Currently Vice President of the Northern California Peace Corps Association, Glenn Anaiscourt was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon, Central Africa. He taught English as a foreign language in Gabon for two years, and was then the country’s first male Women in Development Coordinator in his third year. He also worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer Trainer and then as a Training Program Director in Gabon. In the United States, he served as Activities Director and then President of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Los Angeles. Glenn received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University. He has an MBA from UCLA. He also has a law degree from Loyola Law School. He is a writer, lawyer, manager, and business consultant with prior experience in financial management and computer programming, and marketing consulting, technology marketing, and law.
Q: You have taken the opportunity to speak about your Peace Corps experience at one event this year, and you have volunteered for two more speaking events through NorCal. What do you see as the benefits of speaking?
A: We come back with so much to say, but the circumstances have to be right for people to want to hear it. I found that taking the time to put together a presentation for a group helped a lot, as opposed to just speaking informally with family and friends about what my wife and I experienced in the Peace Corps. These events give me a chance to collect my thoughts, and also to meet some amazing new people in the audience. They offer insights of their own based on what I have to say.
Q: How do you see audiences benefiting from RPCV speakers?
A: When I spoke at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service event hosted by Super Stars Literacy, I was able to provide information to these amazing Americans who are devoting themselves to improving the lives of children. Since our work in the Peace Corps also had a lot to do with improving young people’s lives, I felt that much of what I had to say would be useful to them in their own efforts.
Q: You are past president of the RPCVs of Los Angeles. Has your experience there given you a perspective about the Global Presenters Program here in
Northern California?
A: In LA, we did things well and had a great program of events that happened every year, but we always struggled with a speaking program. Even after working with the Peace Corps office and receiving training, I don’t recall us arranging a single speaking event. It wasn’t just about finding time to arrange them. People would reach out only to find that even contacts we were given weren’t really available, or for various reasons weren’t receptive. Teachers had their classes and curricula set, and groups were reluctant to hear individuals they didn’t know. I even tried setting up events with former PCVs who were teaching in area schools, and still couldn’t get it to happen. We had plenty going on with our group, but we didn’t get a speaking program off the ground while I was there even though we all thought it was important.
Q: Has that influenced you in your choice to volunteer to speak here?
A: Oh, well, I was so psyched to read the newsletter here and to see that all that legwork was done. If you want to speak to a class at UC Berkeley, say, or be on a panel at a public service event, well, then, you just express interest and you’re on your way. It’s awesome.
In Gabon I learned plenty about these invisible preparations people sometimes make so your life can be a little better. In training we didn’t have furniture in our rooms apart from a bed and mosquito net, for example, so we made storage units and bookshelves for the next group out of the cinder blocks and plywood we had available. We stocked the rooms and the trainees came in, and then many of them complained about the furniture! Oh, you know, they didn’t understand that it was a perk. That’s life in service, I guess. Given everything we went through to try to ramp up speaking in LA, to me it was immediately apparent when I came to the Bay Area that people had laid a lot of groundwork to make these speaking events happen. I probably wouldn’t realize that if I hadn’t had the experience of trying to put a speaking program together before.
Q: How do you prepare for your speaking opportunities?
A: I think about what I want the particular audience to take away. At UC Berkeley where many are considering Peace Corps service, I want them to come away with what I see as the three most important qualities of a volunteer: care, patience, and sincerity, all the way through. At the San Bruno Senior Center, I tried to provide a window into Gabon by sharing information the audience couldn’t otherwise access, even on the Internet. With children I’ll ask more questions than they ask me.
I think if someone hears an RPCV speak, they should come away with their minds blown and with a sense of awe, if not shock, about how different and yet similar life can be in countries they might not get a chance to see for themselves, or see up close even if they do visit. I’m very honest about how confusing life can be at post. Gabon is fabulous for so many reasons, but it was heavily slaved. It’s beautiful and there are so many aspects of Gabonese culture that I value and appreciate, but that doesn’t mean I sugarcoat things when I talk about Gabon, or anyplace for that matter. I try to just tell the truth as best I can.
Q: What other reflections do you have about the Global Presenters Program that you would like other RPCVs to be aware of?
A: Well, I’m grateful for the program. I hope audiences in the Bay Area will benefit from what we all have to tell them, and that we’ll learn from what they have to tell us. After being here for a while, I think the Bay Area is special. There are so many people here who are determined that the world be a better place. People want to hear about the Peace Corps, and they’ll use what they hear in their lives going forward. We have fantastic outreach to our communities here, and all it takes is for each of us to give a presentation or two a year. It’s a little effort to prepare for the first time, but then I found I was pretty much good for the second. I have a presentation in my toolkit now. I think speaking makes me better at talking about Peace Corps in general, actually, wherever I go, because I’ve gathered together some of my thoughts. And I’ve had a really good time.
By Betsy Aaron, Global Presenters Outreach Coordinator