Wednesday, December 6, 1967
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
13
Corps' vices and virtues aired
While agreeing that the major objective of the Peace Corps is to motivate peoples toward "self improvement," three Peace Corps volunteers and three KU foreign students occasionally disagreed Tuesday evening about some of the Corps' "motivating" methods.
"The people who are living in mud huts in central Brazil must be shown that they can have something better and then shown how to do it." said Jack Galloway, former Corps volunteer in Paraguay, in the opening remarks.
They were participating in a SUA Current Events Forum planned to coincide with the second day of KU's "Peace Corps Week."
Jon Sutinen, a former Corps volunteer to Kenya, agreed with Galloway but cautioned against imposing the beliefs of a Western culture on these rural people. He said it sometimes happened that Peace Corps workers went into areas and perhaps "unintentionally" imposed a Western culture on the people.
Sutinen cited a personal example to illustrate his point. He said he took a pair of blue jeans with him to Kenya and, when he left, the jeans were "selling well" in that country.
Sutinen warned that this type of thing may serve to break down the developing cultures of these young nations.
"The Peace Corps has been charged with stifling nationalism by teaching English in the Philippines," said Jess Wells, a former volunteer in that country. English is the language used by the intelligence in the Philippines, but the country's government apparently would prefer they spoke one of the many native languages.
Vic Feveros, Makati, Philippine, graduate student, agreed with this statement. He said that a wave of nationalism has swept the country in recent years and there have been efforts to establish one national language.
The United States, setting through the Peace Corps has been accrued by left wing elements in the Philippines of extending colonialism through educational aid, he said. This aid comes in the form of English language and American history courses in elementary and secondary schools.
"The Peace Corps should try to overcome this attitude. The most important thing is to teach the rural people they can do something about themselves." Ferreros suggested.
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Kayode Edun, Mushin, Nigeria, junior, said that the birth of the Peace Corps was regarded with "suspicion" in his country. The Corps has been relieving these suspicions by doing a good job of handling education in Nigeria, he added.
"Our own graduates stay in the cities and don't go into the rural
areas where they are needed. The Peace Corps volunteers are going into these areas," he said.
"The Corps' virtues now outweigh its vices—but it is still regarded with suspicion," he said. Ampelio Villahala, Asuncion, Paraguay, junior, said the Peace Corps went into Paraguay only one year ago and he has had no
"first hand" experience with it. He felt that Corpsmen would be warmly received if they went in to teach the people how to improve themselves.
The forum closed with a question and answer period in which Galloway was asked what he felt after his two years in the Corps.
He replied that he felt less satisfied with the world and the U.S. position in that world.
Peace Corps week continues today with qualifying tests at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the Kansas Union Sunflower Room. Tests will be given again at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 and 7:30 p.m Thursday in the same location.