2011.09.19: September 19, 2011: Though he never intended to be a math teacher - let alone a teacher of math teachers - Peace Corps Volunteer Larry Shirley briefly came back to America from Tanzania before returning to Africa, this time to train math teachers at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria
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2011.09.19: September 19, 2011: Though he never intended to be a math teacher - let alone a teacher of math teachers - Peace Corps Volunteer Larry Shirley briefly came back to America from Tanzania before returning to Africa, this time to train math teachers at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria
Though he never intended to be a math teacher - let alone a teacher of math teachers - Peace Corps Volunteer Larry Shirley briefly came back to America from Tanzania before returning to Africa, this time to train math teachers at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria
"I went to Nigeria only intending to stay for three years, and I ended up staying for 15," he said. "Partially because I liked the job, but also because life caught up with me." Life, as it turned out, became a Ghanaian woman named Alberta Ohenewah, whom he married and had two children with. They lived in Nigeria until 1988, when he decided to move his family back to America. He had finished his doctorate and believed American high school would be better for his children should they wish to go to college here. More importantly, after nearly two decades as a math teacher in West Africa, Shirley felt his work there was finished. "When I first went to Nigeria, the university was staffed by ex-patriots," Shirley said. "But Nigeria was growing and producing its own staff. Most of the teaching staff was Nigerian. There weren't many Americans or Europeans left. (Leaving) seemed like the right thing to do."
0,7595016.story, Though he never intended to be a math teacher - let alone a teacher of math teachers - Peace Corps Volunteer Larry Shirley briefly came back to America from Tanzania before returning to Africa, this time to train math teachers at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria
Peace Corps volunteers recall work that changed their world
Local residents reflect on journeys of service and life
Peace Corps Anniversary
Caption: Lawrence Shirley, center, acting graduate dean at Towson University, has this photo of him and his family taken in Ghana in August 2010 displayed in his office at TU. From left are daughter-in-law Lauren Hall-Lew, son Jefferson Shirley, Shirley himself, daughter Emily Sweet, son-in-law Jamaar Sweet, step-daughter Takyiwah Affie Adisi and granddaughter Maya Rose Sweet. The family had gathered for the funeral of Shirey's wife, Alberta Ohenewah, who he met through the Peace Corps. (Submitted photo / September 19, 2011)
By Jon Meoli, jmeoli@tribune.com
September 19, 2011 | 2:33 p.m.
[Excerpt]
At a time in their lives when young people feel the pressure of "what's next?" Larry Shirley, of Towson, and Barbara Cook, of Cockeysville, enlisted in the Peace Corps.
That decision changed the course of their lives. The same could probably be said for many of the Peace Corps' more than 200,000 volunteers, many of whom will descend on Washington, D.C., this weekend for the Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebration, Sept. 24.
Shirley, now 63, developed an affinity for Africa when he represented Tanzania in the Model U.N. in high school. That interest grew at the California Institute of Technology, and though he applied to graduate schools as well, his first choice came through when he was accepted into the Peace Corps.
Within a few weeks of graduating from college in 1969, he arrived in Sierra Leone.
Shirley taught high school math in the town of Bonthe for two years and ended up staying for a third year to help institute a curriculum change that was sweeping across West Africa.
Though he never intended to be a math teacher - let alone a teacher of math teachers - Shirley briefly came back to America before returning to Africa, this time to train math teachers at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria
"I went to Nigeria only intending to stay for three years, and I ended up staying for 15," he said. "Partially because I liked the job, but also because life caught up with me."
Life, as it turned out, became a Ghanaian woman named Alberta Ohenewah, whom he married and had two children with.
They lived in Nigeria until 1988, when he decided to move his family back to America. He had finished his doctorate and believed American high school would be better for his children should they wish to go to college here.
More importantly, after nearly two decades as a math teacher in West Africa, Shirley felt his work there was finished.
"When I first went to Nigeria, the university was staffed by ex-patriots," Shirley said. "But Nigeria was growing and producing its own staff. Most of the teaching staff was Nigerian. There weren't many Americans or Europeans left. (Leaving) seemed like the right thing to do."
The trans-Atlantic interview process proved difficult, but Shirley swung a one-year teaching gig at Northern Illinois University, and from there, landed at Towson University, where he began as a math professor and has ascended to acting dean of graduate studies.
"Many times people say how the Peace Corps changed their lives," Shirley said. "In my case, it's more than most. I wasn't really planning a career in math education, and it's been my career ever since."
Shirley's family has grown into a worldly one. His half-daughter, Takyiwah, still lives in Ghana, and his son, Jefferson, lives with his wife in Scotland. His daughter, Emily, still lives in the area.
While they lead separate lives on separate continents, the Shirley family returned to Ghana under the saddest of circumstances last summer. After 36 years of marriage, Shirley's wife died and the family went back to her homeland so she could have Ghanaian funeral rites.
Going forward, he hopes to get back under better circumstances.
"I very well may be doing more work in West Africa when I retire," he said. "There's a couple of opportunities that have come up. I don't know for sure what I might do, but there's that possibility that I could go back.
"Who knows? I could even become a [Peace Corps] volunteer again."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: September, 2011; Peace Corps Tanzania; Directory of Tanzania RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Tanzania RPCVs; Peace Corps Nigeria; Directory of Nigeria RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Nigeria RPCVs; Education; Mathematics
When this story was posted in December 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: Baltimore Sun
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Tanzania; COS - Nigeria; Education; Mathematics
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