Peace Corps Korea Links Past to Present
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
A picture is sometimes just a picture. At other times, it defines a memory.
David MaCann, a professor at the Korea Institute of Harvard University, remembers vividly to this day the moment he took a photo on a bridge into Andong, North Gyeongsang Province in 1969 _ how the hills were barren, literally with no trees, and the people who were smiling gaily as a man seemed to be wrestling his cow out of the way to make way for the bus. He remembers the mirth in the eye of a man who raised a bowl of ``makgeolli’’ as he took a photograph of him.
McCann taught students at Andong Life Science High School in Korea for two years in the mid-1960s as a member of the Peace Corps.
He recalled the warm welcome of the Korean people in the then poverty-stricken country that has now been dramatically transformed into an IT-oriented powerhouse.
Forty years later, his connection with Korea _ after joining the Peace Corps _ is still ongoing.
``For me, the transformation was into continuing to study Korean history and literature when I returned from the two years. I hadn't planned on anything like that before I went,’’ McCann told The Korea Times in an e-mail interview.
He came back to Korea with his wife and daughter in 1973-74 on the Fulbright Program to do his dissertation research and lived in an apartment at the Fulbright House.
During that time, he met Korean poets and writers of fiction who were wonderful and supportive friends in his education and training.
Currently, he teaches the course ``Writing Asian Poetry’’ at Harvard, and has introduced ``sijo’’ (old Korean poems) to students at the school.
``So Korea and the Peace Corps experience, and the chance to meet and get to know people in Korea, has had a tremendous change-effect in my life,’’ he said.
Not only McCann but also other volunteers contributed their youth and passion to the country’s modernization as part of the Peace Corps and built friendships with Koreans.
In the eyes of these volunteers, Korea still remains a country of warm-hearted people giving them memories to share.
Friends of Korea _ a group formed in 2000 to connect nearly 2,000 Peace Corps volunteers who served here and to promote amity between the two countries _ and the Korea Foundation have published a book of photographs, ``Through Our Eyes: Peace Corps in Korea, 1966-1981’’ that includes personal accounts and photos the volunteers took.
Flipping through the pages will bring out long-held memories for Koreans who grew up during the 1960 and ‘70s. There are delightful photos of streets in Daegu and Seoul, empty of high-rise buildings, people, cars and ``look-at-me’’ neon signs. Women and men heartily work in the fields, sickles in hand. A group of schoolgirls, all dressed in that standard uniform with their hair styled in the standard bob of the time. Lean and industrious, they appeared happy as they peered into the lens of the camera that captured them.
In 1961, the U.S. Congress established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship by making available to interested countries volunteer men and women from the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve for 24 months under conditions of hardship if necessary.
The mission of Peace Corps had three goals _ helping various countries meet their need for trained men and women; helping promote a better understanding of America with the people they served; and helping Americans understand the culture of the peoples they worked with.
Over the years, some 2,000 U.S. Peace Corps members were assigned to Korea, where they worked in such fields as English-language education, public health care and occupational training.
Kathleen Stephens, the current U.S. ambassador to Korea, was a Peace Corps member here from 1975 to 1977. She taught English at a middle school in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province.
``All of us who served in Korea as Peace Corps volunteers have stories to share _ and a few photographs, too. I count myself fortunate that at the age of 21, fresh out of college, I experienced the warmth and the wisdom of the Korean people, and I too experienced firsthand the remarkable transformation of Korea,’’ the ambassador says in the book.
Returning to Korea more than 30 years later as the U.S. ambassador, Stephens said that many volunteers share memories and identify ways in which they can deepen their friendship and work together.
``On a personal level, all of us former Peace Corps volunteers have been moved by the warm welcome we have received as we have returned to Korea,’’ she said.
Dan Holt, a volunteer for educational programs of the Peace Corps, remembered his experiences in Korea as ``challenge and fulfillment.’’
``I began my career in education with the best job I ever had. My life as an educator and writer has been wonderful, but everything I have done since my Peace Corps experience has always been compared with the fulfillment I felt during my life in Korea, 1970-76. Korea has been my touchstone for understanding myself, my work and my life,’’ he wrote in the book.
After graduating from college, Holt came to Korea as a Peace Corps TESOL volunteer assigned to Seongsu Middle School in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province and completed his service in 1972. He returned to the U.S. briefly, but was back in Korea to work on two TESOL training programs before being appointed TESOL advisor in 1973.
``I was surprised by the cross-cultural harmony I felt with Korea, even in the early years. Before going to Korea I had only been outside my home state of Ohio once. I had no friends or experiences associated with other cultures. Yet I was fascinated with the idea of living beyond the farm where I was raised and the small town where I had lived,’’ he said.
He recalled Kim Yong-hae, founder and principal of Seongsu Middle School where he taught, who invited him to live with his family. ``Fearing a loss of privacy and independence, I agreed to the arrangement temporarily. But I could immediately see that his family and I could have great joy together. Now, 39 years later, we continue to strengthen our relationship as we spend time together in Korea and the U.S.’’ said Holt.
Not only education but also health programs were also desperately needed for Koreans who were suffering from various diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy.
The health program run by Peace Corps Korea covered a wide range of areas, including speech pathology and physical therapy. However, most volunteers served in either the National Tuberculosis Program or the National Leprosy Program, said Larry Geiter, a volunteer working with the program.
In the 1960s and '70s, tuberculosis was a leading cause of death in Korea and the country had infection rates that were 20 to 30 times higher than today. Volunteers in the TB program provided a wide range of services. Also, leprosy plagued many parts of the southernmost provinces during this time, and the fear and stigma associated with the disease made it difficult to manage.
Friends of Korea members include Peace Corps volunteers and staff who served in Korea, and others who shared the joys and sorrows of the turbulent times.
The Korean government has initiated reunion trips for Peace Corps volunteers to bring the two countries and its citizens closer.
Former Peace Corps Korea volunteers contributed photographs, poems and stories for the book, which celebrates the historical and continued friendship between the people of Korea and the United States. It also presents their unique personal records of the history of Peace Corps Korea from 1966 to 1981.