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Marta Baczynsky THE HELPING HAND Youth has a passion for learning, for exploring, which is usually matched in intensity by a feeling of compassion as well as the determination to change the world for the better. In the 1960s the United States wisely capitalized on this by creating the Peace Corps. Since then the program has engaged thousands upon thousands of Americans, mostly youth, in every corner of the globe, as well as in numerous domestic enter prises. These dedicated people gave and continue to give their hearts and hands to teach and help others to help themselves and make life a bit better and easier. It was in this spirit that Christina Makarushka, a Ukrainian American, grauduate of McGill University, a major in political science, joined the Peace Corps. I met Christina through the miracle of modern elec tronics, namely through a taped cassette which she had sent to her grandmother in lieu of a letter. Her grand mother in turn, had shared this “letter” with me. Christina had been in the Phillippines for over a year, totally absorbed in the purpose of her work, acclimated to her surroundings, friends with the people around her. From her narration I surmised she had made the adjustment to her new environment and had accepted the fact that life is different for different peo ple in this world. I imagine it was not easy, but there is a marvelous resiliency in the nature of young people which cushions brusque changes, transforming adversi ties into challenges and adventures. Just how challenging was Christina’s job as a Peace Corps volunteer in a country so totally different from her own, can best be visualized in the following brief des cription of her most recent successful project — the eye clinic. Unless assigned to specific projects, Peace Corps volunteers are required to assess the state of their envir onment and work out a plan of action which will best I benefit the community around them. Christina and her fellow Peace Corps worker Lana were troubled by the government’s inattentiveness to eye care for the people. Hence, they decided to launch a major campaign to organize an eye clinic which would operate for a short while in their greater community. It is relatively easy to organize anything in the States — phones are everywhere, high tech advertising is available, and donated professional services are a good tax write off. But in the Phillipines, in rural areas, that is a whole othfer ball game! The fund raising efforts by the two Peace Corps workers met with patronizing and condescending re sponses from local businessmen. The girls even went to see the governor of the region to drum up support for their project. In addition to finding financial backing, they had to find doctors willing to help, secure surgical and medical facility and inform the local people that an eye clinic will be available and how they can take advan tage of this. The net result was remarkable. A four day eye clinic was held and its accomplishments were 31 major eye operations, hundreds of prescriptions for eye glasses were taken to be filled in Manilla at very low cost, and countless people, perhaps for the first time in their lives had their eyes examined. There was pride in Christina’s voice when she des cribed this project, and rightly so! In my estimation such an undertaking and its apparent success would be a credit to a seasoned business operative, familiar with all the intricacies of high level planning fundraising, per sonnel management, etc. Christina also described the physical environment in which she has lived for a while. As she spoke I heard children’s voices at play in the background, punctuated by the powerful call of a rooster. Her house, Christina
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