0704 Summer 2003.pdf - Friends of Nigeria

Update FileCLeigh Gerber Purvis (12) 65–6738 years ago this month I embarked on my Peace Corpsadventure which started out with a Peace Corps trainingprogram at Columbia University in New York City. How NewYork City was supposed to prepare us for life in the fields ofNigeria escapes me to this day butI’m sure there was a rationalpurpose to it. It occurs to me thatmy family was more concernedabout me in NYC than heading offto West Africa. Quite an adventurefor a kid from Nebraska. Our groupnumbered 34 and we were tested,evaluated, tested, vaccinated, tested,given a smattering of languageCLeigh at home in Beninin 1967.CLeigh at home inMinnesota, 2002.training and then sent out to NewYork high schools to practice ourteaching skills. We were young (forthe most part), and we were “gung-ho”.My memories of life as a volunteer in Nigeria cover so manydifferent facets that they could read like a laundry list.Since Nigeria, I’ve had a varied and full life with both workand family. My twin sons are now 32 and gainfully employed.Geoffrey is a computer consultant nowworking for United Health Services afterspending a few years in the Navy. He’sunmarried and evidently has no plans of itat this time. Mike is a chemical engineerand in December joined Schwan’s Foods inMarshall,Minnesota -quite a change from the Chicagoarea. My husband, Warren, doescontract work for USAID. (Andto think how much we used to“trash” the AID workers inNigeria!). Having just completed adiploma program in computersoftware and web design, I amcurrently an unemployed ‘geek’.We have had the good fortune tolive around the world in LimaPeru, Brussels Belgium, WarsawPoland, Skopje Macedonia andmost recently in Tegucigalpa Honduras. That means I’veattempted – and modestly succeeded – learning 4 languages.I think back happily on the Peace Corps days in Nigeria andwould not have traded the experience for anything, even thoughthere were times I couldn’t wait to ‘get out’. I often think of mygood friends from there and wonder where you all are and whatyou’ve been doing...16 18 FON NEWSLETTERImmediately after the Peace Corps, Ispent ten years in FL, the longest I havelived anywhere. I taught during the firstyears of integration in Tallahassee PublicSchools and then transitioned to theDivision of Community Colleges in theState Department of Education. I wentto work for the Department of the Navyin 1972 as an education specialist and livedin Pensacola. I finally received mydoctorate in higher ed in 1983 and shortlyMartha in 1968 at Katsina.after that in 1985 married my secondhusband, Ray Wallace, a Commander in the Navy. We had twoWashington DC tours, Norfolk,VA, Bremerton, WA, where Raycommanded the USS California, and then his last militaryassignment was the naval attaché to India, where we lived from1995-1998. I loved my jobs for the Navy working with the pride,professionalism and personal excellence programs, which matchedNavy commands to community need. I did this both in Norfolkand Washington DC but retired from the Navy in 1992 as theDeputy Director of the Navy Family Service Center at the PugetSound Naval Shipyard. I later became the Executive Director for acounty agency working for the preventionof spouse and child abuse in WashingtonState.In India I worked as an on sitecoordinator for Embassy VIP visits andtruly came to love India and her people.We have lived in Santa Fe since 1989where I volunteer at the International FolkArt Museum and the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts. I havean import business bringing in Indian textiles and handicrafts tobenefit several Indian causes dear to my heart. The primary one isto bring over Bangladeshi and Indian girls who are seeking medicaltreatment in the US as a result of acid burns because of dowrydisputes or suitor rejection. I also support several women’s coops,where women are working topreserve their traditional arts. I’ll bevending at the Portland Conference asMemsahib Mar so please stop by andintroduce yourself.I also am on a Steering Committeeto promote an International Folk ArtMarket here in Santa Fe on July 16-20in 2004. We plan to bring over folkartists from developing countries andhope that Nigeria may be representedby the Nike Center in Oshogbo.We went through 1st- 4th grade together inLincoln, NE–our parents were collegefriends–and then we met later asKappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters atColorado State University in 1960.Martha Brownlee Wallace (26) 66–68Martha in 2003 inNew Mexico