India 36 is having a reunion in Camino, CA
July 7 - 9, 2006.
It looks like more than half will attend.
Please contact Dick Etter for more information.
India - 24 Reunion August 2006
India - 24 will hold its reunion the first weekend in August 2006, in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
This will be the 4 th gathering we have held here since we started this in 1986. Members of India - 24
worked in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) from July 1966 through Spring 1968. Most of us worked on rural
public works programs designed to employ under-employed farmers and rural residents during the drought
of the mid-60s. Others in the group helped with a PL-480 food distribution program to stave off hunger
among the rural population. And yet others worked to help train Block Development Officers on a variety
of technical tasks. Over the years many of our group returned to India as part of their career programs
and some visited their former job sites to visit old friends and assess impact of their earlier work.
One of the sites visited was a village called Sita Madri just off the Grand Trunk Road, 30 kilometers
west of Varanasi, U.P. In 1966 the locale was a desolate severely eroded ox-bow bend on the north bank
of the Ganges river. A major gully had developed over the years and local officials wanted to curb the erosion which was cutting into prime farm land. An erosion control dam was planned for the site. The area also had religious significance associated with the goddess Sita. Peace Corps was asked to help in the task of ending the erosion.
Two members of India - 24 provided technical assistance to the Zila Parishad and the Block, and
surveyed, designed and helped supervise construction of the dam. Part of the wages for the
laborers were paid in kilos of PL480 wheat. Photos of the area prior to and during construction
show the degree of erosion and the desolation from the drought. The attached photos taken
during a trip by Ron Hayes in 2004 show how the area has developed. Indeed, the government
and a local devotee to Hanuman invested significant development funds with a view of turning
the area into a tourist destination. A 100 foot tall statue of Hanuman and a new temple complex
honoring Sita now dominate the landscape in the area along with significant residential and
commercial construction.
Did Peace Corps have an impact? We like to think so. India 24 and other PC groups that served in
northern India helped the 2 states recover from a severe drought which plagued the area for 5 years.
In her book Indira, Katherine Frank describes the condition of India at the time of India 24's
arrival. "India in January 1966 was in worse shape than it ever had been..." since independence.
"Severe droughts had led to food shortages and famine conditions in large parts of the country. This
generated unrest...there were rice riots. The economy was flagging with rampant inflation...There was
agitation in the Punjab...The Naga people of northeast were threatening secession. India?s relations
with the U.S. had been strained...over provisions of arms to Pakistan during the 1965 war and grew
worse over the Vietnam war." In addition , the country began an ideological shift to the left.
This was a difficult situation for Peace Corps volunteers and many people in the U.S. did not understand
and could not comprehend what life was like. And as time passes it turns out to have been the best times
of our lives. We will relive some of those times and continue to keep strong the bond India 24 members
forged at the dawn of our youth. We will toast each other and all of you who served, and keep in story
the memories of those who have passed on.
John Paskevicz
India - 24
jpaskev@aol.com
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