Howrigan was pulled away from the Ethiopian town of Jimma, where he was teaching English and working with farmers to reduce topsoil erosion, to assist with the creation and training of the fire department. The airport in Addis Ababa was going to be accepting jet planes and the change was accompanied by the donation of U.S. and British fire equipment. The head of civil aviation at the airport was British and had a tendency to refer to the bathroom as "W.C." – short for water closet. When asked by a group of Ethiopians what "W.C." stood for, Howrigan, never one to pass up a chance to make a joke, replied "Winston Churchill." It wasn't a response that endeared him to the Englishman.
Long before Richard Howrigan was a state representative he made history as part of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to go to Ethiopia in 1962
First in the Peace Corps
Written By:
Michelle Monroe
Howrigan met Shrivers, served in Ethiopia in '62
FAIRFIELD - Long before Richard Howrigan was a state representative he made history as part of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to go to Ethiopia in 1962.
Howrigan was a 29-year-old graduate of St. Michael's College with a history of volunteer work in his native Fairfield. Before being sent to Africa, he spent the summer in Georgetown training with the other volunteers. Among their instructors were Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, and the highly esteemed journalist and author Bill Moyers.
Sargent Shriver, the first head of the Peace Corps, would bring the volunteers to his home, and Howrigan remembers meeting Maria Shriver when she was six or seven.
There was also training with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, which Howrigan was less sanguine about. Of manuals to teach the Ethiopians how to clip sheep, Howrigan said, "They've had sheep for 2,000 years."
The volunteers also had to undergo psychiatric evaluations where they were asked about their responses to Ethiopian cultural traditions such as male friends walking hand-in-hand, and their attitudes about race.
Howrigan, who can still speak the Ethiopian language Amharic, said he is anxious to return to the place where he spent two years assisting farmers, teaching children, helping to establish a fire department and aggravating an Englishman who worked for civil aviation at the Addis Ababa airport.
When he arrived in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Howrigan was greeted by a Catholic priest who held out his hand and said, ""I'm Maurice Richard and Mrs. John Montagne is my aunt."
Mrs. Montagne lived back in Franklin County.
The two became friends, and when Howrigan was having troubles with the fire department he said to Richard: "See if you can't do 50 laps around the beads, Father. I've got a problem here."
The problem was teaching Ethiopians to drive the fire trucks. "They'd tear the clutch out of that thing something fierce," he said.
Howrigan was pulled away from the Ethiopian town of Jimma, where he was teaching English and working with farmers to reduce topsoil erosion, to assist with the creation and training of the fire department. The airport in Addis Ababa was going to be accepting jet planes and the change was accompanied by the donation of U.S. and British fire equipment.
The head of civil aviation at the airport was British and had a tendency to refer to the bathroom as "W.C." – short for water closet. When asked by a group of Ethiopians what "W.C." stood for, Howrigan, never one to pass up a chance to make a joke, replied "Winston Churchill."
It wasn't a response that endeared him to the Englishman.
Although he wasn't supposed to work with the military, Howrigan did arrange to get Bingo cards for the Ethiopian military's officers' club. The games were used to raise funds for the local leper colony.
At Addis Ababa Howrigan continued to teach. He'd come home from working with the fire department to find a group of kids at his place. Howrigan said he'd give them some money for food, including goats. "They'd save the brains for me," said Howrigan, who admitted he never ate them.
He preferred the unleavened bread layered with meat (usually chicken or sheep), lentils and vegetables that made up most of the Ethiopians' meals. The food was eaten by hand.
Unlike Peace Corps volunteers now who may be the only volunteer in a given region, Howrigan was with a group. One of their tasks was to convince farmers to change their agricultural practices in order to reduce erosion. "If you flew over the blue Nile, it was brown," said Howrigan.
During the Cold War, the Peace Corps was viewed by Communists, including those in Ethiopia, as the enemy. "They thought we were there as spies," said Howrigan. "They called Peace Corpse on the… radio."
There were also rumors and misinformation about the U.S. government. One Ethiopian asked Howrigan why the government had concealed the suicide of Franklin Roosevelt. Howrigan explained that Roosevelt had died of an illness and the state department provided him with a copy of Roosevelt's death certificate to share with the Ethiopians.
Another volunteer was asked why the U.S. government had killed Gen. George Patton. Howrigan said he does not know how, or if, she convinced the Ethiopians the government had not murdered Patton.
At the time he was in the corps, Howrigan said he was not conscious of making history, though he is more aware of it now.
"It leaves an imprint," said Howrigan of his experiences then.
-- -- --
Are you a former Peace Corps volunteer and do you know of one who lives in Franklin County. Contact Michelle Monroe who is interested in doing additional profiles in this 50th anniversary year of the corps. She is available at michelle@samessenger.com or 524-9771, ext. 111.
