JFK: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
Mary Ann Camp: When Kennedy started this whole movement and made the statement, what can I do for my country?
That is something that was very, very special for me.
Helen Oyen: We thought it was time to do something different, to move on a little bit from where we had been before,
even though we had rewarding professional careers. Our children are grown, so we no longer had that responsibility.
Garred Giles: We have so much knowledge and so much experience with all sorts of different areas
and we can bring those to these people, to these communities who have been lacking that sort of knowledge
and experiences for so long, they’ve been isolated.
Don Hesse: I know that age and experience knocks down so many barriers in most places in the world,
certainly here in the Middle East. That gives me so much credibility in this community.
Harvey Gagnon: They prepare you so well in three months in country for the entire culture you’re going to be in,
the languages, what to expect – you’re just so equipped by the time you get in to the society,
if you’re half-way flexible, you’re in.
Laura Bassett: It’s necessary for us to live with them in order to find out about the Ugandan culture,
Ugandan traditions, ways of life and how to get around here.
Margaret Pratley: Some people will say that, "Squat toilet? I don’t think so". But, if you know
that that’s part of the life in Thailand, you say, ok, I can probably adjust to that.
There’s a real difference in being a tourist and being a traveler. Peace Corps is not luxurious, but it’s possible,
it’s doable. You say, yeah, I can do that.
It’s part of the good feeling that you get from the experience, that you’ve adjusted.
Garred Giles: I came in as a technical sort of a guy – I have a background in teaching and technologies.
They needed some help with computers, they needed help in getting their infrastructure,
electricals worked out and so I was able to put a hand in that.
Merv Alphonso: I never, ever thought that I would like teaching. Thanks to Peace Corps, they’ve given me some skills.
I feel comfortable, I feel very confident, that once I have the content of the material,
I can walk into any classroom and I can stand on my two feet and I can deliver a lesson and I can control the class.
And those are the things that I learned.
Harvey Gagnon: I’m a business facilitator, I try to help people either find grants, donors, loans,
whatever it takes to get their project going.
Everything from school roofs to an inventor fellow that has come up with this wonderful farm machine that will reorganize this valley.
Brooke Nagle: We are teaching HIV and AIDS treatment issues, voluntary counseling and testing
and as much information as we can give people about the virus.
Nomusa Sithole: They are helping us a lot by a lot of things, they are teaching us and they are even trying to learn Zulu
so that they will be able to interact with our people who can’t understand English.
Harvey Gagnon: My advice is that if you’re in reasonably good health, you know, do something positive.
You know, forget the golf game, you can always come back to that.
Joyce Alphonso: To me, volunteerism is like the best gift anybody can give to him or herself. You learn a lot.
You think you’re coming to help, but you’re the one getting all the help, you get all the satisfaction.
Mary McCoy: I’m getting a lot more than I would have if I were in my twenties.
And I love the fact that I get this enrichment pause at this point in my life.
How would you think that you’re getting two of the most fun years of your life in your late fifties?
You know, I didn’t expect that.
JFK: I hope the spirit will grow, that hundreds of others of young Americans, and older Americans,
will go overseas to show our best side. To show how much we desire to live at peace.
There can be no greater service to our country and no source of pride more real
than to be a member of the Peace Corps of the United States.