Bob Findlay: 1963 in Colombia and 1998 in Pukapuka.
Robert Findlay was a new college graduate when he heeded President Kennedy's national call to public service and went to Colombia with the Peace Corps.
Thirty-five years later, after retiring as a college professor, he embarked on new Peace Corps mission to the Cook Islands and El Salvador.
"I felt I had better qualities to offer the Peace Corps than when I was younger," says Findlay, who is an architect. "I was much more directed in meeting needs and getting the work done. I had a lot of professional experience behind me."
Changing face of Peace Corps
The stereotype of Peace Corps volunteers as shaggy-haired college students in Birkenstocks is still true, but there are many graying volunteers, too. Six percent of Peace Corps workers are 50-plus, and their ranks are growing.
There are several reasons for this trend:
- Today's Peace Corps needs specialized skills that many older workers possess. Volunteers aren't digging ditches or plowing fields. They build community-based computer centers, work as AIDS educators, and advise business startups.
- Many Americans at mid-life and beyond seek second careers instead of retirement. Americans are living longer and are healthier than previous generations. Retirement is not the end of the road but a new beginning.
- Older Americans have a desire to give back to society. Half of Americans ages 50 to 70 want jobs that contribute to the greater good now and in retirement, according to a 2005 poll co-sponsored by MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures.
"No single group has more to offer in terms of experience, maturity, and demonstrated ability," the Peace Corps declares on its Web page for older volunteers. The organization is now reaching out to older Americans like it never has before.
Pushing public service
In 2005, Americans 50 and older served the Peace Corps in 66 countries, including Ukraine, South Africa, Armenia, Thailand, Romania and the Eastern Caribbean islands.
"Older Peace Corps volunteers are well-respected overseas," says former volunteer John Coyne, who was a recruiter for the organization in the mid-1990s. "It is a great way to travel. I have seen several couples do two and three tours."
Community service seems to be a good fit for boomers. Many have strong memories of JFK imploring young Americans to volunteer.
"We were the Kennedy kids and he was pushing public service," Findlay says of his first stint in the Corps, in 1963, when he was dispatched to design one-room schoolhouses in Colombian villages, many of which could only be reached by horseback.
The experience changed his life.
"I would never have had the confidence to become a university educator if I had not had the Peace Corps volunteer experience," Findlay says.
In 1970, Findlay was contacted by the Peace Corps to travel to Peru after an earthquake. "They needed architects there who could speak Spanish," Findlay recalls of the two-month assignment.
Volunteering in retirement
He credits his return to the Peace Corps in the late 1990s for bringing focus to a new chapter in his life -- retirement.
Findlay served in a branch of the Peace Corps called the Crisis Corps, which was created specifically for seasoned volunteers. His work focused on assessing needs for sustainable housing and construction in areas prone to natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
"My assignments in the Cook Islands and El Salvador clearly served to reinvigorate me" he said. "My goal for retirement is to be a career changer, albeit to volunteer in community service, rather than into self-centered idleness" says Findlay, who lives in Washington State.
The Crisis Corps offers shorter assignments to veteran volunteers with specialized skills. Crisis Corps volunteers are dispatched for emergency relief involving health crises or natural disasters.
Rebuilding in Sri Lanka
Bob Loew, a civil engineer, is a Crisis Corps volunteer. He was sent to Sri Lanka to help rebuilding efforts after a tsunami devastated coastal areas and killed thousands of people.
"We were rebuilding public infrastructure -- four schools, a hospital and library," says Loew. "We also built a park for children near a refugee camp that was set up after the tsunami."
Loew's duties were to survey damage and prepare blueprints. He then recruited local contractors and supervised their work. Loew, 60, went to Sri Lanka as a veteran volunteer, having had served twice before in the Peace Corps.
The value of service
"Serving in the Peace Corps is the best thing I ever did in my life," says Loew. "If a person is willing to step away from what they're doing and live in disorienting circumstances -- away from their culture and routines -- the rewards are immense."
Findlay agrees. "The value of service'' is deeply instilled in returning Peace Corps volunteers, he says. Findlay's work in other countries led him to community service projects back home.
Today he sits on the board of directors for the National Peace Corps Association. He organizes activities for returning volunteers in his hometown of Olympia, Washington. He uses his skills as an architect as a member of city and state design review boards. He also is involved in master gardening projects through the Washington State University Extension Service.
"There is something about the Peace Corps. Volunteering is a way to connect with your community and other people," Findlay says. "There are things that need to be done, and they don't have anything to do with moneymaking."
You can do it!
Here are some tips for learning more about its service programs:
- Check out Peace Corps recruitment events in your community. They can help you decide if the Peace Corps is for you. You will hear volunteers talk about their experiences. Go online to the Peace Corps web site and search for events in the state where you live.
- Spend five minutes talking to a volunteer. You will get a quick sense of the challenges presented and opportunities available when serving in the Peace Corps.
- Be prepared to spend 27 months away from home. Joining the Peace Corps is a commitment of two-plus years. Quitting or leaving early (unless for medical reasons) hurts the program's reputation.
- Ask yourself whether the Peace Corps is right for you. You will need to be flexible when living and working in a country whose language and culture are foreign to you.
- Keep in mind the Peace Corps is a job, not a vacation. You will be expected to work, teach and learn a new culture while posted in a foreign country for two years.
Follow up now!
Peace Corps: Online information explains the volunteer's role and offers a history of the service organization; also has a handy search engine that helps users find Peace Corps recruiters and informational meetings in their community.
USA Freedom Corps: Partners with national service organizations to promote and expand volunteer service in America; offers links to, and information on, volunteer service programs.
Peace Corps Online: Web site serving volunteers who have returned from missions overseas; includes news about individual volunteers about their work and achievements in the U.S. and abroad.
So You Wanna Join the Peace Corps: Helpful online guide and tips to joining and serving in the Peace Corps.
