People in the \u201860s wanted to be different,\u201d says historian Elizabeth Cobbs. \u201cThey didn\u2019t want to just not be their parents. They wanted to find a way to be better Americans. And I think the Peace Corps was just absolutely about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Cobbs writes in her book, All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s<\/em>, when the program was founded it \u201creassured a broad cross-section of Americans during a turbulent period that there was at least one aspect of their nation\u2019s policy that was indisputably good.\u201d<\/p>\n Tony Galioto \u201867, who did a two-year Peace Corps stint in Colombia in the \u201960s, can relate. Sort of. He had earned his psychology degree from Seton Hall and didn\u2019t know what he wanted to do. But the agency created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy seemed a good fit. Galioto \u201cwas very much a Kennedy fan back then. It was the \u201860s; it was a time, I thought, of kind of a new world.\u201d<\/p>\n New, indeed, for a guy from New Jersey to arrive in Colombia.<\/p>\n \u201cUnbelievable. Get off an airplane, there\u2019s cows in the street. It was total shock,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But before long, Galioto learned a bit of Spanish and was put to work as the photographer in a \u201cslum rehabilitation office\u201d in Cartagena to document the work that needed to be done. He also coached youth sports teams and helped run camps to keep kids busy in the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lived in the barrios; we lived with the people. And it was pretty cool. People kept coming by and staring in the windows to see what these gringos were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the work was fundamental, like trying to improve irrigation or sewage treatment. But there were opportunities for broader teaching, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember going into the governor\u2019s office with some people from the barrio and having them ask for help, and they were so shy,\u201d Galioto recalled. \u201cIt was like they were embarrassed to be in the governor\u2019s presence. One of the things we tried to teach them \u2014 and it\u2019s very difficult to change a culture \u2014 is that you have rights, you\u2019re citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the influence of the Peace Corps, though, is less tangible.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest impacts we had is that the people understood that these gringos weren\u2019t these terrible people from the colossus in the north,\u201d Galioto said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut just the fact that we were there, that we were living with them, that we were just trying to help. It was kind of an outreach program from one country to another. And once people got to know us, they saw we didn\u2019t have any other motives but to help.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest shock was coming home,\u201d said Galioto, who went on to become an insurance executive for more than 30 years. \u201cThe shocking thing to me was the luxuries that I grew up with. I still vividly remember taking my first shower [back] in my parents\u2019 house. [In Colombia], I had been taking a shower off a lead tube that we constructed in the back yard. I really appreciate my country more, and people just don\u2019t understand what it\u2019s like [in other countries] and the extent of the poverty that people live in.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter why the volunteer is there and what they\u2019re doing, the fact that they\u2019re there is probably the most important thing,\u201d Galioto said. \u201cThey\u2019re helping, they\u2019re living among the less fortunate and caring for them. That\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n The Peace Corps concept succeeded at the time, historian Cobbs says, \u201cbecause it was one of those events that was in the air.\u201d Kennedy, she said, sensed that young people had a desire to go abroad and help the less fortunate. \u201cA really good leader doesn\u2019t just invent something out of whole cloth, but rather somehow channels the popular spirit and will and then takes it to a new level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fast-forward several decades, and Seton Hall graduates feel some of that same spirit.<\/p>\n Daria Preston \u201912 worked with the Peace Corps starting in 2014 as a public-health coordinator in Guatemala. Her focus was on the country\u2019s \u201cHealthy Schools\u201d program.<\/p>\n Preston said she learned about the Peace Corps at age 12 when she began doing volunteer work. Community development became her top interest as she continued volunteering in high school.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, though, I\u2019ve always considered the Peace Corps as the greatest personal challenge I could undertake,\u201d Preston said, \u201cand for years, I had been dreamily saying \u2018Someday, I\u2019ll join the Peace Corps.\u2019 In a way, Peace Corps has been shaping my life for years.\u201d<\/p>\n The Alaska native, unlike some Peace Corps workers who struggle to adjust, described her arrival in Guatemala as nearly idyllic.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember being unbelievably happy. In many ways, arriving in Guatemala was an affirmation of my own ability to overcome obstacles and achieve goals,\u201d Preston said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was entirely consumed by how welcoming and humble my host family was. Their caring and help in acclimating us to a new country and culture was utterly invaluable. My Spanish at the time was still a bit rusty, and I fondly remember long evenings of sitting with my family, dictionary in hand, attempting to connect and make jokes and ask questions about their Mayan history and culture.<\/p>\n \u201cIn particular, I remember my host mom regaling us with our town\u2019s many ghost stories, waving her hands wildly and raising her voice, causing my little host sisters to dissolve into fits of giggles. My first days in Guatemala were really defined by gratitude and appreciation of the simplicity and intimacy of daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n Then it was time to get to work. Preston\u2019s main role was to help school principals, teachers and government representatives help implement Guatemala\u2019s plan to improve health and hygiene among students. The work was primarily with adults, but Preston sought out opportunities to spend time with kids by, like Galioto, helping out at camps.<\/p>\n Preston said her favorite memory was from an activity where girls created \u201cself-esteem shields.\u201d They divided a piece of cardboard into sections where each could draw something they had pride in about themselves, and about their goals.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching these soon-to-be young women talk animatedly for the first time about who they wanted to be when they grow up would inspire just about anyone, but absolutely kept me grounded in my commitment to service,\u201d she said. Preston has watched local leaders embrace the Healthy Schools plan, devoting more resources to it and measuring its success.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t necessarily say I can give you the percent in-crease of students who have improved their hand-washing techniques, but what I can tell you is that the climate and attitude surrounding health and hygiene has changed drastically amongst key community leaders,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were aware of the strategy; however, they had very little understanding or interest in how to implement it. Now, schools are implementing small community projects and providing feedback and evidence of their successes.\u201d<\/p>\n The experience has also had a lasting impact on Preston, making her \u201ctougher, yet so much more humble and compassionate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNavigating cross-cultural differences, understanding and negotiating differences in work style, and understanding Guatemalan professional and personal relationships are significantly more subtle and indirect than struggling with scarce resources, and can really be just as challenging personally and emotionally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Preston sees in herself an improved ability to lead, particularly among people from backgrounds dramatically different from her own. But she said she hasn\u2019t lost sight of the focus.<\/p>\n \u201cThese new strengths are deeply based in a new sense of humility and compassion for people and their individual struggles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Preston noted that President Kennedy\u2019s words in establishing the Peace Corps are read to volunteers at a ceremony marking the end of their service.<\/p>\n \u201cSo much of what the Peace Corps is this unbounded inspiration and optimism of American citizens to improve the world, and it\u2019s a beautiful moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Story Written by Tom Kertscher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A call to student leadership drives dedicated Seton Hall graduates to serve in the Peace Corps. The experience is often a transformative one for all involved.<\/p>\n