Book launching planned for coffee table book

Describing first 50 years of Peace Corps in the Philippines

Ask not – huwag nang itanong commemorates the first 50 years of the Peace Corps in the Philippines. Edited by Hans C. Groot, Ph.D, a member of the first batch of volunteers to come to the Philippines, it includes articles by former Peace Corps volunteers and staff as well as Filipinos who hosted or worked with volunteers.

An official launching of this 130-page coffee table book is planned for Friday, November 4, 2 pm, and will be hosted by U.P. President Fred Pascual at U.P. Executive House. Among the guests will be Willy Gaa, the recently retired Philippine Amnbassador to the U.S. and retired Ambassador Oca Valenzuela (Brazil, Egypt).

As part of the launching ceremony, Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams, will present and donate a copy of the book to Magsaysay Foundation. In 1963, the Magsaysay Foundation presented its award for International Understanding to the founding director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver.

Ask not recounts not only the early days of the Peace Corps but also describes the Philippine origins of the Peace Corps, describing a direct link between the Peace Corps and the Thomasites, young American teachers who came to Philippines at the beginning of the the 20th century.

The book is published online and can be previewed and purchased at [a limited number of copies also will be available at the launching].:

http://www.blurb.com/books/2504993

Volunteers and staff recall their service days in the Philippines and most emphasize the lasting impact the Philippines has had on their lives.

The work of the volunteers is described and some of the programs initiated by volunteers are described in greater detail. Also included is a writeup on the 1963 Magsaysay award presented to the Philippines.

To date, some 8,700 volunteers have served in the Philippines – to work in education, health, social welfare, agrlculture, fisheries, and coastal resource management. The latest group of volunteers was sworn in on September 16, 2011.

Groot, editor of the book, arrived in the Philippines October 12, 1961. Following in-country training at U.P. Los Baños, he was assigned as elementary school aide in Ilog, Negros Occidental. After a few months, he was re-assigned to teach journalism at U.P. Los Baños, where he also helped set up the College of Agriculture’s agricultural extension information program, working closely with provincial radio stations and newspapers.

Upon completion of his Peace Corps service, Groot joined the U.S. Agency for International Development in Manila as rural communications advisor. In mid-1966 he resigned from that post to pursue graduate studies in communication. He returned to the Philippines 1968-69 to do research for his doctoral dissteration. He earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin (UW) in Madison.

He taught at U.W. for several years, then joined the international division of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, working with NGO-based family planning programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He provided technical assistance to numerous family planning programs in the Philippines – such as UP/PGH, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jescomea, Mary Johnston Hospital, Wesleyan Colleges, and Lorma Colege.

The Philippines proved to be a strong attraction; soon after his retirement he returned to the Philippines where he now lives in Silang, Cavite. He continues to serve as VP for Institutional Relations of the Peace Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development (PCAFPD), a group that provides college scholarships for deserving and financially needy high school graduates.

our portraits

I had almost forgotten how tiring it can be to sit still for a longer period of time and to keep you eyes focused on the same general area – that is until yesterday.

To backtrack for a minute, about a week ago I had a phone call from a friend at the University of the Philippines in Manila. Some alumni had formed a painting group and would it be alright to bring the 15-member group to the house so they could paint our landscape. We’d get copies of their work – all in exchange for serving lunch to the group. Sounded like a good deal.

When they arrived, they toured the house and garden and took lots of pictures. They then proceeded to set up their easels and paint paraphernalia in the dining room. I was sort of puzzled – why in the dining room if they wanted garden scenes? Turned out they had changed their minds and wanted to do portraits.

In the morning, they painted two female friends of ours, dressed in native garb. It was our, Noel and I, turn after lunch. That’s when I found out that sitting still can be very tiring and that, after an hour or so, you develop itches all over.

As for the garden scenes, they said they’d use the pictures to do their paintings.

Recognize either one of us?

Ask not ... huwag nang itanong

Fifty years ago, 12 October 1961, 128 Americans landed at Manila International Airport [MIA at that time, but since renamed to honor the memory of Ninoy Aquino] as the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to serve in the Philippines. After airport welcoming ceremonies, they were taken in LTB busses to the World Jamboree site on the U.P. Los Baños campus for some 6 weeks of in-country training, prior to service assignments as ‘educational aides’ in Bicol and Negros Occidental. Since then, more than 150 groups, totaling over 8,000 volunteers, have followed in their footsteps.

This book makes no pretension of providing a comprehensive review of the 50 year history of the Peace Corps in the Philippines. It also is not an attempt to assess the impact of the Peace Corps on the Philippines nor of the influence the Philippines has had on the individual volunteers.

You will read vignettes about the lives of young, and not so young, Americans who came to the Philippines in pursuit of the challenge ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Some articles are current recollections of events that transpired some 50 years ago; others were written years ago and reflect the volunteers’ thoughts and feelings at that time.

We hope you will enjoy our collection of the Peace Corps experiences in the Philippines.

To preview the book, go to: http://www.blurb.com/books/2086215