Page 106 - Phoenix1998-99

Thursday, February 4, 1999 - Page 6 FEATUES WM C graduate Jonathon Shacat shares his Peace Corps experiences from Gabon, Central Africa "The toughest job you'll ever love." As We shower with a bucket of rain water a kid growing up in the mid '80s, I heard and a cup. Our bathrooms - called latrines _ that here. Most of the meals here include some type that slogan on a Peace Corps commercial consist of a hole in the ground surrounded of fish, rice, and manioc (a local starch that depicting a Volunteer plant rice in a flooded by a shed-like building. has the consistency of a glue stick). field. Getting used to squatting takes time and For transportation, I mostly use my 21 I said to my mother, "I want to do that." practice, and I'm still notfully acclimated speed mountain bike to get around. The vil- But I don't think I really knew what it was to it yet. lagers admire my bike as if it were a '57 all about; it just seemed adventurous or The rooms at the training center have Chevy in pristine condition. It's not that my something. electricity. The houses in the villages are lit bicycle is that great, it is just that nobody It wasn't until Iwent to college that Igave with kerosene lanterns an we get our water it serious thought and decided to apply to there from a centrally located pump. here has one. farm to the vil- To get from the training join the organization. I was up for a chal- It is only about 100 meters down the dirt lage, we ride bush taxis. They are basically lenge and the Peace Corps experience road from our place but carrying a three gal- pick-up trucks crammed with passengers and seemed like it would offer me one. Ion bucket of water makes the distance seem their cargo (bananas, animals, or, in my case, So when the invitation came to join the much longer. freshwater fisheries program based in Ga- The villagers are able to balance the a backpack) areas. that go between the city and the outlying bon, Central Africa, I quickly accepted the buckets on their heads and walk back with- The rains here are like none Ihave every opportunity. out spilling a drop of the contents. witnessed. Right now we are in the rainy Now I am here today writing from the I have a battery powered alarm clock, Peace Corps training center in Oyem, the but it's not really needed since Iwake up to season, and that means it rains almost daily. down sheets of It comes flowing in steady fourth largest city in Gabon, where ten of us the sounds of drumming and roosters. water, and if you are caught outside in a trainees are learning on the weekends how enjoys his Peace Corps experience in Africa. The people in the villages are very re- storm, you will most definitely get soaked. to be fish culture extension agents. wards the end of training, we will build a sourceful. From what Ihave observed, many I don't mind it so much as long as I'm We spend the weekdays in our villages _ pond as a training exercise. of them are able to get almost everything mine is called Abam Eba and is located 32 Our training lasts for a total of eleven they need to survive from their plantation or not on my bicycle going somewhere when it starts. Ian from Oyem - where we live with host weeks and then we are all sworn in as Peace by hunting meat in the forest. Peace Corps is everything I expected and families and take French language classes Corps Volunteers. Some sell items at the market in Oyem. more. I like the work we will do, and I am with facilitators. We will then be posted at different vil- And that's a sight. looking forward to my assignment. I'll keep At the training center, Peace Corps has lages throughout the country and our job for Vendors lay canvas on the ground and constructed a dormitory equipped with mos- the next two years will be to work with the set hot peppers or bananas or smoked fish you posted. quito-net-covered beds and some classrooms Gabonese who are interested in using our on them. The people make their way down Jonathon Shacai graduated/rom Western in which we study how to construct a pond method of farming. the long aisle bartering for what they want Maryland College in May 1998. He holds and to raise Tilapia - a native fish. The living conditions here are simple. The to buy. a Bachelor's degree in Spanish and We practice the stocking and harvesting Peace Corps training center doesn't have run- I can now appreciate what a grocery methods in small groups and observe the fish ning water, but I think that's so we can learn store like Super Fresh or Giant has to offer Journalism. To find out more about the Corps, go to www.peacecorps.gov Peace ponds of different farmers in the area. To- to live without it. in the States. We don't have anything like ... ....,ucI.. "'" ,..,., A--..n ElIptMa"CtadIt -.. for s_. Llvefor-..,. hlldfor_ • CALL TOLL FREE '·817·NO.f=EE-4U 1'0APPLY. QudI