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Kure Beach couple returns home after Peace Corps stint
Dave and Judy Smith get ready to board the world's longest cable car at
Tatev Monastery in Armenia. Photo courtesy of Dave and Judy Smith
By Judy Smith
Special to the StarNews
Published: Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 12:54 p.m.
Our service has provided us the opportunity to experience life in a country
of which we knew little. In return, David and I hope to have left a positive
impression of what people from the United States are like. We also hope to
have improved the lives and outlooks of at least a few individuals through
our interactions and work.
Our Peace Corps service began in Niger, Africa, in late 2010. That
assignment ended when we were evacuated due to nearby terrorist activity.
With reassignment to Armenia, we were able to experience two totally
different ways of life as well as needs. We feel enriched by having these
diverse opportunities to live in countries that are so different.
So what's next for us - and for other volunteers who devoted more than two
years to Peace Corps work? Of course, reconnecting with family and friends
in the U.S. is primary for a majority of us, including David and me. After
that, we intend to seek further chances to travel and possibly other ways to
carry out meaningful volunteer activities in areas of interest to us.
Within our group of 40 volunteers, many were young university graduates who
chose to do Peace Corps service prior to graduate school or starting paying
jobs. Law school awaits one of the brightest young women in our group, while
international studies in Monterey, Calif., is the choice of another. Several
volunteers have accepted or are seeking positions in Washington, D.C., where
they will build their resumes to move into foreign service or other
government careers.
A few are rejoining their parents, as many in the Millennial Generation must
do. They hope to figure out what they want to do with their lives, or plan
to further their studies so they can support themselves in the current
economy. Two years in the Peace Corps can be a time for contemplation and
decision-making while helping others, but it's not always long enough for a
person's desires to be met with realistic approaches to reaching personal
goals.
Within the group of older volunteers similar to David and me, a few will
resume work in their former fields of employment while another will seek new
horizons in the international arena.
In our exit interview, our Peace Corps country director asked what we
thought was our greatest accomplishment during the two years in Armenia. For
me, it was neither the transfer of skills, which is goal No. 1 for the Peace
Corps, nor was it the fact that I was able to obtain English textbooks for
my students when they'd never had them before. Rather, it was the cultural
exchange that took place between Americans and Armenians, the sharing of
what life is like for each other.
A related accomplishment for me was the chance to encourage young people to
study and improve their English, to continue on an educational path and to
travel to see the world outside of Armenia.
A few of my English students and other acquaintances will do this and will
be successful. Furthermore, help with personal businesses, including
development of a bed and breakfast, an outdoor sports company and a small
sewing business are directly related to consistent interactions David had
with individual Armenians with dreams to fulfill.
Service in the U.S. Peace Corps, which is now more than 50 years old and
known worldwide, is difficult yet rewarding. We are pleased to have had the
chance to be volunteers and now to be classified as RPCVs - returned Peace
Corps volunteers - for the second time. Our experiences cannot be replicated
but they can be shared. From day one of our service we regularly heard, "A
volunteer determines his or her own experiences." That is what we did. As
David says, "We do not think anyone is worse off from our service in
Armenia."
=1&tc=pg
Kure Beach couple returns home after Peace Corps stint
Dave and Judy Smith get ready to board the world's longest cable car at
Tatev Monastery in Armenia. Photo courtesy of Dave and Judy Smith
By Judy Smith
Special to the StarNews
Published: Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 12:54 p.m.
Our service has provided us the opportunity to experience life in a country
of which we knew little. In return, David and I hope to have left a positive
impression of what people from the United States are like. We also hope to
have improved the lives and outlooks of at least a few individuals through
our interactions and work.
Our Peace Corps service began in Niger, Africa, in late 2010. That
assignment ended when we were evacuated due to nearby terrorist activity.
With reassignment to Armenia, we were able to experience two totally
different ways of life as well as needs. We feel enriched by having these
diverse opportunities to live in countries that are so different.
So what's next for us - and for other volunteers who devoted more than two
years to Peace Corps work? Of course, reconnecting with family and friends
in the U.S. is primary for a majority of us, including David and me. After
that, we intend to seek further chances to travel and possibly other ways to
carry out meaningful volunteer activities in areas of interest to us.
Within our group of 40 volunteers, many were young university graduates who
chose to do Peace Corps service prior to graduate school or starting paying
jobs. Law school awaits one of the brightest young women in our group, while
international studies in Monterey, Calif., is the choice of another. Several
volunteers have accepted or are seeking positions in Washington, D.C., where
they will build their resumes to move into foreign service or other
government careers.
A few are rejoining their parents, as many in the Millennial Generation must
do. They hope to figure out what they want to do with their lives, or plan
to further their studies so they can support themselves in the current
economy. Two years in the Peace Corps can be a time for contemplation and
decision-making while helping others, but it's not always long enough for a
person's desires to be met with realistic approaches to reaching personal
goals.
Within the group of older volunteers similar to David and me, a few will
resume work in their former fields of employment while another will seek new
horizons in the international arena.
In our exit interview, our Peace Corps country director asked what we
thought was our greatest accomplishment during the two years in Armenia. For
me, it was neither the transfer of skills, which is goal No. 1 for the Peace
Corps, nor was it the fact that I was able to obtain English textbooks for
my students when they'd never had them before. Rather, it was the cultural
exchange that took place between Americans and Armenians, the sharing of
what life is like for each other.
A related accomplishment for me was the chance to encourage young people to
study and improve their English, to continue on an educational path and to
travel to see the world outside of Armenia.
A few of my English students and other acquaintances will do this and will
be successful. Furthermore, help with personal businesses, including
development of a bed and breakfast, an outdoor sports company and a small
sewing business are directly related to consistent interactions David had
with individual Armenians with dreams to fulfill.
Service in the U.S. Peace Corps, which is now more than 50 years old and
known worldwide, is difficult yet rewarding. We are pleased to have had the
chance to be volunteers and now to be classified as RPCVs - returned Peace
Corps volunteers - for the second time. Our experiences cannot be replicated
but they can be shared. From day one of our service we regularly heard, "A
volunteer determines his or her own experiences." That is what we did. As
David says, "We do not think anyone is worse off from our service in
Armenia."