Retirement is grand.
You get to do most anything
whenever you want. Get up early with the
birds? Give it a try. Sleep in?
Sure, why not.
Volunteer in the
community. It feels good to give
back. Invest time with family and
friends. Close relationships are so
precious. Expand hobbies and discover
new passions. Lots of retirees say they are busier now than
ever before.
For sure, when you retire,
you’re a free agent and the Social Security keeps coming no matter what…I hope.
My purpose is to serve for a year as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer (PCRV).
Peace Corps Response provides opportunities for returned Peace Corps Volunteers to
undertake short-term, high-impact assignments in various posts around the
world. It began as a Crisis Corps in 1996 responding to the genocide in Rwanda
PC Response Volunteers fill specific needs for skills and expertise. Along with language and cross cultural understanding, they are able to have an immediate impact where it is most needed.
Last Fall I ran across this posting for an Organizational Management Expert. I thought, "That sounds like me." My working life has always involved developing and managing organizations. While inUkraine
PC Response Volunteers fill specific needs for skills and expertise. Along with language and cross cultural understanding, they are able to have an immediate impact where it is most needed.
Last Fall I ran across this posting for an Organizational Management Expert. I thought, "That sounds like me." My working life has always involved developing and managing organizations. While in
But what really caught my
attention in the posting was the organization’s vision and mission:
Our
Vision is one of a more equitable and just society which actively values
supports and empowers marginalized people.
Our
Mission
“Wow,” I thought, “these are
the kind of values that I have tried to work for throughout my life. Here’s an organization that speaks to my
passions and I have some of the skills they need to be helpful.”
It didn't take too long
before I applied and entered the Peace Corps application process. I was
assigned a recruiter. An interview compared
my background and skills with Macedonian needs.
Peace Corps agreed that it was a good
match. Before the end of 2014, I was
offered the position. Hooray!
But there’s more, namely medical
screening. Here’s where the process gets
muggy and bogged down. Lengthy forms had
to be completed. Many doctors had to be
consulted. Medical record had to be
obtained from archives.
My broken arm required
faxing 32 pages of operational procedures.
Yikes!
More followed. Sixteen requests
for vaccinations, blood tests, x-rays and the like had to be fulfilled. If anything, the Peace Corps medical process
is thorough and it takes many weeks.
That’s the bad news. The good news
is that for a guy bordering on 70, I’m in good health and I’m going to Macedonia
So here I am embarking on
yet another adventure. My apartment is
rented to a good friend. My needed
possessions are reduced to two duffle bags.
And my mind is churning with excitement.
I’m grateful that in a world
riddled with strife, senseless murders and so much warfare, we still have space
and funding for a Peace Corps. I intend
to make the best of it.
Few of us get to change the
world in any dramatic way, but most of us can add a little more light.
On this Easter morning, I’m
thinking of Pope Francis and the ancient prayer from his namesake.
Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair,hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair,hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
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| Pope Francis and Istanbul's Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran pray together in the Blue Mosque, Istanbul. |
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