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Show At Least in Part PEACE CORPS: A Womans World? : vy, By BONNIE MARSH of The Minnesota Daily v niyw F iv.vv ' Is it really a womans world & as they say? Women in the Peace Corps have had a unique opportunity to test the worldwide aspect of this American adage, and they report that women do, indeed, wield even more influence around the world than is commonly suspected. This makes the woman in the Peace Corps more important than is commonly suspected, according to Nan McEvoy, deputy director of Africa programs and one of the Corps leading ladies. d Almost of the Volunteers in most projects are women, because women she explained, round out the picture on a project. For example, women can bring hygienic practices into the home, where they are most important. A man Volunteer can teach classes in how to bury garbage, but a woman can go into homes and teach how to care for and feed babies healthfully, or how to wash dishes. In short, women seem to have a unique role abroad, a role second ary to their regular assignments, which can be summed up as combination home economics teacher 4-Club leader hygiene consulchild interior decorator tant dietitian. care consultant rF j if x V r '' H -- 4 t ' J'K h A ' "Sj Saw f J AO m7 & K -- 1 Vs" S- - i:rt i' x- "?-- (JU jh v one-thir- kuuUu. .Sr serves Volunteer Merry Lee Corwin, who organizes community sings at her house on Leyte Island in the Philippines. Miss Corwin, a teacher, graduated from Connecticut College for Women. HER MUSICAL SKILL O H r JxSb AT: K Air - H A sctm v 1 .v S ?3a33 v J H Women Needed The Peace Corps needs qualified women. In fact, I would say that if every qualified woman in the United States were to apply to the Peace Corps, we could use her,' Mrs. McEvoy said. But what does qualified mean? Here, as in all Peace Corps selection criteria, complexities enter. One country may ask for 15 registered nurses who speak French, for example, and this limits the field. However, on projects such as community development, qualifications may be less limiting, and this is the opportunity for a woman with no particular skill. A little knowledge about many things is obviously useful, Mrs. McEvoy said. The key word in Volunteer selection is attitude, versatile and the adventurous, woman can be an asset in situations that require imagination and a host a v 4' nutrition or hygiene. But on the other hand, spontaneous cases may arise where a Volunteer has an opportunity to teach a Saturday class in home decorating. It is here that a woman has a unique opportunity to tap her knowledge as a woman. American women are brought up with sound attitudes about cleanliness, nutrition, cooking, and home decorating skills. Although they may not know it, they are often equipped by this exposure alone to teach and to set an example. Charlotte Hough, a Volunteer of ideas. who has recently returned from a Some women are especially in the Philiptrained by the Peace Corps to teach teaching assignment pines, tells this anecdote about setting an example. The women in the settlement where she lived had no furniture in their homes 1. Fill out the application simply bare floors. Questionnaire. You can get When Miss Hough arrived, she one from your liaison officer arranged her home as attractively on campus, from your post as she could while still maintaining office or by mailing the couthe Peace Corps ideal of simple, pon in this paper. modest living. She planted flowers 2. Next, take the new nonaround her house, furnished it in competitive placement test bamboo, and then built a fence (two hours) on campus or at around it. A bamboo bed cost her a nearby Civil Service Office. $1 (American money) in a furniAsk your liaison officer or ture store in a nearby village. write the Peace Corps for a The Filipino women were curifull list of addresses and the ous, of course, about her home. date of the next exam. After Miss Hough became ac3. Your application data, quainted in the community, they your test and your references began to visit her. One woman, help to determine the kind of after many visits, came one day assignment for which you are and asked how much the bed had best qualified. If your traincost. Five pesos. So the woman ing or experience match that pulled out five pesos and asked Miss of a request from abroad, you Hough to buy a bed the next time will receive an invitation to she went to the village on the bus. training. You may accept, deSoon all the women in town cline, or state a preference wanted beds, and Miss Hough had for another assignment. to use a Peace Corps truck to carry ffoui to Join Page 4 c ocW' w have proven their ability to adapt. Malinda VOLUNTEER MARY JO WEEKS, a teacher at Mile Ten, a remote village Ann DuBose, a graduate of Florida State University, scoots around in North Borneo, has organized her students into a Girl Guide unit, as a public health nurse on St. Lucia. Mary Jo, 23, is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. PEACE CORPS WOMEN all the beds back to the settlement. It is difficult for men to establish this kind of rapport with women, Miss Hough said. American women are prepared by their experience to set examples of clean homes, personal cleanliness and creativity. Although the people in the community accused her of working like a man, actually the men did not resent her bringing these new ideas to their women, Miss Hough said. The women are often very powerful in the Philippines because they control the purse strings and run the household while the men fish. Therefore, the men welcome devices which make their women' more efficient. problem in Chile, however, Miss a problem not unBoegli said common in other parts of the world. A nice woman is not seen alone on the streets, she said, and this often limits a Volunteer. However, the men Volunteers and Chilean her and adopted would escort her in town. Apparently, then, the stereotype of a woman Volunteer living in a mud hut surrounded by natives is false. guards by her house so no guests could get in without her permission. Guests included the Volunteers own visitors. In Africa, where most job requests are for teachers, the governments are eager to provide good housing for all their teachers, and Peace Corps Volunteers therefore have quite adequate facilities, with few exceptions. It is evident from the fact that d of the Peace Corps Only Volunteers are women that the Peace Corps is not a womans world. It is evident, too, that there are many places the Peace Corps goes and many things it does that women simply cannot help with. But there is a new realization of the importance of American women abroad in Volunteer capacities, and it is this realization which leads the Corps to seek qualified, versatile women for overseas duty. one-thir- In the first place, women are sent only where there are jobs for them to do and jobs do not include clearing the jungle. Secondly, most societies are very toward women. The protective Ingenuity Best Tool classic example is the community In teaching this efficiency, inthat became so worried about the genuity is the best tool of the of a woman Volunteer (in woman Volunteer, Miss Hough safety their opinion neglected by the said. Peace Corps) that they posted two In the Philippines, living conditions were no problem for the women, but what about other parts For further information, complete this form and mail to: of the world? Generally women Volunteers are not sent to places PEACE CORPS, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D. C. 20525 difficult where it would be too for them to live, but on the other hand. Mr. Mrs. Miss. .Date. Volunteers are not usually excluded anywhere on the basis of sex alone. Address: Janet Boegli, who served two years on a Chile community development project, said living condiCollege or University. tions are the least of the problems a woman Volunteer has to face. Level at present time (circle one): 1 2 3 4 Grad. Degree She cooked on a wood stove and had no refrigerator, but said she Major adjusted with no difficulty. The Major field of experience outside of school: (Jobs, Farm background, hobbies, etc) nationals are used to living without these conveniences, she said, and it is surprising how quickly an outsider can learn to do without. Women do encounter a special Date you could enter training:. Peace Corps News Autumn, 1963 |