THE PEACE CORPS WINS ITS WAY
Ottenad, Thomas W.
The Peace Corps Wins Its Way by Thomas W. Ottenad T^he resounding success of the Peace Corps carries a vital message for the Kennedy Administration: Don't be so timid about starting bold new...
...It is one of the few programs of the New Frontier to break cleanly with the past, striking out firmly in a new direction...
...They get none of the cost of living allowances, hardship salary differentials, and other fringe benefits that often make overseas living luxurious for other government personnel...
...It will be years before long-range effects of this kind may emerge...
...Within the first six months, Peace Corpsmen in cooperation with villagers started construction of twenty-seven two-room schools and made plans for twenty-four more...
...Shriver is a do-it-now activist who slashed government red tape to bits in starting the Corps...
...In Africa the great clamor is for teachers...
...Some Corpsmen have complained that the training they received did not equip them adequately for their assignments...
...In many instances it is difficult because of the nature of the projects or lack of information to measure precisely what members of the Corps have achieved so far...
...Varying with the cost of living abroad, they range from a low of $63 a month in India to a high of $168 in Tanganyika...
...The source of some of the requests is rather surprising...
...The Peace Corps could well have a two-fold impact on American relations with the countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia...
...There are indications that the Peace Corps may produce beneficial effects on United States' relations with underdeveloped nations...
...Nurses and medical technicians work in rural health centers, laboratories, and a leprosarium, and teach classes in public health...
...There was no clear, safe pattern to follow...
...He praised the work being done by a group of American engineers and geologists and reaffirmed his government's hope of obtaining more Corpsmen...
...Peace Corps training starts with an eight or nine-week course, usually given at an American university...
...There have been administrative bobbles, most of them relatively minor in nature...
...Besides his living allowance, each volunteer accrues a "termination payment" at the rate of $75 a month, banked for him by the Corps...
...Dulles had his brinkmanship...
...Its chief weapons are tight purse-strings and strict orders to its members to adapt to local customs and mores...
...Akhter Hameed Khan, direc-tor of the Academy for Village Development in Comilla, East Pakistan, praised eight Corpsmen assigned to the institution for giving technical competence and youthful vigor in training mechanics and improving farming, irrigation methods, and community life...
...They illustrate, however, that the Corps is creating a new kind of emotional rapport with foreign countries...
...He scoffed at the Corps as a "juvenile experiment" devised to spend money wastefully...
...Seven volunteers are teaching informal classes in sheet metal work, welding, workshop methods, and English...
...several have tutored students in engineering...
...After two years of satisfactory service, he will draw $1,800...
...In Colombia a member of the Corps invented a loom for weaving bamboo strips to be used in a simple method he devised for reinforcing structural concrete...
...A newspaper in the Philippines, observing that the United States frequently displays its worst side both at home and abroad, credited the Peace Corps with creating "a new American image," and added that "it is a heart-warming one...
...The result has been a lack of zest, a certain flatness and timidity that have disappointed some of its early ardent supporters...
...Louis Post-Dispatch...
...With a few notable exceptions, such as the proposed trade program and the steel price crisis, the Administration has avoided dramatic, new approaches that might be controversial...
...Besides their assigned chores, three have conducted English classes at night...
...While many Corpsmen have suffered dysentery and other illnesses, there has been only one death from disease...
...one has taught a course in mathematics, and one helped organize a youth club...
...On the other, the presence of Americans as school teachers and advisers and as helpers in agricultural and community development projects in these young countries should encourage the growth of democratic institutions...
...The Philippines, with 218 Americans serving as teaching assistants, have the largest Peace Corps mission in the world...
...Kennedy has his peacemanship...
...Among those who spoke harshly of the new organization was former President Eisenhower...
...Two other volunteers lost their lives in a plane crash in Colombia...
...Nigeria, where the celebrated Margery Michelmore postcard incident occurred, has forgotten its initial outrage to the extent of asking for 400 more teachers to add to the 109 it now has...
