River Work
Peace Corps, for almost everyone I’ve ever met, is life changing. I can almost tell instantaneously if people I’ve worked with have had that Peace Corps experience. You learn patience, you learn to take the time to look at problems through somebody else’s eyes, and you take the time to listen—such an important part of interacting. Knowing that you don’t have all the answers is okay.
– Pamela White (PCV Cameroon 1971-73; U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia 2010-12 and Haiti 2012-15).
Peace Corps service taught Pamela White that learning English was no fun in Cameroon when all the texts came from the former colonial masters, the French. Rather than use books filled with Caucasians and train trips to Germany, she generated her own materials based on local customs, life in the rainforest, and tribal beliefs. Her students loved it, inspiring White years later while serving as USAID Mission Director to Mali. There she inspired Tuareg warriors by touting a girls’ literacy program that built a written record of family histories, customs, and divisions of labor.
Not long after, as U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia, White navigated a narrow path between pressure from Washington to criticize human rights abuses in the country and her need for high level access to the president to assist imprisoned U.S. citizens. She developed a reputation for straight talk in ways that even President Jammeh’s closest advisors didn’t dare. Knowing her influence over him, international leaders sought her help getting him to step aside after his first electoral loss in over two decades.
Ben East Books 