2013 August PASO Magazine

ROUND TOWN
Sue Aiken’s Twice in a Lifetime Journey to Ethiopia
By Millie Drum
The Peace Corps was established in
1961 by President John. F. Kennedy. It
came at a time in our country’s history
that beckoned college graduates to immerse
themselves in a new life of service
within a new culture...somewhere in the
world.
Paso Robles resident Sue Aiken joined the
ranks of young Peace Corp volunteers upon her
graduation in 1962. “By that summer the Peace
Corps was in full ‘start up mode’ with many
locations to choose from,” said Sue. “Congress
thought that the Peace Corp was ‘the world’s
worst idea’ so every effort was made to take care
of the program.”
From the Peace Corp’s current perspective,
Collaborative effort “across the pond” results in
Above The Waves
By Steven W. Martin
Local writer Millie Drum and video production
expert Ron Gallagher have joined forces to
shepherd a project of global scope: a new collaborative
book by local photographer Lisa Wilkerson
of Arroyo Grande and British poet Jeremy Reed
entitled Above The Waves. The book is the third
collaborative effort by the two artists. Other
books include Exploding Into Colour, and The Big
Orange Day. The amazing thing about these projects
is that Wilkerson and Reed have never met
face-to-face.
The photographer and the poet connected online
because of a mutual admiration for the music
of Marc Almond (lead singer for Soft Cell,
a group best known for its song, Tainted Love.)
Wilkerson contributed to Reed’s 2001 book Marc
Almond: Adored and Explored. Except for the occasional
phone conversation, Wilkerson and
Reed have communicated exclusively via email.
Reed is widely recognized as an imaginative
and gifted British poet. He has published 40
books of poetry and prose and has been honored
in England by the National Poetry Society,
Somerset Maugham Book Awards and the Royal
Library Fund.
The relationship between Wilkerson and
Reed deepened when in 2007, Wilkerson lost
consider how the world has changed in 50 years.
We have greater access to education, but perhaps
the most striking change is the way the world is
inner-connected through trade, travel and technology
in ways that were unimaginable 50 years
ago. For Sue, returning to Ethiopia, accompanied
by her daughter Kelly, commemorated her
Sue and Kelly Aiken on horseback
and the people of Ethiopia.
Peace Corp service
as a teacher,
became an unforgettable
international
experience
and a tribute to
her grandparent’s
legacy as missionaries
in Kenya for
30 years.
“I wanted to
go to Africa and
Ethiopia was the
only country with
a call for teachers,” Sue adds. With her English
major and an adventurous spirit, Sue was
assigned to teach at a boy’s boarding school.
The students were not well spoken in English
after being taught by people with bad
English habits, “We quickly learned that they
didn’t understand us and we were the first
Americans for them to hear.”
The events leading up to the Ethiopia reunion
her brother, Gregory Scott Wilkerson in a house
fire. The day after the fire Wilkerson began taking
photographs of the California coastline.
After years of encouragement by Reed, the two
decided to collaborate. Reed would add poetry
to complement her photography.
After one design attempt in England they decided
to explore other avenues “across the pond.”
Wilkerson turned to Gallagher for help. He contacted
Drum to handle some of the writing duties.
“I wrote the foreword and Ron designed the
page layout,” said Drum. “From Lisa’s own written
words, I was able to edit them; bringing more
feeling to the story. She really loved what I did
with it.”
“It took me a couple of weeks to do the design,”
said Gallagher. “I loved working with the
quality images that were beautifully crafted.”
Gallagher said he and Drum have known each
other for years and have collaborated on various
projects. Gallagher owns Gallagher Video
Services and specializes in keepsake videos and
film transfer. “I can transfer film and videotape
to DVD or encode them for use on the Internet,”
he said.
Drum owns Straight For/Word Writing and
has been a regular contributor to Paso Robles
Magazine for years. “I write for many clients,”
in September of 2012 began with the 50th
celebration of the Peace Corp held in Washington
D.C. in 2011, where Sue’s group of fellow
Peace Corp volunteers were reunited and set
the intention to return to Ethiopia to commemorate
their life there 50 years ago. Sue had
some hesitation about making the trip until
her daughter Kelly made the mistake of saying,
“I’d go to Africa with you!” Sue called her back
to say, “Well, we’re going!”
It was a lot of work for Kelly to arrange her
schedule for the two week trip, but Sue adds,
“Kelly was the right person to go with me being
very multi-culturally interested and out-going.”
Upon arrival, the group of 100 was met with native
people, ceremonial dance and local dignitaries.
Sue and Kelly visited the school where she
taught, the holy city of Lalibela, famous for its
monolithic rock churches, traveled to an Ecolodge
at 10,000 feet on horseback and happily
returned to the modern city of Addis Ababa.
“For a long time I shelved my experience,”
said Sue. “Because we were the early Peace Corp
volunteers 50 years ago, we were viewed with
curiosity upon our return and often asked to
speak publicly.”
In retrospect, Sue’s call to Africa, twice in a
lifetime, is not only a remarkable story...it linked
the legacy of Kelly Aiken’s great grandparents to
a remarkable journey with her mom.
Millie Drum and Ron Gallagher
said Drum, “doing mostly marketing and business
writing.” She said she hopes the new
book will open up new opportunities for her.
“It’s really cool to have your name on a published
book,” she said. “I have several books I want to
write and the time is right.”
Drum also said she feels she can help people
who would like to publish e-books. “E-books
are shorter than regular books,” said Drum.
“The most successful e-books are very contentrich.”
Drum and Gallagher said e-books typically
cost $4 to $5 and can be marketed online through
services such as Amazon.com.
For more information about Straight For/
Word Writing call (805) 610-2554. For more
information about Gallagher Video Services call
(805) 227-0300 or visit gallaghervideo.com.
August 2013, Paso Robles Magazine 37