Thought you all would be interested in some of the 50th Anniversary events that took place in Boston at the Kennedy Library and Museum last Saturday, March 5th.

Five of us of from the Capital District left at 7 am on Saturday morning and got to the Kennedy Library a little after 10 am.   Besides yours truly, we were represented by Diane H Peapus, Ruth Senchyna, Augusta Field, and Kathy Sanderson.   

We also ran into Wendy Davis, former member of RPCV-NENY who moved to Connecticut a few years ago.

If you've never visited it, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum sits on a gorgeous site overlooking the Boston Harbor, just south of Logan Airport.   The architecture is striking.   As the official presidential library, it chronicles JFK's career and presidency, from his earliest congressional campaigns to the tragic end on Nov. 22, 1963.   For those of us of a cert ain age who lived through all that, it is a very moving experience.

One of the first events was a panel discussion among three gentlemen -- one from Sierra Leone, one from Togo, and one from Belize -- all of whom had been greatly impacted by their experiences with the Peace Corps.  The man from Sierra Leone -- Mustapha Fofana -- had had four Peace Corps teachers, and he paid great tribute to his high school math teacher Robert Campbell (whom he has never been able to locate in the US).  He is now a Ph.D. and teaches engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Since yours truly had served in Sierra Leone, I seized the moment in the question session, stood up, introduced myself, and greeted Mr Fofana in Temne, his tribal language.   

To say that he was blown away would be an understatement.   The audience was pretty impressed, too!   Score one for RPCV-NENY!

Because I had given my name, a guy came up to me after the session and said, "Are you the same Allan Stern who served with me in Sierra Leone back in the 60s?"   Turns out it was a good friend from my group whom I had not seen since 1969!  We had a great reunion; true to Peace Corps service, he had served in Africa and India with various NGO's and was only just now returning to the US to live permanently.   He now lives in West Falmouth on Cape Cod.

We were then shown a very nicely done video about the beginnings of the Peace Corps.   Diane and I talked about maybe purchasing it for our RPCV-NENY.  She will look into it.

Later in the proceedings we heard a short address by Aaron Williams, the current director of the Peace Corps and former PCV in the Dominican Republic.

The day was already very meaningful for me but the afternoon was even better.  There was a formal awards ceremony in the afternoon which was invitation-only.   We had known this in advance and had planned to leave around 3 pm.   But a Peace Corps staffer surprised the three of us (Ruth, Diane, and me -- Augusta and Kathy had left by then) by inviting us to the ceremony (we're not sure if they were trying to pack the house or what).  Needless to say, we accepted and after spending some time touring the exhibits in the Presidential Library, took our places in the auditorium.

The official title of the program was "A Legacy of Service at Home and Abroad: Commemorating the Peace Corps' 50-year Contribution to Public Service."  

To quote from the program:

In celebration of the Peace Corps' 45th anniversary (5 years ago), the Peace Corps established the John F. Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and sacrifice of six individuals who have given outstanding service to the Peace Corps here and abroad.  The award is granted every five years to two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members.

These service awards were a very big deal and we were lucky to be able to attend.  The emcee for the ceremony was Juliet Sorensen, RPCV Morocco, and the daughter of Ted Sorensen, former speech writer and close confidante of President Kennedy.  She was very impressive.   

Not only that, but presenting the awards -- in addition to Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams -- was . . . Caroline Kennedy.  

She was much honored to be giving these awards in her father's name. Although I am not usually "star struck" by celebrities, it was pretty cool to be there with her.   It was hard not to get teary-eyed when she was talking about her father, and how all o f us there in the room had carried on his legacy.

The six recipients of the awards were all very impressive and all had brought their friends and families there with them to celebrate the moment.  They have lived lives that exemplify the word 'service' and prove that one person can make a difference. They have contributed not only to Peace Corps, but also have expanded the efforts of Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, literacy, and programs that stem the spread of HIV-AIDs, to name a few of their accomplishments.

If you're reading this after March 10th, you can go to the following web address to access biographies of the award winners as well as photographs from the afternoon's events:  http://www.peacecorps.gov/jfkawards

One of the recipients of the staff category award was from Guatemala and had served in the Peace Corps office there for 30 years.   On a whim, I went up to her afterwards and asked if she knew my wife Susan, who had grown up in Guatemala and attended school there.  "Oh, yes," she replied, "Susan was in my older brother's class and I knew her quite well."   I immediately called Susan in Troy and the two of them had a wonderful 5-minute conversation (in Spanish), the first time they had talked since probably the early 60s.   How cool was that!

The other moving part of the awards program was the "Passing of the Torch" ceremony.  Three RPCVs were present from "Ghana I," the original group of PCVs who went to Ghana in 1961.   On a video screen behind them was displayed a famous photo showing them all on the exit stairs from the airplane which had just landed in Accra back then.

Also present were four young people who were about to start overseas on their new PCV assignments.  After appropriate introductions, the Ghanian volunteers presented "kente cloth" stoles to the new PCVs in honor of their upcoming service, and to "pass the torch" of service to them.    It was a very emotional moment.

All in all it was a wonderful day and we were all glad that we had made the trip.

Allan Stern

(for Diane H Peapus, Ruth Senchyna, Augusta Field, and Kathy Sanderson)

Allan,

How wonderful that you all were able to attend the awards ceremony.  Thank you for bringing it alive for us.  I was teary-eyed through much of the morning ceremony, and so proud to be there.  When Kathy and I went downstairs to see and talk with folks, I was introduced to a woman who had been in Lesotho in 1998, and had been evacuated with 79 other Peace Corps Volunteers, because a coup was taking place.  Never knew about that.

You certainly made fine connections on Saturday, and that is the kind of thing we cherish.  It was also terrific to catch up with Wendy, who looks better than ever, is teaching full-time at UMass, doing more volunteer work than ever, and has probably never been happier.  She and her husband Michael are living in Bristol, a town in Rhode Island that has about 12,000 citizens.

All in all, it was just the best day.  Kathy and I thoroughly enjoyed the new wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, and a delightful lunch in the new American Cafe. Now I need to go back to see the JFK Library in full, as we did not take time to do that on Saturday.

All the best,  Augusta