Last month I shared Ethel Fleming’s story about answering John F. Kennedy’s challenge to join the Peace Corps. I heard from several others like her.
Elsie Tanaka Doherty told me she was the first woman from Hawaii to be accepted into the Peace Corps in 1962. She was selected to serve on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, and sent to New York City for training.
The 38 members of her group ranged in age from 19 to 64 and included teachers, nurses, librarians, carpenters, plumbers, auto mechanics and agriculture specialists.
As a bonus, the trainees were given a tour of former President Franklin Roosevelt’s home by Eleanor Roosevelt, who shook each trainee’s hand.
“We attended John F. Kennedy’s 45th-birthday party in the old Madison Square Garden, where Marilyn Monroe sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the president. Little did we know that this would become a historic event.”
Jamaica
“Six of us were assigned to Chestervale Camp in Jamaica for 17- to 20-year-old young men to receive vocational training and to keep them off the streets.
“There were about 300 boys who lived dormitory style in long Quonset huts. My job was to teach tailoring to the young men so they could earn a living in a tailor shop, a common business in every town and village.
“I shared a room in a two-story house with another volunteer. Every day, I would boil a kettle of water and use a bucket to take a bath. The alternative was an icy, cold shower.
“We had our meals in the mess hall. For breakfast we’d have hot porridge, or cold cereal with warm milk. The main meal was served at lunchtime, usually soup with a piece of carrot, yam or potato and a small piece of meat. At night it was a bun with butter and hot tea.
“On rare occasions we drove on a dusty, one-lane unpaved mountain road to Kingston. The 20-mile ride took about 1-1/2 hours. We’d treat ourselves to a hamburger and sundae or a Chinese dinner, stock up on snacks, before returning with hot dogs, buns and marshmallows to have a cookout.”
New assignment
“After nearly a year at Chestervale, we all moved to new duties. I was assigned to Claremont, 8 miles up in the hills from the tourist town of Ocho Rios, to open a training center for young women to learn homemaking skills so they could hopefully gain employment once they completed the course.
“I started a dressmaking class for adult women in town at night, in the same building as my day class, using kerosene lamps for light.
“I lived with a highly respected Jamaican couple, Mr. Simpson, a retired inspector of schools, and his wife, who was the headmistress of her private primary school. She called me ‘Miss Tan.’
“When my tour ended, there were many tears shed! Twenty-five years later I went back to Claremont and stopped at the house I had lived in.
“Inspector Simpson had passed away. Mrs. Simpson was in bed. Her maid told her I was there, and she kept asking, ‘Who? Who?’ then called out, ‘Miss Tan, you came back!’ She invited me in and we had a nice visit.”
Best decision I made
“As I look back on my two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, I came back a winner! I received more than I could have ever given,” Doherty said.
“I hope I made a difference in the lives of the Jamaicans I taught and that they went on to rewarding and fruitful lives. I hope seeing young Americans getting their hands dirty and living with them changed their image of Americans.
“The two years of service opened the world for me. I got to visit places I would never have seen and encountered people I would never have had a chance to meet. For a girl who grew up on a sugar plantation on the Big Island, it was the best decision I made at age 22!”
Philippines
Lila Gardner told me she was in the Peace Corps in 1961 in the Philippines.
“When I heard President Kennedy saying, ‘ask what you can do for your country,’ I was mesmerized and galvanized into action. I wanted to join this new Peace Corps organization that he was creating.
“Our training included language, culture and history of the Philippines. Before this many of us admitted that we did not know where the Philippines were.”
She remembers her warm welcome in Manila. “The warmth of the Filipinos welcoming us remains a vivid, happy memory.
“It was not long until we were in a barrio on the island of Mindanao living and working in the public schools. Our job was to be teachers’ aides in English, science and math.”
Generosity of spirit
“What stood out then and stands out now is the generosity of spirit and kindness of the Filipinos which they shared with us — strangers in their community.
“Kennedy said at one point, America won’t be the same when these folks return to their hometowns. So true. This experience changed my life forever,” Gardner said.
“To live without the creature comforts I was accustomed to in the United States, i.e., indoor plumbing, grocery stores filled with more choices than one really wants or needs. I learned to be more creative with very little, and this did change my life, even till today.
“The barrio had a small ‘sari-sari’ store with a few cans. The fresh farmers market might have two or three slices of beef, if that. You had to get there before daybreak to get even a small piece of meat. Most folks raised their own chickens.
“The Filipinos in our communities had very few of the things that we were used to in America, yet they enjoyed their lives, their families and having the Peace Corps there.
“Even in poor circumstances, there was great humanity, kindness, laughter and joy. That surprised me and many others in our group. Everyone kept an eye on everyone else, and we all knew who lived in the community.
“I shall never forget Mrs. Lacastesantos, my next-door neighbor. She made us a hammock for the front porch out of a WWII parachute she had been saving. She was a dear, sweet woman, and her son, Jose, and her other children reflected her kind and generous nature.
“I was very struck when the children from my school appeared on the porch Christmas Eve carrying a handmade paper Christmas tree they had made for me, with handmade paper ornaments. I could cry thinking back on some of these memories now.”
The Peace Corps is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Mahalo to all those who participated.
UH Hamilton Library has a virtual Peace Corps exhibit anyone can visit at bit.ly/3EJ750E.
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Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
