Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

I recently read an op-ed in The New York Times (Jan. 9, 2008) by Robert Strauss, a former Peace Corps volunteer, recruiter and country director.  Since I served in the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe several years ago, I naturally took notice when Strauss claimed that the average, 20-something Peace Corps volunteer lacks “the maturity and professional experience” to make a difference now that developing countries are so much farther along than they were in the 1960s, when the Peace Corps originated.  (Certainly, he must not mean Zimbabwe or several other African countries.)

Instead, Strauss, now a management consultant, suggests that the Peace Corps should get its act together by recruiting “only the best of recent graduates” and only “older people whose skills and personal characteristics are a solid fit for the needs of the host country.” It’s important, he claims, to keep the needs of “the customer” in mind at a time when spreading American “good will” is more important than ever.

With all due respect, this is exactly the kind of thing you would expect a management consultant to say.  As someone sent to Zimbabwe to teach English without any teaching credentials, I would certainly agree that it’s preferable to send volunteers to do jobs they are qualified for.  But, I wouldn’t measure the success of the Peace Corps just on the results volunteers achieve on-the-ground.

While I will never claim to have been the most effective English instructor, I will say that my experience in the Peace Corps has had a positive, long-lasting effect on just about everything I have done professionally and personally since.  Most notably, it is because of the Peace Corps that I decided to work with non-profits instead of at a bank or a law firm.  Whenever I get the opportunity, I work on projects that center on Africa or international development.  Many other former volunteers, too, cite their years in the Peace Corps as the beginning of a long career in public service. This kind of impact may not register on Strauss’ Excel spreadsheet, but it is real. 

I also consider having been young and “professionally inexperienced” to have contributed to my success in the Peace Corps.  I am sure that having no “professional baggage” made it easier to come up with creative solutions to complex problems without the nagging “No way, can’t do it, don’t even try” voices that permeate too much of the work place.  I am also sure that being young made it easier to tolerate the lack of running water and electricity, not to mention the loneliness and skinny paycheck. 

Unlike Strauss, I also believe that the mission of the Peace Corps is—and remains—to spread good will, and that professional credentials and age have little to do with your success in doing so.  I am remembering now of one of the Peace Corps volunteers I served with, riding his unicycle through the dusty roads of his village, a crowd of smiling Zimbabwean children trailing after him.  He may not have been Donald Trump, but those kids sure loved him. 

--JENNINE MEYER