Drew Chebuhar greatly misinformed the Iowa State Community with his OP-ED “Peace Corps as a foreign policy tool” (Feb. 21). As a former Peace Corps volunteer (Mali 1993-1995), I know the “others”. The others are not “the John Deeres and the Monsantos of the First World,” but their names are Zumana, Aminata and Bajeba. Zumana and I worked together daily. In the dry season, we made concrete bricks for hand-dug wells. At night, during the rainy season, we discussed mathematics and how we could use it to estimate the number of cement sacks necessary for a well. Zumana reached his goal and now supplements his income by improving area wells. Aminata is from a small hamlet called Kokoro Were.

Kokoro Were is located on very sandy soil; hence, the community well collapses approximately every three years. When this happens, she walks daily to Kokoro (about 2 km or 1.25 miles) to obtain her family’s drinking, cooking and bathing water. The concrete-lined well she watched being put in brought a smile to her face I will never forget. Bajeba and his siblings help their mother water their garden. Although their new well means extra chores, it also provides them with carrots, tomatoes, papayas, and other fresh fruits and vegetables that are expensive and hard to come by during the hot season.

Mr. Chebuhar uses dropout statistics to support his argument that PCVs are disillusioned by the influence of “multinational corporations and other investment interests” on Peace Corps policy. What Mr. Chebuhar does not understand is that many factors influence a PCVs decision to early terminate (ET). Some of my friends ETed. None of them took that decision lightly and not one of them ever mentioned the phrase “multinational corporation” in explaining their reasons. Peace Corps informed me during my interview process that most volunteers ET due to relationships with people in the States. Curiously, Mr. Chebuhar’s statistics end in the mid-1970s, 20 years ago. Do the current statistics contradict his argument that PCVs are disillusioned?

Finally, Peace Corps has changed. Today’s Peace Corps officials are former volunteers. They were the idealistic, young men and women who first volunteered in the ’60s and ’70s. At times their search for “appropriate technology,” technology and resources that are readily available in rural Mali, frustrated me. They often suggested that I change my project budget because I wanted to use technology not available to my Malian counterparts.

Today’s Peace Corps leaders take pride in the agency’s independence from the U.S. State Department. The lack of such a tie prevents the Peace Corps from becoming a tool for foreign policy. Perhaps if Mr. Chebuhar would actually do some research, he may then find a real story, like Senator Jessie Helm’s proposal to make the Peace Corps a part of the State Department. This is a fight many PCVs and Peace Corps officials have already taken up.

Scott Vandenburgh

Graduate Student

Environmental Engineering