What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever been away from home? A couple of weeks, perhaps? Maybe a month or two, or even a semester?

How about two years? (“What?!” you say, “I’ll get homesick!!”) Even better, these two years will be spent in a far away and exotic land. (“No way!!” you say now, “I’m not giving up real food and my soaps!”)

Well, consider the fact that these two years will be spent improving the living conditions for the people who live in countries such as Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Zaire, just to name a few. By this time, you’re probably wondering just how you would be accomplishing such beneficial feats.

The answer is through the United States Peace Corps, an organization that was established in 1961, and currently enlists over 6,300 members. Starting in 1990, this organization will begin aiding Hungary, and that marks the 100th nation that has received assistance from the Peace Corps.

Last Thursday, Nov. 9, Peace Corps Representative Dale Meyer hosted a meeting at the Student Center about what the volunteering job actually entails.

According to Meyer, people with B.A. degrees “are the backbone and the majority of the program.” However, jobs in the teaching, health care, math, science, and farming fields are also a big part of the Peace Corps.

Meyer admits that the application procedures for the job are a little complicated and in-depth, and adds that only one in every nine applicants is accepted. This should not discourage potential Peace Corps volunteers, however. If you know that you can work well with people and have one of the afore-mentioned skills, the experience is like no other.

Once an applicant is accepted, he begins an intensive three month training session where he learns the language of the country he is going to, important technical skills and the differences between the U.S. and his host country.

Then, it’s action time. A Peace Corps volunteer receives free air fare to the country he will be working in. At this point, you may be wondering how you get assigned to a specific country. Meyer says that you may make a request about where you’d like to be stationed but asks that your request be logical. “Don’t put down Jamaica just because you like the sun,” he added.

You might also be wondering about how safe you’ll be in the country you go to work in. Meyer said that no Peace Corps member has ever been held hostage or killed in a military coup. If there is sufficient danger, the Peace Corps will remove all volunteers from an area.

Volunteers are also provided with health examinations and vaccines. They will be provided with emergency first aid kits and most countries also have a Peace Corps medical staff. Although the job is called volunteer, each person receives about $5,400 at the end of the two years, and all expenses are taken care of.

At Thursday’s meeting, there were also two NIU staff members who had participated in the Peace Corps program in earlier years. Tim Eastridge, a French professor who served in Niger for 3 and a half years as a construction worker, admitted to being homesick sometimes but said the experience was incredible.

“After a while you forget that you’re American. Sometimes I would go three or four weeks without ever seeing another white face,” Eastridge said. He added that although the environment seemed stark, it was beautiful. “I was very much in touch with nature.”

Bob Ridinger, a librarian at Founder’s Memorial Library agreed with Eastridge in saying that there’s no experience like the Peace Corps. He served in South Africa for three and a half years and got a first-hand education of the apartheid problem. “What you bring back is the capacity to be a practical idealist,” Ridinger said of his years in the program.

Meyer added that “you take a little bit of America to your host country, and you bring a little bit of that country back.” There’s no other experience like it.

There are many more aspects of the Peace Corps that you may have questions about, and if you’re interested, Dale Meyer will be available for interviews today in room 304 of the Holmes Student Center. If you can’t attend, you can write to Meyer at 50 East Washington St., Suite 300, Chicago, IL, 60602, or call (312) 353-4990, (if outside Chicago, call 1-800-621-3670).