In October we had the honor of receiving four guests from Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique and the People’s Republic of China here for a project entitled: “The Spirit of Volunteerism: Celebrating 50 Years of the Peace Corps!”
All of our visitors work with Peace Corps Volunteers in their counties back home and were here to learn about volunteerism in U.S. communities and how volunteers, particularly young people, are inspired to help foster a culture of service and civic responsibility. For part of their stay in Pensacola, they stayed with host-families, like Peace Corps Volunteers abroad. This was so they could experience what it is like for volunteers overseas and also so they could fully experience life in America. Thank you Mark & Nila Dufva, Sonja Nelson, Jack & Cookie Kichler, and Janet McIndewar for opening your doors to these visitors and to Susan Senkarik for hosting a dinner!
On their first full day, the visitors received a warm welcome and a honorary certificate of citizenship to Pensacola by City Council President Maren DeWeese. Upstairs in City Hall, they were welcomed in an informal round-table discussion of volunteerism by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Jeanie Dumestre, Larry Walker, and Ashley Hardaway, as well as by life-long volunteers Dr. Kichler, Patricia McGraw, Honor Bell, and city volunteer coordinator Jeff Pohlman.
After an amazing walking tour of the city with a volunteer activity with Tara Giuliano at the Florida Public Archaeology Network (Did you know Pensacola once had the tallest building in Florida and that Andrew Jackson’s apartment is located in the old Blazzues building?), they toured the teen volunteer coordination center that is Chain Reaction with Elise Glidden. There they were shown the databases they use to coordinate volunteer projects and the incentives in place to encourage teens to volunteer their time. From there, the group headed to the beachfront where they planted sea grasses at Project Greenshores with the Florida Department of the Environment and local volunteers.
The following day, the visitors were thrilled to tour Pensacola High School where they met with students in the IB program as well as with the Student Government Association where they talked about their volunteer efforts and why they do such programs. They were also able to meet with ESOL students who explained what it was like for them to transition to an American high school. For many it was only their first or second year in an English language environment.
Following the tour, the visitors once again met up with Jeff Pohlman at the Mayor’s Cup Golf Tournament where they were able to volunteer themselves at the drink station. We continued with this theme of giving back at the Ronald McDonald House where the visitors were joined by Girl Scouts of Troop 424 and other volunteers where they baked cookies for the current residents.
The next morning, after spending the evening with at their host-families, the guests headed off to the Pensacola Boys Base where they learned about the program and then joined some boys at a car wash fundraiser. The visitors really enjoyed this (many had seen such things in movies) and we are thrilled to report that more money was raised at this car wash than had been raised the previous weeks.
Over the weekend, after spending time with their host families, the group went sailing in Pensacola Bay and enjoyed a picnic on the water.
The following Monday, the guests went to United Methodist Church where they volunteers with Feeding the Hungry Plus. They then shared their knowledge with members of our group at a Lunch and Learn where our guest from Indonesia talked about volunteerism in his country and members of the council had an opportunity to ask questions. The volunteers then headed to University of West Florida where they participated in a Peace Corps Recruitment Session. They also met with Volunteer UWF! to talk about volunteering initiatives in place at the university level.
It was a busy week for sure, but it was one spent interacting with members of our community who volunteered alongside them at every event!
