The Orion Online

Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Lee Altier Children in Katmandu crowd around Peace Corps volunteer Lee Altier. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Lee Altier The Altiers reunite with their host family 22 years after they left. [Click to enlarge]

Joining the Peace Corps is one of those options people usually consider after graduation. The sentiment from graduating students seems to be, "If you like adventure, want to live in a foreign land, learn how to speak an obscure language, and don't want to pay for it yourself, join the Peace Corps."

Plus, Peace Corps volunteers get Mother Teresa status among their friends since they spend two years contributing to world peace and the betterment of mankind.

But the decision to join should not be taken lightly. About 30 percent of the people who apply for the Peace Corps never complete their service, according to the organization.

If the Peace Corps is so great, why do so many people leave the organization?

Lee Altier, a Chico State professor, joined the Peace Corps shortly after he graduated from college.

He had always wanted to work overseas, Altier said. But the first time he applied to the Peace Corps, he pulled out during the application process because he fell in love with his future wife, Karen.

It turns out the No. 1 reason people leave the Peace Corps is because of a romance with someone in the United States, said Travis Axton, Chico State's regional recruiter.

The other main reason for not following through is never completing the application process, Axton said. Applicants don't realize that it takes between six and nine months to go through the entire process.

For Altier, pulling out of the Peace Corps was one of the best decisions of his life since he ended up marrying Karen Altier, he said. After the marriage, they reapplied together, followed through and found themselves in Nepal a year later.

It was at that time the Altiers encountered the third reason volunteers leave the Peace Corps: It's tough living in a place for 27 months with no Pizza Hut, indoor plumbing, running water or electricity, he said.

They got used to the food, the occasional bouts of dysentery and not having electricity, Altier said. The psychological challenges were the most difficult, especially during the first six months of their service.

People can't help but feel isolated when they move to a foreign environment, he said. They can't speak the language yet and know they're going to be there for a long time.

But the Altiers adjusted.

They got a lot of emotional support from the family they lived with and everyone in the community, Altier said. They became very close to their host family and were sad when they left after two years of service.

Upon their return, Peace Corps volunteers receive $6,000 and one-year noncompetitive eligibility for federal government jobs, Axton said. This means that for one year, ex-volunteers have priority for government jobs, and they don't have to go through the same process everyone else does.

"D.C. is crawling with return volunteers," Axton said.

And being bilingual always looks good on a resume, even if a person's second language is a Swaziland dialect. In Altier's case, going to the Peace Corps made him realize how little he knew about the world, he said. It inspired him to continue his education, and he started applying to graduate schools before he returned.

Altier's grades were average when he graduated, but he had no trouble getting into graduate school, he said. One of the deans in the department he was applying for was a former Peace Corps volunteer.

Altier went on to get a doctorate. He later worked for the Department of Agriculture and moved to California when he got a teaching position at Chico State.

This summer, Altier, his wife and their children went back to Nepal to visit the couple's host family, he said.

It had been 22 years since they had seen their host family, but even as they approached, former neighbors came out to greet them, Altier said. They were even recognized by people who had been children when they served.

Now that he's back, Altier sits in his office and reflects on his experience in the Peace Corps. Pictures from his travels flicker on his screensaver like flashes of memory.

One of the most valuable things he learned in the Peace Corps is how similar people are all over the world, Altier said. People may do things, look and speak differently, but their cultures are as viable as in America.

"People don't have to be just like Americans to be good people," he said.

Emanuella Orr can be reached at eorr@theorion.com

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