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By Amy West
When Carmel’s Dave and Wendy Banks met in the 1960s, they talked about joining the Peace Corps. What they didn’t realize was it would take them more than four decades to make it happen.After marrying, raising kids and retiring, they said to each other, “You know what we talked about long ago? Maybe we should try it.”
The retired couple returned to Carmel in 2010 after spending more than two years in Tanzania, educating villagers about HIV prevention, biology and English.Surprisingly, they integrated well into the Tanzanian culture.
“If you have gray hair, you’re in,” said Dave Banks, 70, a retired pharmacist.Their Tanzanian village of about 1,000 people not only respected their elders, but also respected the customs of one another. The village, Maringo, had two major tribes, and Catholic, Muslim and Lutheran faiths lived and celebrated traditions together, which impressed the Bankses.
“I think a lot of places in the world could take an example from Tanzania,” said Wendy Banks, 69, a retired teacher.
Tanzanians subsist on less than a dollar a day, and a significant number of people lives with HIV. The stigma of the disease, especially with women, inspired the Bankses to start a life skills club to teach how to prevent the spread of HIV and brainstorm ways for HIV-inflicted villagers to support their families.
High school students from the club performed skits and raps for the younger school kids, and persuaded even Muslim girls to do condom demonstrations.
Primary education, required in Tanzania, is free, but tuition for high school costs about Sh150,000 ($100) a year. Educating boys takes priority over girls, but the headmaster in Maringo worked hard to keep the ratio at 50 percent.
To stay in school, girls commonly find older men to finance their education in exchange for sexual favors. “Babu” Dave and “Bibi” Wendy worked to teach the women to say, “No, not without a condom.” “You just don’t know if you get through,” Wendy said.
The headmaster also requested their help teaching in a high school with 500 students and only two teachers. Dave taught biology and Wendy taught English to 80 freshmen each.
To start the school’s first library, the couple called for donations from Monterey Peninsula residents, who mailed nearly 3,000 books. To cover shipping costs of nearly $55 a box, the community raised $5,000.
The couple’s family also offered support. A granddaughter requested soccer balls — used or new — instead of gifts for her 10th birthday, and shipped them with pumps to Tanzania. One of the couple’s daughters raised money to finance two girls’ education for three years.The couple brought with them a laptop, printer, solar charger, shortwave radio and a power strip, which proved especially useful in a village that had just one room with electricity and many villagers with cellphones that needed charging.
Wendy Banks was struck by villagers’ resourcefulness.
“They can do so much with so little,” she said.
One memorable side trip seems to bear this out. To get to a larger city a few hours away, the couple rode in trucks called dala-dalas, which were crammed with livestock, people and bags and had “already lived their life and died,” Dave Banks said. On one trip, the truck got a flat tire. The driver used a pile of rocks to jack up the truck, but jammed on the wrong size spare tire. Soon after starting up again, the truck ran out of gas. After the driver borrowed a bike to travel to the only village with gas, he returned and swished gasoline in his mouth, spit it on the carburetor, and they were finally on their way.
“Traveling was just so awful,” Wendy said.
“When we got off the bus, we were always real happy,” Dave said. The average age of a Peace Corps volunteer is 28, and only 7 percent of volunteers are older than 50 or married. The organization is trying to change that. In November it teamed up with AARP to reach out to volunteers with a lifetime of skills and professional experience.
The oldest volunteer currently serving in the Peace Corps is 82, just five years younger than the oldest volunteer ever to serve.
But the Peace Corps’ rigorous medical background may stymie the process for older Americans, who must provide thorough documentation to show a clean bill of health. Though both Wendy and Dave were in excellent physical health, the Peace Corps still requested medical records dating back to their 20s. Applicants with diseases like diabetes can serve, but may be placed closer to medical facilities instead of in remote villages.
For Dave and Wendy, 18 months passed from the time they submitted the application until they left for Tanzania. Though they returned a year and a half ago, the couple still uphold one of the three Peace Corps goals — promoting a better understanding between Tanzanians and Americans. They’ve given numerous talks around the San Francisco Bay Area and don’t seem to tire of telling their stories.
In an African culture that respects their elders, but also depends on an extended family for support, the Tanzanians thought it odd for two people to leave their home and family of four children and 10 grandchildren.
Wendy’s response: “We’ll go back to our family ... and maybe our family will be better, because we had this experience to share.” (Agencies)
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