Back To The Land Via The Peace Corps

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by PATRICIA T. CLEARY

Have you ever considered joining the Peace Corps? Don't rule it out: It just may be the "hands on" introduction to self-sufficient living you've been looking for ... and the fringe benefits are certainly worth thinking about.

You may or may not be looking for a way to [1] travel abroad, [2] help people of another country help themselves, [3] learn "simple living" skills, and-at the same time, [4] earn a sizable chunk of the money you'll need to start your own homestead. If you are interested in doing these things, however, I'd like to let you in on a deal that's awfully hard to beat. I'm referring to the Peace Corps.

Wayne (my husband) and I have been Peace Corps volunteers for the past two and a half years ... 30 months that have meant a lot of changes for both of us. Thanks to our Corps experience, we've acquired literally scores of self-sufficiency skills, salted away a worthwhile amount of money, and achieved a sense of direction and self-confidence that we might never have found if we had not ventured abroad (all while doing a good turn for some folks who needed our help). The Peace Corps has-in short-paid priceless dividends for us. It could well do the same for you.

ABOUT THE CORPS

The Peace Corps' goal is threefold: [1] to transmit technical skills to people in developing countries (people who want and ask for the help), [2] to promote goodwill for the United States by having volunteers live and work alongside the citizens of other countries, and [3] to expose Americans to foreign cultures (and thereby increase mutual respect and understanding). Since its founding in 1961, the Peace Corps has sought to achieve these aims by recruiting—and sending overseas"optimistic, adventurous, concerned men and women who want to make things better for some of the poverty—ridden peoples of the world" (according to the Peace Corps Handbook, Eighth Edition, 1973).

When you join the Peace Corps, you sign up for a minimum of two years' duty. During those two years, you'll live under what most people would call primitive conditions (just how primitive depends on what country you go to), and you'll be paid a modest (by U.S. standards) monthly wage. (Our allowance came to around $200 per month per person.) More often than not, you'll be far from electricity and running water ... and chances are good that the only people you'll deal with who'll speak English will be your fellow P.C. volunteers. Admittedly, then, the Peace Corps is not for everyone. If you think that the life of a P.C.V. (Peace Corps Volunteer) may be what you're looking for, though, you could well find—as we have—that the benefits greatly outweigh any inconveniences involved.

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