[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER IN DIARELA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JO ANN DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, a constituent from 
Virginia's Northern Neck sent me a report on the work of his daughter, 
a Peace Corps Volunteer in Diarela, a remote village of approximately 
five hundred farmers near Mali's border with Ivory Coast, in Western 
Africa.
  Until the parents visited in Mali, they had difficulty answering 
their neighbors' standard question, ``What does she do there.'' There 
is no short, easy answer. She lives in a house built and furnished to 
Peace Corps specifications: a tin roof, mud walls and a concrete floor, 
a table and a chair. The nearest electricity and running water are 
hours away. She has a bicycle and some basic tools, and only a very 
small stipend. Where else are Americans asked to live and work with so 
little, and with the vaguely-implied imperative to do what you can in 
the best interests of the United States of America?
  The visiting parents of Ms. Kallus saw the intangible results of her 
efforts as a Peace Corp volunteer when she invited the men of the 
village to drink tea. At least forty came. They conversed about many 
subjects: from crops and weather to self respect and the brotherhood of 
races. Ms. Kallus skillfully translated from Bambra and French to 
English. Around midnight, one of the village farmers spoke up, saying, 
``We trust you, Batoma.'' (That is the name they have given her.) ``You 
work hard and speak the truth. Because of you, we know and respect the 
United States.''
  Americans can get no better return on their tax dollar than that.

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