporter
Some 80-year-olds are content with enjoying a life of leisurely retirement, spending quiet days at home with friends and family.
But Millicent Agnor of Hudson is a bit different from most 80 year olds. Agnor is not spending her summer under a Hudson shade tree. She's spending her days in Romania teaching students the English language as one of 50 Peace Corps volunteers who recently helped build a home in six days to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization.
Agnor joined the Peace Corps in 2010 after retiring from a Millersburg quilting business she began more than 28 years ago. She has been in Romania for 13 months and is committed to a 27-month service tour.
Her primary job is to teach English to students in third through eighth grade, she said.
"The most difficult part of the experience for me is not being skilled in the [Romanian] language," Agnor said. "I am in a community where only a couple of people speak English, but I am learning."
Learning a new language can be tough. One look at one of her teaching tools will attest to that.
"My Romanian/English dictionary is now hung together with duct tape," Agnor said.
While on her tour, Agnor has worked to help create "sustainable" projects for the local school and community as a whole.
"In my village we have designed a school science lab in our school for biology, chemistry and physics," Agnor said. "It is now fully funded and ready for construction."
Agnor enjoys helping the people of Romania, but what she enjoys most is "working with the kids."
"I love the kids," Agnor added. "It's a pleasure to teach them."
At 80, Agnor is quite a bit older than the average Peace Corps volunteer, according to Janice Laurente, a spokesperson for the organization. The average age is 28.
However, the ages of volunteers range from 18 to 84, with no "upper age" limit for volunteers, Laurente said.
"Peace Corps volunteers have been inspiring generations, for generations," Laurente said. "Millicent and volunteers around the world meet challenges with innovation, creativity, determination and compassion."
The home Agnor helped the Romanian Habitat for Humanity build was for Alina and Marcel Petrus and their two children, who had previously lived in a 230-square-feet room with no heat.
Marcel is unable to work due to a stroke that partially paralyzed him.
"They are like guardian angels," Alina said about the Peace Corps volunteers.
Agnor said she wants to leave a part of herself with the people she is helping.
"I'd like to be remembered as that friendly American who 'is eager to learn about us, who loves our kids and loves living in our little comuna,'" Agnor said.
Agnor also hopes to take back with her the "need to never compare or judge the American and Romanian cultures" and the importance of appreciating differences and the "value of each other's customs."
"The Romanian customs and cultures are often very different from ours, and I love learning about them," Agnor said.
Agnor recommends the Peace Corps for those looking for a way to give back.
"Run, do not walk," Agnor said. "If you are healthy, have a zest for life, go for it. You have much to give and you will receive more than you give."
Agnor is one of the more than 350 Ohio residents currently in the Peace Corps, which was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy.
"My life has been rich and Peace Corps service is a way to help pay it forward," Agnor said.
Email: ttroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2011; Peace Corps Romania; Directory of Romania RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Romania RPCVs; Older Volunteers
When this story was posted in November 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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