| 27 March 2012 | 4 Comments
 
 

Peace Corps veterans and tunisian participants gather in the Medina of Tunis

On March 26, 2012, American Peace Corps veterans reunited at the Tahar Haddad Cultural Center in Tunis. The discussion provided the opportunity for Tunisians to ask questions about the role of the Corps and its upcoming return to Tunisia after a 16-year hiatus.

The Peace Corps was created in 1960 by US President John F. Kennedy. It provides the opportunity for American men and women to “serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries” for 24 months, according to their website.

Tunisia was the first Arab country to ask for and receive Peace Corps volunteers. In the 34 years that the Peace Corps was active here, 2,382 volunteers came through Tunisia, until the suspension of the program in 1996. In October 2011, President Obama announced that the program would be relaunched, during interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi’s visit to the United States.

Lee Jennings, who was part of the very first group of Peace Corps volunteers to come to Tunisia in 1962, announced that approximately 20 to 30 new recruits would arrive in Tunisia at the end of August or the beginning of September. Approximately half would serve as “cultural fellows,” acting as assistants to Tunisian English language teachers, while the other half would “focus on women and the environment.”

“As you all know, the Code of Personal Status (CPS), passed right after the Independence, is still the only one in the Arab world that gives equal rights to women and men…but the current government has a lot of people in it who are not convinced that we need that,” he said.

Jennings was one of the participants of the forum who lives in Tunisia. After working in Sub-Saharan Africa for several years, he returned to Tunisia in 2000 to direct Amideast Tunisia. Other former Peace Corps volunteers were there on a reunion tour, revisiting the country they worked in decades ago. They partnered in various fields, like architecture, English teaching and community development. Stan Suski came to Tunisia in 1966. He hasn’t been back since 1978, and he was pleasantly surprised to find an old friend at the event yesterday. The two were able to catch up, and Stan told us how much Tunisia has changed since he was here. “Tunis has grown incredibly,” he said.

When the Peace Corps shut down in 1996, there were four programs: nursing, youth development, English teaching in universities, and an urban program to build infrastructure in rural areas. Mohamed Halouani, a former Peace Corps trainer, speculated that the Peace Corps program was suspended because, “Tunisia considered itself developed enough not to need the United States anymore.” It did, however, continue to receive other forms of American aid, according to Halouani.

Jennings expressed reservations about the return of Peace Corps volunteers to Tunisia in the current economic context. “Since one of the major issues after the revolution are the thousands and thousands of unemployed graduates, it would be a disaster if Peace Corps volunteers are seen as taking away the job opportunities that do exist…it has to be seen as a supplement, to build upon.”

When the existence of a hidden agenda was raised by one of the Tunisian participants, a Peace Corps veteran said, “I used to ask myself this all the time…we do have to remember the Peace Corps was a Cold War program. We could be good people, but we still could be used, by a country that has pretty strong military politics.” But, he stressed, the first Peace Corps volunteers were those who “wanted to do something other than war.”

Another Tunisian participant questioned the Peace Corps’ focus on English language instruction. “Why should the Peace Corps care about teaching English? Why does the Peace Corps not seriously think about things related to peace, and cooperate with Tunisian people?”

Tunisians question former Peace Corps volunteers

Several Peace Corps volunteers reacted to this, underlining that the Peace Corps works in many areas, not just English language – such as architecture, archeology, road-levelling, housing surveys, etc. They further pointed out that many of the volunteers speak “Tunsi” – the Tunisian dialect –  something that helps them adapt more quickly to the culture and interact with the people they work with.

After the revolution, the United States reinforced a number of its aid programs to Tunisia – the return of Peace Corps volunteers is just one of many initiatives. Shortly after January 14, 2011, USAID, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) opened up shop in Tunisia. USAID had been present in Tunisia from 1957 to 1994 – two years before the departure of the Peace Corps.

For Mohamed Halouani, who spent time in Milwaukee as a camp counsellor, it’s all about “bridging the gap” between the Tunisian and the American people. He said that being a part of the Peace Corps experience was beneficial for both the Tunisians and Americans involved. “The Peace Corps has great impact,” he said, adding that people who go through the program will go on to become leaders and ambassadors, like Gordon Gray [current American ambassador to Tunisia], who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. The Peace Corps is a “two-way street,” a “win-win experience,” he said.

