Community Corner

A Peace Corps Adventure At 80

John LaPlante, who became the oldest Peace Corps volunteer during his stint in Ukraine, discusses the experience at the Public Library of New London

John LaPlante was in Ukraine, helping teach English to students there as a Peace Corps volunteer, when he was informed that he had reached a milestone. He received a message telling him that of the thousands of volunteers in the organization, he was now the oldest one.

“And all this happened because I turned 80 when I was in the Peace Corps,” LaPlante told a small audience during a visit to the on Tuesday.

LaPlante said his first reaction was to ask what had happened to his predecessor. That person, it turns out, had been airlifted from their volunteer post due to a medical issue. LaPlante joked that he decided at that point that perhaps the youngest volunteer in the Peace Corps was the better title after all.

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The library welcomed LaPlante to discuss his experience, which is the subject of his self-published book 27 Months in the Peace Corps: My Story, Unvarnished. LaPlante has also authored Around the World at 75; Alone, Dammit! and Around Asia in 80 Days; Oops, 83! about his other travels.

LaPlante said he was interested in the Peace Corps when the organization was established in 1961 to have volunteers represent the United States and promote peace and friendship in other countries. However, a relationship and a career kept him from making the commitment.

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At age 77, after a career working in journalism and public relations, an ad in the newspaper caught LaPlante’s eye. The Peace Corps was looking for older volunteers.

LaPlante lives in Deep River for part of the year, but was spending the winter in California when he saw the notice. He paid a visit to a local Peace Corps recruiter to learn more about the organization and volunteer requirements. After that, he had to go through a rigorous inspection process complete with fingerprinting and waiver forms, and was still unsure where he would end up if accepted.

“When you join the Peace Corps, you agree to go anywhere and do anything,” he said.

Because he is fluent in French and had a background in journalism, LaPlante thought he might end up in a former French colony helping with newspaper operations. Instead, he was told he would be assigned to Ukraine to teach English as a second language. For LaPlante, who had avoided winters for many years, it was a daunting request.

With 86 other Peace Corps volunteers, LaPlante flew to Ukraine in October of 2007 for a 27-month commitment. The reason for the odd time period, he said, was that the two-year volunteer period is preceded by three months of training in the country. During that time, he lived with a local family in order to learn more about the local culture and language and started learning Russian, since the language was dominant in his region.

“I became the worst Russian student the Peace Corps ever had,” he joked.

Although some volunteers rent their own apartments, LaPlante continued to live with local families, staying with three in total. He was assigned to work at a language school, where he was surprised to find that there were already experienced teachers of English as a second language. LaPlante’s role would be to visit classes and converse with students to encourage them to open up.

The experience was not all just work, of course. LaPlante frequently visited a local library, eventually convincing them to start digitizing some of their extensive collections. He was amazed with the beauty of Kiev, describing it as on par with Paris. And, after accruing some vacation time offered by the Peace Corps, he met his wife at a convenient halfway point—in Shanghai.

LaPlante’s service ended in December of 2009. When he and the other volunteers returned home, their group had shrunk to 56, as several people had left their commitment for various reasons. LaPlante said this helped contribute to the most rewarding part of the experience: the sense of pride.

“It’s a very challenging thing, and I got through it,” he said.


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