...It has been chronically short of mathematics and science teachers, engineers, agricultural specialists, nurses, social workers, and skilled craftsmen...
...often been blurred by the Administration's hesitance to act...
...Perhaps the major accomplishment of the Peace Corps so far is the unparalleled, enthusiastic acceptance it has won from foreign countries...
...In time, what is now essentially a limited, personal relationship could become the basis for a better kind of international friendship that the United States could not achieve by traditional diplomacy...
...It was a risky venture...
...It has moved slowly...
...Among the languages they have learned for their assignments are Swahili, Twi, Spanish, Malay, French, Punjabi, Bengali, Parsee, Urdu, and Thai...
...None of these incidents in themselves is likely to have any appreciable effect on American relations with the nations involved...
...In two countries allowances were cut when it was found the initial figures were too high...
...A certain amount of confusion still marks operations of the organization's headquarters...
...A newspaper in Pakistan made this significant comment in welcoming a Peace Corps group to that country last October: "Mr...
...A training class conducted by two volunteers to teach poultry raising is reaching 200 trainees, who will in turn pass their knowledge on to others in eight to ten villages each...
...Thirty-five Peace Corps engineers and geologists in Tanganyika have full-time jobs running surveys and helping with on-the-job training of native workers...
...They took part in building twenty aqueducts, five health centers, nine sports fields, seven bridges, three parks, three telephone systems, two wells, and sixteen roads...
...Only three have had to be recalled for failure to fit satisfactorily into foreign assignments...
...Ten volunteers teach more than 1,000 Malayan students in biology, mathematics, general science, commercial subjects, and vocational trades...
...The agency's officials, who have charge of missions in each country, are better paid...
...The Corps does not go unless invited...
...Young Americans are teaching, most frequently at the secondary level, in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Philippines, Venezuela, and other countries...
...From its bold concept the United States may reap benefits that could not have been achieved by more traditional and conventional means...
...Peace Corpsmen are working on agricultural programs in Brazil and El Salvador and on a health and education project in Bolivia...
...In Pakistan a recruit invented a machine that parboils rice cheaply and efficiently so that it can be husked more easily...
...On the one hand, the presence of idealistic, hard-working young Americans should do much to give emerging nations a truer understanding of the United States and its people...
...In some cases natives are said to be willing to work as long as Peace Corps members are on the job but show little desire to carry on by themselves...
...At the heart of the Corps is a concept of limited assistance on simple but essential economic and social self-help projects...
...The curriculum generally includes detailed study of the history and culture of the country where the students will work, a review of American history and world affairs, orientation in Peace Corps objectives, instruction in the philosophy and strategy of Communism, refresher courses in special technical skills that are to be used abroad, and training in first aid and health measures that may be needed in remote areas...
...However, reports received from a number of missions illustrate what is being done...
...Dr...
...It has avoided making enemies but, in the process, may also have lost the chance to make friends...
...It indicates that programs of relatively modest size, if tailored to fit the social and economic needs of other countries, may in some cases be a more effective kind of foreign aid—helping people to help themselves—than lavish but ill-suited handouts of military or financial assistance...
...After this initial course, many Corpsmen move on to a month of field work at a camp in a Puerto Rican rain forest where heavy emphasis is put on physical conditioning...
...When Corpsmen go to a foreign country, they go speaking the native language, falteringly perhaps, but speaking it nonetheless...
...Emphasizing the change in climate is the willingness of members of Congress to back up their words with votes...
...They are not advisers...
...Requests received so far show an interesting pattern of need among underdeveloped areas...
...Yet it has made a successful start, ranking as one of the Kennedy Administration's brightest triumphs...
...Mission directors also receive allowances to cover the cost of housing and part of the expense of education for their children...
...Yet many who started by carping have ended by praising...
...A recent tabulation showed nearly 1,900 volunteers were in training for twenty-eight additional projects...
...There was a torrent of abuse from self-styled "realists," anti-foreign-aiders, Southern Democrats, conservative Republicans, and opponents of government spending...
