Ron and Maria Green – Regional Director, Merida and Caracas

Ron's update as of 9/15/2001

Ron --

I dropped in on the RPCV web site for information about the forthcoming PC anniversary and read about many of our old friends and places from 30 (!) years ago. Muy interesante. I particularly appreciated the group photos with so many faces from long ago. Speculation, this was at the Mike Shelton summer camp, right?

We hoped to attend the anniversary in DC. Events prevent that trip. I have added acting to my after hours activities and have been cast in "Death of a Salesman" with a Boston theater group Our show opens that weekend. Please extend a warm "Hello" from both Maria and me to the Volunteers and staff who made our life so interesting and rewarding.

FYI, A few of notes about the Green family.

Maria and I recently celebrated our 30 years of marriage with a 3 week trip to France. She, for the Matisse chapel in Provence and the D'Orsay museum. Me, because she wanted to go and for the historic sites in Normandy.

We are not in touch with many former Volunteers, other than John Rossetti, a fellow Volunteer from my time in Panama. Can't avoid it. He married Maria's sister. But we have witnessed an interesting phenomenon. As we meet more people whose company we enjoy, we find they were once Volunteers. Just in our small Unitarian church membership there are seven. Among my best professional connections, I count six. We have stayed very loosely connected to the local Returned Volunteer Association.

Our two daughters (not part of the Peace Corps legacy) have left the nest.

Carrie at 26 is a second grade teacher in Charlotte, NC. After graduation from Susquehanna U, she wanted someplace warm. I suggested Boom Boom, Edo. Barinas, but she demurred. "Not that kind of heat, dad. And besides, I don't look good on a motorcycle."

Rebecca ("Dad, when you look at me, you're looking at DNA") is into her second year as a PC Volunteer in Turkmenistan. Her site is a community health center on a collective farm in the northeastern section of the country. She has augmented the obvious high, post-volunteer service, market value of reaching a level 3+ in the Turkmen language with a level 3 in Uzbeki. The potential is boundless.

I must say that the current PC staff is cracking down on absentee volunteers. Volunteers are entitled to 48 days for her 2 years of service. Time out of her site is counted as vacation. Unbelievable. Collectively, the Rural Ed group would still owe a couple of years of overused holidays were this standard applied way back when.

Maria works in the marketing organization for Prentiss Hall. Recently, she worked out a donation program for surplus texts, shipping some 15 crates to the Bahamas, another 30 crates to a native American school in the US.

With Rebecca's encouragement, I recently completed the long term goal of climbing all 48 peaks over 4,000' in New Hampshire. Professionally, I have scaled back a great deal in recent years. In 1992, following a 15 year career with Digital Equipment, including many years in the international sales/service group, I have started a small consulting practice dealing with Human Resources issues for the smaller companies based in Massachusetts. Some of the work in international, including site development and country opportunity selection.

We are both active in the local Unitarian congregation.

Ron, we were truly looking forward to this event and connecting with others from Venezuela and Panama. We hope you are in good health and spirits.

As they say in the old country.....

Sin otro particular a dirigirme

su servidor

Ron Green

In a message dated 8/24/99 6:42:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time, rrodgers@aiweb.com writes:

<< I hope you remember me (or maybe not). You were regional director in Merida, Venezuela and had to contend with our Rural Ed group. >>

Tomatoes will grow on the dark side of the moon before I forget Ron Rodgers and the Rural Education tribe!

How great to hear from you. I will check out the reunion site and enjoy the memories.

FYI, we have stayed in touch with a few of the Venezuela folks. e.g. Chris Shelton, now a tenured professor at Smith, Wanda and Mark Daley, a Fulbright scholar and professor of education and Mark still retired, Mike Mosely a pediatrician in rural Vermont and Carlos & Donna Caminos our architect/artist friends still in Merida.

Thanks for the note.

Ron Green

rongreen@aol.com