Date: Fri 05-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Margot-Zaharek-Peace-Corps

Full Text:

Newtowner's Peace Corps Experience Is A World Apart

(with cuts)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

She can't take a hot shower or even watch TV. There's no electricity and the

nearest telephone is several miles away. She's had several bouts with malaria,

food poisoning and a few other horrible sounding afflictions. She even has

trouble communicating with people. But life for Newtown native Margot Zaharek

couldn't be any more fulfilling.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, the 1986 NHS graduate is living a life that most

Westerners would never even dream of -- they wouldn't want to. The 29-year-old

lives in a remote village in a scorching hot region of Cameroon, a Third World

nation on the western side of central Africa.

Two years ago, Margot achieved a lifelong dream when she joined the Peace

Corps and headed to Africa in the hopes that she could help make a difference

in the lives of people she would have never known otherwise. Her experience

has indeed been the toughest job she has ever loved.

Since 1995, Margot has lived in a mud house in the village of Jilve. There,

her task is to educate the people about the importance of proper hygiene,

disease prevention and good nutrition. It's not easy, but Margot has

persevered, working to fight hunger, poverty and a lack of opportunity.

Life on the arid plains of Cameroon is about as far away from life in Newtown

as one can get. There's no toilet (only a latrine) and she must use the "dip

and pour" method to bathe. But it is a life that Margot has chosen to live.

"I always felt that the way we live here in America was not typical of the

rest of the world," she explained during a recent interview with The Newtown

Bee . She was home for the first time in two years. "I wanted to experience a

different way of life. I wanted to get an insight of their world, through

their eyes."

Gaining that insight has been difficult. It's taken time for her to overcome

the language barrier and even more to break through the barrier of education.

Most of the villagers she lives and works with can't read or write, and few

have traveled more that a few miles from their birthplace. They have never

watched television, heard a radio or read a newspaper. Some have no concept of

what the world is. Their world ends at the dust-shrouded horizon.

"Their view of the outside world is pretty narrow," Margot said. "There is no

TV and they don't read. They mostly sit around the neighborhood and gossip.

When they see me reading alone, they think it's really weird."

This lack of education has made it especially difficult for Margot to convince

the Cameroonies that, for example, dirty hands spread germs and can cause

disease. Because they can't see germs or disease, they don't believe it

exists. Most villagers suspect death and suffering is brought on by evil

spirits.

"The physical difficulties of living there are not as difficult as the

language, culture and lack of education," she said. "I try to teach people

about keeping clean, but they just blame disease on the Devil."

It's the same in many other parts of Africa, where villagers blame the evil

spirits for the fact that one in every four adults in Botswana suffers from

AIDS or that more than eight million African children are orphans because

their parents died of AIDS. It is the job of Margot and other Peace Corps

volunteers to reduce these staggering numbers. Education is the key.

After graduating from Newtown High, Margot went on to earn a degree in

psychology from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. From there, she earned

her master's degree in nutrition and public health from Columbia University in

New York.

Margot returned to the United States for the first time in two years last

month after a tiring two-day journey. The trip started in her tiny village and

moved on to the Cameroon capital of Yaounde where she took an international

flight to Brussels, Belgium. From there, she flew on to Washington, D.C., and

finally to Westchester, N.Y.

Life back in the western world has taken time to adjust to, according to

Margot. There's the jet lag, then there's the life in a modern world that even

Crocodile Dundee had trouble getting used to.

"At the airport, all these people were rushing around and there were all these

fast-food restaurants," she recalled. "I was having a sensory overload because

everyone was speaking English and, for the first time in two years, I could

understand every conversation going on around me."

Margot got on an elevator and "it started talking to me," she joked.

She noted the large amount of waste, too. On the airplane, she kept receiving

a new plastic cup with each refill of water. In Cameroon, that cup would be

held on to forever, she said.

Margot has managed to cope with the cold New England weather despite coming

from the blistering conditions of northern Cameroon where temperatures often

soar as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Those in her village who have heard of the United States truly believe that it

is a wondrous place.

"They always say to me, `take me to America where everyone is rich and

happy,'" Margot explained.

Calling home to her parents' house on Abbotts Hill Road can be a daunting

task. The nearest telephone is a 90-minute bike ride for Margot, so she only

does it about once a month. Getting through on the phone is another story.

Mail going out of Cameroon usually reaches the United States, but incoming

parcels are often stolen.

Margot said she keeps up with the news of the world with a short-wave radio,

though she admits that can be difficult.

The Peace Corps volunteer admits her job can be a frustrating one as many in

the village still do not understand what she is there for. When she first

arrived, many believed she had come from America bearing gifts and would build

things for the village. That was not her purpose, however, and she has spent

much of her time trying to get that point across. There are some who listen,

but trying to change unhealthy habits of a culture can be near to impossible.

Standing six feet tall, Margot truly stands out in this ethnic village of just

over 1,000 Muslims, Christians and tribal people. Many villagers have come to

appreciate her differences and respect her for her caring. The women of

Cameroon have few rights, however, and many of the men laugh at Margot's

attempts to assist them.

But life in Jilve has been extremely rewarding for Margot. She admires the

will of the people, who toil in the fields all day under a blistering hot sun

only to return to their homes where death and disease run rampant. Life in an

unmodern, almost Stone Age world, has many benefits, according to Margot.

"There's a tremendous sense of community and caring for one another," she

said. "Here, people are so busy with their lives and no one really even knows

their neighbor. It's much different there. People truly care for one another."

Many of the villagers shed tears as Margot prepared for her six-week leave in

America. They showered her with gifts, most having no idea how far away from

home she really was.

Most Peace Corps tours of duty are over after two years, but Margot has opted

to return for a third. After that, she plans to return to her life in America

to begin a career in public health and nutrition.

Since 1961, over 140,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps, which was

started by President John F. Kennedy. Today, 6,000 are serving in over 90

countries around the world.