...Against this cautious background, the Peace Corps stands out in bold relief...
...There has been a tendency to follow old ways...
...Slowness in completing preliminary medical examinations and character investigations has caused inconvenience for some volunteers who were allowed to begin training only to be dropped later when the checkup produced unsatisfactory results...
...They are doing something that would not have been done at all or would have been done only under exceptional circumstances and at very great cost," he said...
...In Latin America the call is for help in community improvement work, first in rural areas and small villages but with increasing emphasis on the slums of big cities...
...In April of this year, despite the fact that authorization for a budget of $63,750,000, twice the first year's appropriation, was at stake, the vote was 316 to 70...
...While the Peace Corps is important as one of the few bold innovations of the Kennedy Administration, its implications for the future are both practical and dynamic...
...There have been minor developments already, however, which show that the Corps is winning a place for itself abroad...
...Adding to the value of these undertakings is the fillip of individual achievement by some Peace Corps members whose ingenuity and enthusiasm have carried them far beyond their formal assignments...
...Annual salaries range from $6,035 to $18,450, depending largely on the size of the project...
...There are twenty-six Corpsmen working on an agricultural program in India...
...It was born hurriedly...
...The Corps may level off at about that number, with half of the members ending their two-year tour of duty each year and being replaced by an equal number of new volunteers...
...They are directed to stay off the cocktail circuit and out of American residential compounds...
...Nalionals of the country to which the students will go, including embassy officials or exchange students, generally help in the training program...
...A volunteer in Thailand won wide popularity when he held a Thai boxer to a draw in an exhibition match fought Eastern-style, complete with kangaroo kicks and other unfamiliar tactics...
...Thus: % In Tanganyika recently, when the Corps was attacked by a member of Parliament, Premier R. M. Kawa-wa immediately came to its defense...
...Two are organizing youth groups with a total membership of 600 boys...
...It is estimated that, the Corpsmen will help to teach English and science to some 35,000 Filipino students...
...Much of the credit for the Corps's initial success goes to its director, R. Sargent Shriver, a brother-in-law of President Kennedy, and his hardworking, capable staff...
...In its early days, it seemed almost fashionable to pounce on the Peace Corps...
...Despite its successes, the Corps' operations have revealed some shortcomings...
...Increasing harassment by Communists is almost certain to become a major problem in the future...
...By the end of the year 5,000 Corpsmen are expected to be stationed abroad...
...Most members of the Corps also receive about four weeks of training in the country in which they are to serve...
...Last year, in its first test on the Peace Corps, the House approved establishment of the agency 285 to 97...
...If Congress provides the full budget requested for the current fiscal year, the Corps plans to have 10,000 members working in fifty foreign countries by the end of 1963...
...Instead of a salary, members of the Corps receive allowances intended to enable them to live on the same plane as their local counterparts...
...Peace Corps missions abroad cover a wide range of economic and social improvement projects...
...They started five libraries and taught nine courses in agriculture, health measures, and community action...
...The Peace Corps may well turn out to be the right kind of operation in the right place at the right time...
...Smith voted against the Corps originally but reported this year, "I have taken care to read what I could about the performance of this program as it went along, and I am happy to say that I think they have done a good job...
...What the future holds for the Peace Corps depends largely on how effectively it operates at the grass-roots level overseas for long months and years after the initial excitement and enthusiasm have faded...
...Last spring a Nigerian newspaper called on its government to abolish its army and establish a Nigerian Peace Corps instead...
...More recently he reversed his stand, concluding, "I think the Peace Corps is beginning to remove the doubts from the doubters' minds . . . I'll back it all the way...
...As one member of the Corps suggested recently, in some underdeveloped countries a group of Peace Corps volunteers may be worth more than a shiny new steel plant or a dam...
...They are workers providing skills and knowledge that are in short supply...
...The Peace Corps Wins Its Way by Thomas W. Ottenad T^he resounding success of the Peace Corps carries a vital message for the Kennedy Administration: Don't be so timid about starting bold new programs—they just might succeed...