“I used to refer to myself as a Kennedy son … we are all children of Kennedy like we are the children of Bourguiba.”

This article was co-written by Megan Radford.


Comments (4)

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  1. Mr. LEE says:
    28 March 2012 at 14:17

    Thank you for writing the article about the meeting with returned Peace Corps Volunteers. I do want to clarify that I am certainly aware of the important process of developing and approving the Code of Personal Status in 1957 and that I often cite it as one of the most remarkable achievements of Tunisia and I simply hope that it will be preserved and strengthened in the New Tunisia. We did not have time to discus my active participation protesting the Vietnam War and promoting equality for African Americans, but I will be happy to do so whenever you have time. I also encourage you to be pro-active about asking the coordinator of the American Corner of AMIDEAST about authors and titles you would like to read. If they are not in the Corner, she can direct you to the Information Resources Center at the American Embassy – you will learn that there is no censorship. Finally, I want to clarify that I was not speaking as a representative of the Peace Corps so the remarks you cite do not reflect any official position regarding Peace Corps’ return to Tunisia. I would also like to remind you of my quoting President John F. Kennedy who founded the Peace Corps: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. I believe this is still a very relevant challenge for both Americans and Tunisians.

    Reply
  2. McLovin says:
    27 March 2012 at 16:44

    Lee Jennings is the last person who should ever be involved with development programs in Tunisia. This article correctly states that Lee was the Amideast director for several years, but omits the fact that he was fired for gross mismanagement of funds. I worked closely with him and saw him waste tens of thousands of dollars on ridiculous projects and lavish parties for his friends. Not only that, but his assistant director was fired and investigated for fraud and embezzlement.

    If Tunisia Live really wanted to cover a good story, they’d investigate Amideast. Ask anyone whose worked there over the last few years and they’ll tell you some truly shocking stories.

    Reply
    • Mr. LEE says:
      28 March 2012 at 14:34

      I am shocked by these slanderous statements and would welcome any opportunity to have the truth come out – I suggest staring by asking members of the great staff that worked with me during the 10 years that I was Country Director of AMIDEAST/Tunisia from 2000 to 2011. I have since been enjoying my retirement in Tunisia and seeking ways to continue to assist my adopted country.

      Reply
  3. Nasri says:
    27 March 2012 at 13:46

    I would like to assert, in order for my comment not to be interpreted in a misleading way, that every form of cooperation with any foreign body either governmental or non-governmental should be welcome as far as it doesn’t infringe the sovereignty of our country and doesn’t compromise the will of our people.

    “As you all know, the Code of Personal Status (CPS)… a lot of people in it who are not convinced that we need that,” I wonder how could a similar statement work for peace? This arrogant statement is a declaration of war. I would like to quote Ghandi as saying:”there is no path for peace, peace is the path”. I fully agree with Ghandi’s
    ingenious formulation, indeed, people who faile to make peace a way of life would fail in greater proportion to spread it out. Peace has to be built on mutual respect and understanding; there would be no peace between a slave and his owner.

    Mr Lee may not or may refuse to know that the CPS is a Tunisian patent; it was drafted by the Zitouna moderate clergy and adopted by the vast majority of Tunisians, and everyone in the current tunisian Government stated and reiterated their support for this code.This fact may be annoying for Mr Lee and so many others, but I will annoy him further and say that when the CPS was drafted and put into effect, black women (let men aside) in so many US sothern states are prohibited by law, I repeat by law, from using public accomodation; not to speak of the shameful covering of the barbarous lynching cases, I would have gone too far.

    Another small anecdote for Mr Lee in the hope of convincing him that the American Administration -not the American People that I respect- is no less in need for a Tunisian PCV than we are for a US PCV: I’ve been a member of the Amideast library for about three years now and I’ve never come across a single title for any US dissident intellectuals like Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Amy Goodman, Norman Finkelstein, William Blum and the list goes on and on. I was citing US prominent intellectuals, academics and jounalists, and I quote from the NewYork Times the following statement about Chomsky:”…the most important intellectual alive”. They are censored and ignored simply because they have been resisting the US official policies, a lesson in promoting free speech!

    I can keep on for a while with more examples but I think this is enough to make the point. Many thanks for Tunisia Live for opening this window for us, this is something like free speech as seen by very Tunisian men and women.

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