Date: Fri 18-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Michele-Tidd-Peace-Corps

Full Text:

Michele Tidd Prepares For Peace Corps Assignment In Jordan

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

As a 1996 Wellesley graduate, Newtown resident Michele Tidd hopes that it

wasn't just that she attended one of the few remaining all-girls colleges that

led to her Peace Corps assignment to the country of Jordan.

"Of course, they would be wary of sending anyone with openly feminist views

into a country where the sexes are so strictly segregated," Michele said.

She was interviewed Monday, April 14, about her coming 27-month stint as an

economist helping Jordanian women become entrepreneurs in their towns and

villages.

With only two weeks before her departure on April 28, Michele said there was

much to be done ("shots and things") before she boarded the plane for a

two-day training session in Washington, D.C.

While in the nation's capital, she and the other 30 Peace Corps volunteers

would be meeting another Wellesley College graduate, Hillary Clinton, Class of

1969, at a special White House reception.

Then, April 30, the hard work would begin as Michele and the other volunteers

would be flying from Dulles International Airport to Queen Alia Airport in

Ahmann, Jordan, with a brief stop at London's Heathrow Airport.

"I get tired just thinking about that 24-hour period," said Michele.

She'd rather think about getting started on the next stage of her assignment,

a three-month home stay in Ahmann. While there, she'll learn to speak the

Arabic language, she said, so "I can make mistakes in a comfortable setting."

"They're not supposed to speak English to me at all," Michele said, mentioning

that by the time she actually begins her work at an as yet undisclosed site in

a Jordanian village or town, she'd have to be able to speak and understand her

clients well enough to be effective.

Michele believes that it was her college major in economics that led to her

selection for the assignment, as well as her recent experience as an intern at

Amoco Oil Company in Denver, Colo.

"But how it is that an economy degree helps people start small businesses -

I'm not really sure..." Michele said as an afterthought.

Peace Corps History

Established 36 years ago and based in Washington, D.C., the Peace Corps is

still a viable, internationally recognized organization, Michele said, that

has sent 140,000 volunteers "both serving and returned" to sites around the

world.

"One of my friends is teaching physics in western Samoa," she added.

Michelle admitted that she is slightly nervous about the ongoing political

turmoil in the Mideast, and about the proximity of her job site to Iraq.

"I've been quite interested in the Arab/Israeli peace process," Michele said,

and she mentioned she has been examining her own feelings about the religious

issues, recognizing that "we were all raised with a bias toward Israel."

It is not unusual, however, for Peace Corps volunteers to be sent into areas

where there is political unrest, she said.

"But they don't set you up to fail," she added.

"The Peace Corps people have told me, `we don't want to put you in a dangerous

situation,' and they would withdraw the volunteers if events in any area

became too volatile.

"For example, during the Persian Gulf War, they evacuated all the North

African volunteers," Michele said.

Keeping In Touch With Home

Her parents, Charles and Paulette Tidd, are very excited about her trip, she

said, "although Mom's a little worried. I've always been close to home. Even

[living in] Denver this last year was an adjustment," Michele said.

Leaving Briarcliff, N.Y., the Tidd family moved into their Brookwood Drive

home in 1986, when Michele started the seventh grade at Newtown Middle School.

She graduated from Newtown High in 1992, where her older brother, Charlie

Tidd, who is now attending Western Connecticut State University, was a 1991

graduate.

As for her ability to become integrated into the Jordanian culture, Michele

said she hopes the process goes smoothly.

She plans to wear long sleeves and long skirts so she won't "stick out" as an

American, although her blue eyes and fair skin will definitely present a

different appearance from that of most Jordanian women.

Two of Michele's hobbies - horseback riding and Irish step dancing - may have

to wait until she returns to the United States, though she said she plans to

bring her Irish music tapes with her, "just in case."

She also would like to write home via email, ("my father wants to send me a

computer with a cellular modem"), but it might not be possible, she said.

"I might be in a mud hut in the middle of nowhere with no electricity.

Whatever, I'll have to adapt," Michele said.

Anyway, she'll write letters about her experience and she hopes to send a

continuing account to her hometown newspaper, The Newtown Bee , for

publication over the next two years.

Newtown Class of 1992 graduate Michele Tidd will be spending her next two

years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan.

-Bee Photo, Evans