Feb. 25, 2010
Celebrate Peace Corps week March 1-7
When I learned that Peace Corps was sending me to Benin for the next two years of my life, I was at first excited (I had waited nine months for the invite) and then confused (where was Benin anyway?)
As it turns out, Benin is in West Africa, sandwiched between Nigeria and Togo. I had no idea that it would be the site of the best experiences in my life, thus far.
I arrived in Benin with basic French and two big suitcases full of things I thought I would need. There were 19 TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers and we clung to each other during the two years for support and English conversation.
I taught English at a middle school in a small village. I had 75 students in classrooms without doors, windows or electricity. I used an outhouse for a bathroom, a bucket for showering, and a basin for washing clothes. A well provided me with water, and a gas stove was the means of rendering it potable. All these elements baffled my family and friends back home. "How do you survive?" they asked.
I fell in love with Benin and the simple life I led without TV and Internet. I cherish the opportunities I had to get to know the culture and people. I left with my two big suitcases full of odd souvenirs. Nothing I had brought survived the tropical climate of West Africa. Nothing, that is, except for me.
—Nicole Coppinger
Winter Springs
No access to spirituality
Older people do not have access to religion when they need it the most. Whereas Christian residents of nursing and assisted living facilities can attend weekly chapel services, Jewish residents are unlikely to receive any religious opportunities. When they want to pray or discuss religious issues who can they turn to? They may be facing life and death issues or grappling with relationships gone awry, personal secrets and other issues related to the latter stages of life.
In the Jewish community, few people who have been members of a congregation throughout their lives continue their membership payments while living in long-term care facilities. As a result, they are unlikely to receive visits from the rabbi or the Social Action Committee. In many cases, they feel totally abandoned by the Jewish community.
The Jewish Pavilion offers a unique service to our elders living in nursing facilities. Pavilion staff and volunteers visit 300 Jewish seniors in the Orlando area who reside in 44 long-term care facilities. The agency also provides intergenerational musical celebrations, holiday and Sabbath festivities for residents of all faiths.
What is so exciting about the Jewish Pavilion's outreach efforts is that seniors are served no matter where they reside. Other faith communities could easily adopt this model of care. Because volunteers provide the bulk of the service, it is a very inexpensive way to enhance the lives of thousands of our elders. Visit www.jewishpavilion.org for more information.
—Nancy Ludin, Jewish Pavilion executive director
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