...These extraordinary language skills are part of the result of a training regimen that is rigorous in the extreme...
...While it is still early to measure tangible accomplishments, the promise of the first year and a half is encouraging...
...Only one incident, the Nigerian postcard episode, has caused friction abroad, and even that was short-lived...
...Some of its undertakings, like community self-improvement programs, are based on concepts difficult for impoverished, uneducated peasants to understand...
...Ghana, whose President Kwame Nkrumah received the Lenin peace prize from the Soviet Union this spring, has requested 185 additional teachers to supplement fifty-one already sent there...
...Stirring words and clarity of vision, two distinguishing hallmarks of the Kennedy regime, have all too THOMAS W. OTTENAD is a Washington correspondent for the St...
...One of the best-known converts is Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican Party's high priest of conservatism, who once predicted that the Corps would be a haven for a "bunch of beatniks who wouldn't work...
...One of the most important is its consistent failure to attract sufficient recruits with certain types of skills...
...The lesson is one the New Frontier is slow to learn, evidencing, rather, a distinct reluctance to take bold action...
...Nearly every nation where missions are operating has asked for more Corpsmen, with some nations seeking to quadruple their present forces...
...In every case Peace Corps recruits are intended as a source of working manpower...
...Senator Russell Long, Louisiana Democrat, was so incensed by an entertainer's satiric song poking fun at the Peace Corps that he stood up in a Washington night-spot and gave the surprised audience a lecture on the value of the organization...
...In the Near East and southern Asia, projects frequently tend to be multi-purpose, merging agricultural extension work with health and education activities...
...In addition, there are frequent evening programs, long hours of preparatory study, and staggering lists of required and suggested reading...
...In some remote areas they operate with only the equipment they can carry on their backs...
...As the Corps grows larger and becomes more effective, the Communists, who already have branded it an arm of imperialism and a wing of the Central Intelligence Agency, are expected to attack it with greater vigor...
...Warren W. Wiggins, 39-year-old associate director, is credited by Shriver with being largely responsible for the successful planning and organization of the agency...
...But whether as the result of good fortune, good planning, or the ability and stamina of its predominantly young recruits, members of the Corps seem to have adapted well to life in alien lands...
...Each project is the result of a direct request for help...
...In Colombia, for example, 100 volunteers are engaged in community self-help programs at fifty-five locations...
...As a result, some projects have been delayed or cut back...
...Although only a neophyte, the Peace Corps has devised effective ways of averting the "ugly American" label so common among overseas personnel...
...Corpsmen who must learn a foreign language devote four or five hours a day to its study...
...He has covered developments in the Peace Corps since its inception...
...It may also point the way to new directions in foreign aid and foreign policy and provide a future pool of competent manpower for the State Department and other government agencies...
...Another impressive change in attitude is that of Representative Howard W. Smith, the conservative Virginia Democrat who heads the House Rules Committee...
...Much will depend, too, on whether the benefits it brings can be made to last after the Corpsmen have gone home...
...Malaya has a complement of sixty-seven Americans engaged in rural development, health, and education projects...
...This approach may prove peculiarly valuable for countries whose economic and political systems are in an elementary stage unsuited to massive infusions of capital or sophisticated aid of the type that the Marshall Plan gave to the advanced countries of Western Europe...
...A schedule of intensive daily study calls for ten hours of instruction six days a week...
...In addition to the seventeen countries where 1,159 recruits are serving, there have been calls for Peace Corps help from nearly every part of the world outside the Communist bloc...
...Others are surveying roads and preparing geologic maps in Tanganyika, showing farmers how to raise geese on St Lucia in the West Indies, carrying out rural development projects in Colombia and Chile, working in health clinics in Malaya, conducting agricultural extension and industrial education programs in India and Pakistan, working to eradicate malaria in Thailand, and providing vocational education in Jamaica...
Vol. 26 • August 1962 • No. 8
