Read the Summer 2012 issue - the University of Maine Alumni ...

shade trees near the city of Zinder’s outdoor market. In the developing
nation, the project presented some unexpected hurdles.
Customs officials demanded an 80 percent duty charge, and the
only chainsaw ceased to function. The supplier of fencing doubled
his price when the materials arrived, leaving Hawkes to arrange
for fencing through a local smuggler who acquired it in nigeria.
Later, as blacksmiths forged axes and wedges, a piece of steel
flew off and imbedded in Hawkes’s leg. Using his bicycle as a
crutch to walk the two kilometers to the hospital, the young volunteer
arrived to find unsanitary conditions and an attending doctor
with questionable medical skills. Partway through the surgery,
lying on a filthy, bloodstained sheet, Hawkes instructed him to
simply stitch up his leg—he still has the shrapnel in his thigh.
Helping to define career goals
Despite intensive training by the Peace Corps, Mario Teisl ’90G
observes that volunteers face inherent cultural challenges. Learning
about the local customs is one thing, but understanding why
people behave in certain ways is another. Because of that, “You
learn to watch and listen more before you do something.”
For Teisl, the Peace Corps “changed what I wanted to do.” A
biology major in college, he spent three years in Papua new
Guinea, where he worked with fishermen and farmers to send
their fish and produce to larger markets. His service involved helping
the residents to implement quality control, marketing, accounting,
and reinvesting to grow their business. As a result of his
experience and travel, Teisl shifted his focus to agricultural and
resource economics. He is now an economics professor and director
of the School of Policy and International Affairs at UMaine.
Like Teisl, Hazel Groce ’07 revised her career goals as a result of
her Peace Corps experience. Although she majored in international
affairs with a focus on environmental issues, she is now enrolled in
Hazel Groce ’07 (2nd from right) in Nicaragua met this
group of girls through the nurses she worked with.
a nurse practitioner program. “My work as a Peace Corps volunteer
really sparked my interest in clinical and public health,” she notes.
Groce worked with the Ministry of Health in nicaragua as a
community health educator focusing on maternal and child health,
as well as the prevention of HIV/AIDS. She worked in schools,
with women’s groups, and gave presentations at pool halls. She
also taught nutrition, reproductive health, and cooking to pregnant
and nursing mothers.
Teaching in a foreign school challenged Cody Snow ’11. An
English major, he taught in a rural Indonesian school which was
“lacking in organization and leadership.”
Beyond the problems in the educational system that Snow felt
unequipped to address in a comprehensive way, he calls his experience,
“one of the most powerful and formative experiences in my
life. I met amazing people, both American and Indonesian, who
expanded my mind and showed me friendships in new ways.”
Alumni currently serving overseas
Kathryn Card ’11 teaches at a secondary school in Tanzania, and
like Snow, has been introduced to a very different educational
system.
“In America we are told to ‘think outside the box’ and ask
questions. Here it is all about memorizing and the teachers
lecture.”
Besides English, computer, and civics, she has taught her
students the “Stein Song.”
“My kids sing their song everyday so they asked for mine.
They just learned from hearing me sing it over and over again.
They love the clapping,” she reports.
Card, who lives without electricity or running water, majored
in international affairs with a minor in women’s studies and
always wanted to work internationally. Her experience has helped
her focus her future goals on earning a graduate degree and applying
to the Foreign Service.
“Being here has made me so grateful I am American. I had not
realized what I had until I came here,” she says.
After six months in central Ukraine, Simon Williams ’04 wrote,
“My language skills are slowly getting better, but my charade skills
are now off the charts! It’s amazing how much communication can
be done without a spoken word and it is usually way more fun
too.”
A former baseball team captain at UMaine and past member of
the St. Louis Cardinals, his house has electricity but no plumbing.
Besides teaching, Williams is working to build an athletic field at
the school, which is the hub of the community.
“My favorite part of service is being part of this village,” he
says. “It seems that every day I have a new Ukrainian mom wanting
to feed me, making sure I dress properly, and that I wear a hat
on cold mornings.”
“I can’t even begin to tell you how great this experience has
been so far, how Ukraine and this village is and always will be a
big part of my life. Traveling is one thing but it is the living day in
and day out that makes this unforgettable.”
SUMMER 2012 17