Peace Corps- Building Bridges of Understanding through Friendship

President Obama has said he wants to increase the size of the Peace Corps and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is a big supporter of Diversity, the Peace Corps, Volunteering and Education. Her "It takes a Village to raise a Child" is a philosophy that so many of us agree with, The following lenses all have something to offer in one of these categories. I hope you take the time to read them all, and together we can all make our communities a better place.

The first Peace Corps programs in Eastern Europe began in 1989 after the fall of Communism. Hungary and Poland had relationships with the United States and were the first two countries of the former Soviet Union to sign agreements with the Peace Corps.

Peace Corps Romania started in 1991 with only a handful of volunteers.

First my Boss, then my Friend, Catalina Gherman, taught me success is not always tangible. It's not how many bridges we build, it's about the relationships we develop »

The Program that I was in at that time was called NGO Management and Development. There were 40 of us that started our training as the 7th Group to enter Romania. It was an exciting time, and optimism was high for everyone. But not everyone lasted, and only about 20 of us finished the 3 month training. I forget the exact number now, but I remember several of the people that didn't make it through training.

I remember a married couple, very educated. I remember another very educated albeit somewhat questionable guy that "flipped out" and had to be "Wac Evacted" the term for being sent home for psychological reasons. Another few were just homesick, and then you had the "I'm not flexible enough for this" group. Like I said the reasons varied. And out of the Group that graduated from Trainee to Volunteer, not all of them made it for 2 years either. Life as a Peace Corps Volunteer can be rough.

I remember during my training, most of the Staff didn't think I would make it. I had a horrible time learning the language, and once I was standing in the bathroom crying when one of the Teachers came in and saw me. She asked me what was wrong, and through my tears I told her I couldn't say, "What time is it?" (in Romanian).

Oh my, forget about any compassion! The teacher, Roxanne, yelled at me, cussing that what the heck was I crying about and "F" it! Oh yes, I remember that day as if it was yesterday, and for 6 months afterwards I hid my watch from everyone so I wouldn't be asked to tell them the time.

That was just one incident. But that teacher became a friend of mine. In fact when I took my mother to Romania in 2006, we spent a lot of time with Roxanne. My mother adored her, and I loved how Roxanne took the time to show her around just as she had done for me 9 years earlier.

I not only became a good Volunteer, but I extended my time. Catalina told me several times that no one had been successful in Galati ( the town I was assigned to) before, and they figured that if anyone could make it I could. And I did, but it wasn't easy. I am not sure if I would have made it without the support of the relationships I'd built, and the friendships that were developing.

There are 2 other people that I have to mention for the Friendships that have endured and grown. One of them is Adi, another Peace Corps employee. He was a driver when I first met him. He was very quiet while on duty, but when he did talk his sense of humor was phenomenal. I loved being around him.

I COS'd (close of service = leaving the Peace Corps) in October of 2000. At this time I told Adi since he had a VISA to come visit me any time. And the next year he did. Adi and his family stayed with me during their first trip to the States, and every night we would sit on the Patio and talk and share stories. I loved being able to reciprocate some of the many things that people in Romania had done for me, including Adi.

Our sites were all across the country, but the Main Office was in Bucharest, the Capital of Romania. I would have to ride the train for several hours to get there. Doctors' visits, meetings with Management, and many other things were all done from this Office/Hub.

It was when I would go to the Office that I would meet Adi, and Paul both drivers at the time. We would meet in the smoking area, and talk about all kinds of things. This is where I would talk to Adi about coming to visit America. Maybe this is where the dream was started, that was finally realized in 2001 when Adi and his family came to visit me here in the States.

Ioana was one of my Teachers during the intensive training we did before becoming a full fledged Volunteer. Near the end of the training we became friends; a friendship that has lasted through many hard times as well as good.

I was fortunate enough to find a friend that had similar interests in traveling, photography, and meeting new people. Together we toured Romania, and surrounding countries. She also came to America a couple times where we did a road trip of all the Western States.

During one of Ioana's trips she was the Guest Speaker at our local Rotary Club. I loved watching Ioana speak of her country,Vlad Tepes and Dracula. After the presentation she presented our Club President with a handmade mask from the Northern part of Romania as a token of friendship. Years later he still talked about Ioana's visit, and "his" mask.

Hospital #1 this is where I first met the 24 abandoned kids that were HIV+ or had full blown AIDS that I would work with for the next 3 years. They lived in such squalor that it took me several visits to be able to keep my emotions in check in order to effectively assist the Organization I was assigned to.

The playground above was made by Dutch Volunteers in the early 1990's when the world learned about the plight of the Romanian Orphans. However when I got there in 1997 the playground was nothing but dirt with a broken swing set that reeked of neglect and an uncaring environment.