|
Here are a few more notes about the Peace Corps in Northeast Brazil (Period post 1972):
The
Health program in Alagoas was a total disaster because of the lack of
agency support. After the ship Hope left the programs died out.
Kathleen Carvalho (72-74) was transferred to Goiânia, Pernambuco, where
she trained an X-Ray technician at the local hospital.
Kathleen
and I got married in 1974 and ended her service prematurely when I
became Assistant Regional Director for the Northeast, alongside Greg
Huger, who had just been appointed Regional Director. At that time, the
Peace Corps had changed philosophy and began hiring nationals for
permanent, top staff positions: Paulo Roberto in Rio, Victor Braga in
Minas Gerais, and I in Recife. I had been working in Peace Corps
training programs since 1967, but always on a contractual basis.
The
initial challenge Greg Huger and I had was to close the state offices
in Joao Pessoa and Fortaleza and make the office in Recife, near Praça
do Derby, a regional office for volunteers spread in 7 Northeast
states: Maranhao, Piaui, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba,
Pernambuco, and Alagoas. Sergipe and Bahia were consolidated into the
Central Region office, under Victor Braga and Bill Reese. The few
volunteers left in the south and north were managed directly by the
National Office, in Brasilia, until the programs terminated.
Next,
Greg and I set out to assess all the programs in the region. We closed
several weak programs, redefined a few others and started planting the
seed for new programs that better reflected the type of volunteers
available and the current demands of the Brazilian Government – which
were becoming harder and harder to meet. Alagoas had just received a
few more health volunteers for a couple of ill-defined programs in
nursing, psychiatry, curriculum development and special education
(APAE). Eventually those programs were terminated and the volunteers
were reassigned to other states.
The
program at APAE was somewhat successful and served as a model for
similar programs in like Ceará and Pernambuco. The program with
Secretaria da Educacao was a total success. Bill Svendsgaard and wife
Aljean did a superb job in Curriculum Development and Renee Tjoumas was
highly praised by the Secretary himself, for the work she did as a
Librarian.
One
of the nurses, Maureen Gomes, was transferred to Hospital do Pronto
Socorro in Recife. That program also fell apart and Maureen carved a
role as Staff Nurse for the Northeast Region, thus diminishing the need
for doctor’s appointments. She stayed in that post until the Peace
Corps closed and married David Lyon, who was then a vice-consul in
Recife. They now have two kids and David is just finishing up his
assignment in Australia.
In
1975, Greg Huger became the National Director and Whetten (Whet) Reed
was appointed Regional Director for the Northeast. Whet was the coolest
director you could ask for at a time when several programs were still
undefined and volunteer moral was low.
At
that point, the regional offices became responsible for training and I
was appointed PTO (Programming and Training Officer), in addition to my
responsibilities as Assistant Director. In early 1976 we hired Uberacy
to take my place as Assistant Director. Arnobio de Carvalho was the
Office Administrator, Bernadete was our secretary and Jose was the "pau
pra toda obra" – Jack of all trades. I learned that after the Peace
Corps closed, Arnobio was hired by the American Consulate and Jose
opened up a restaurant in Recife. Bernadete came to the States and
visited us. At the time she was considering moving in with her sister,
who worked for NASA at Cape Kennedy.
Whet,
Uberacy and I ran a tight ship. We had about 100 volunteers to support
in seven states and alternated visits to every one of them every three
months, assessing the programs they were involved in, talking to agency
personnel and carving opportunities for new programs. Little by little
we managed to bring order to chaos and then it was time for me to
leave. Soon after I left, Whet did too and Bill Reese was appointed to
replace him.
In
December 1976 Kathy and I moved to Tampa and I finished my
undergraduate in Business Administration at the University of South
Florida. In 1981 we moved across the bridge to Saint Petersburg, where
we presently live with our son Michael (20), our daughter Juliana (16)
and two nieces: Cintia (19) and Amanda (22).
We
still maintain contact with Bob Gentile, Maureen Gomes (Lyon), Dick and
Phyllis Green – who live in Tampa and Michael Morris (saw him about two
years ago in Miami). Ron Faas visited us many years ago. Now that we
have found your site we have a way to contact everyone else. I still
have rosters of several training programs in which I worked and would
be glad to share that information. They go back as far as 1967.
Delano Carvalho
St. Petersburg, FL
|
