Tony Gasbarro is a double-dipper. He got so much satisfaction out of being a Peace Corps volunteer, he decided to do it again.
"My first Peace Corps experience was positive, but the second time, with 35 years behind me, my assignment fit me like a glove," Gasbarro said.
His first stint was in the Dominican Republic as a forestry advisor in 1962 - 1964, right after graduating from college. He went on to a lengthy career and ended up with the Cooperative Extension Service in Fairbanks as associate professor of forestry extension. When he retired in 1996 after 23 years at UAF, he signed up for Peace Corps service again.
His second tour of duty was in La Montañona, a village high in the mountains of El Salvador. Gasbarro worked with villagers to put a forest management plan into action and harvest trees to generate income without destroying the forest. He also assisted in the local school and helped community members encourage tourism in the area.
UAF alumni featured in this story: Larry Duffy, '72, '77; Tony Gasbarro, '79; Erin Kelly, '09
Comments
Mark Stopha
September 30, 2009 10:47 AM
Nice article on the Peace Corps in the Aurora this last issue. I just returned from a trip to Mali on a Winrock International short-term volunteer assignment on the Niger River working with fish agents on fish quality. It's been a 20+ year hiatus to West Africa since my Peace Corps assignment in Sierra Leone. Great to go back.
It was great to see the Alaska legislature re-instate Peace Corps as a "legal absence" for the permanent fund. I don't know what could be a better work or life experience than to encourage Alaskans to participate in the Peace Corps and bring some outside views back to the state. It's truly a chance of a lifetime and I encourage everyone I can to take advantage of the privilege. You can't buy a Peace Corps experience, no matter how much money you have.
Mali showed me things can get better. I particularly noticed how healthy the kids were, and I think that's due to the availability of good, safe water - things we take for granted in most of Alaska and the U.S. Such a simple thing but the basis for health and productivity and well being. Quite a change from 20 years ago, too. Electricity, good roads, cell phones, internet, and motorcycles were commonplace everywhere I went. It appears that Mali leaders chose to put their money into infrastructure, rather than keeping it for themselves as happens in other places.