Back To The Land Via The Peace Corps

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I might mention, too, that—at least for Wayne and me—the process of tackling each new challenge together brought us closer than we'd ever been in our three years of marriage.

A STUDY IN OPPOSITES

A year after we arrived in Yemen, Wayne's job hit a dead end. Coincidentally, around this same time we met some MOTHER-type folks who turned us on to the existence of the back-to-the-land movement in the U.S. Thanks to this-and to all that we had observed, learned, and lived over the previous year-we decided then that our future lay in having our own self-sufficient homestead.

At any rate, by December of 1975 we were on our way to a second assignment, this time in Barbados in the West Indies. Wayne's new job was that of 4-H organizer: He would promote new 4-H clubs and assist existing 4-H groups in one of the six island districts. I was to work in the public schools to develop arts and crafts programs.

In many respects, our stints in Yemen and Barbados were a study in opposites. The geographical difference alone was enough to boggle our minds: We went from a desert mountain-top in Yemen (with an elevation of 10,000 feet) to a pancake-flat tropical island in the Caribbean. From a technological standpoint, Yemen was barely coming out of the 13th century, while Barbados seemed to us as modern as any small town in the States. All things considered, though, our stay in Barbados proved every bit as enjoyable (and enriching) to us-in its own way-as the stint in Yemen.

HOMESTEADING HOMEWORK

One nice thing about our assignment in the Caribbean was that it gave us time to do our homesteading homework. For example, while in Barbados we finally had the time (and the money) to order all of MOTHER's back issues and read them cover to cover, in order. Also, we wrote to those areas in the States that interested us to inquire about jobs, land prices, and taxes. In addition, we did a good deal of gardening experimentation in Barbados: We tried Ruth Stout's "no work" technique, companion planting, double cropping, and succession planting.

Although the Peace Corps is geared mainly to giving out knowledge to the locals, a great deal of know-how can be gained back from host-country nationals if you're willing to learn. Wayne has dabbled in stone and mud construction and beekeeping, for instance ... and I've learned to winnow grain, weave baskets, and skin dive, among other things. I should emphasize that what we gained in each of these areas depended directly on how much we put into them. (Learning that little truth is a valuable lesson in itself.)

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