Summer 1996

Catherine Zastrow Onyemelukwe, Editor

Vol. 1, No. 1

Join the New Friends of Nigeria Group
Report from the 35th Anniversary Celebration

JOIN THE NEW FRIENDS OF NIGERIA GROUP

 Last summer several Nigeria RPCVs were in Austin, TX, for the National Peace Corps Association annual conference.  Cathy Onyemelukwe, (4) 62-64,  offered to take the lead in getting an RPCV Friends of Nigeria group started.  Peter and Katy Hansen, (27) 66-67, and others offered to help.  The NPCA provided the mailing list for our first mailing.

 

If you are a friend of Nigeria, why not become a Friend of Nigeria?  Join other former Nigeria Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff, and help us build an active and healthy Friends of Nigeria group.  Return the form below with our check.  Additional donations to assist us with our start up costs are also welcome.

 

What is the purpose of Friends of Nigeria?  At a minimum, we hope to produce an interesting newsletter, which will keep you informed on events in Nigeria and provide a vehicle for helping former Nigeria RPCVs keep in touch.  The rest is up to you.  Send us your suggestions.  Already Steven Manning from Beebe, AZ, (7) 64-66, sent us two suggestions:  facilitate travel to reconnect with former students, and get a Nigeria photo in the Madison RPCV Group calendar.

 

We need your help.  If our Friends of Nigeria group is to flourish and grow, it will need many helping hands.  At the core of every non-profit voluntary organization is a small group of active leaders/workers.  Please, volunteer.  Let us know if you are willing to help.

 

 

REPORT FROM THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

 

By Catherine Zastrow Onyemelukwe, (4) 62-64

For most of us who were in Washington for the 35^th Anniversary Celebration (Feb. 29 to Mar. 3), getting together with other volunteers was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect.  Four RPCVs from my Nigeria IV group,  (4) 62-64, were at the event:  Bob Wrin lives in Washington and Chuck Larson in nearby Chevy Chase, MD; Jim Brown came from Norfolk, VA; and Dave Wilcox appeared from Tarzana, CA, carrying the Nigerian flag during the Parade of Flags on the Mall Sunday morning.

 

Other Nigeria RPCVs we met were Elmer McCraty, (8) 64-66, from Buffalo, NY; Blue Wooldridge, (6) 63-65, from Richmond VA; Bob Shoemaker, (12) 65-67, from Vienna, VA; James Bartley, (12) 65-67, from Upper Marlboro, MD; Peter Barizon, (26) 66-68, from Corpus Christi, TX, and Karen Keefer, (26) 66-68, from Silver Spring, MD.  Others were there whose names I did not get.

 

Saturday evening, Bob, Jim, Chuck and I met about 12 other former Nigeria Volunteers for dinner at Wazobia, a Nigerian Restaurant.  Agreeing to meet at the restaurant was an act of faith, like deciding to go from Katsina Ala to Enugu without knowing what transport you will find.  None of us had been able to reach the restaurant on the phone to confirm where it was, or even that it was open, much less make a reservation.  But, we all found it and had a great time.  The food was certainly authentic, tough meat and all.  No Star beer, but we enjoyed the palm wine.

 

The 35^th Anniversary celebration brought together all (I believe) of the former Peace Corps Directors.  Over 1,000 people registered for the weekend of activities.  Sargent Shriver and Loret Miller Ruppe were given awards.  Donna Shalala was the emcee at the gala dinner where Harris Wolford, Sargent Shriver, Ted Sorenson, and Father Hesburgher entertained us and challenged us to continue our efforts to fulfill the Peace Corps third goal: Bring The World Back Home.

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