Whenever someone asked when I was going to retire, I said I loved my work at VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) and hoped to work until I was 70. Working until 70 is still my plan. Now, I am moving on to a new volunteer opportunity, following a change of location for my wife.
My wife, Esther is a skilled Occupational Therapist who had her own practice working with children. In April 2015 she learned about an opportunity with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC – a social service and relief organization sponsored by faith communities). She will be an Occupational Therapist working with a local Vietnam nonprofit (VAVA) focused on victims of Agent Orange. In October 2015 we will move together to Vietnam to begin a 3 year assignment in roles similar to Peace Corps Volunteers.
This is not a totally new role or interest. For the last 20 years I was a founding board member and volunteer at the Richmond Ten Thousand Villages (an MCC related program) in Carytown. My master’s degree from Cornell University included International Agriculture and Rural Development in addition to Macro Economics. I used that training with MCC during the six years we worked with tribal villages in the Indonesian part of Borneo.
In the early seventies my wife and I lived in Vietnam for four years as volunteers doing my alternate service as a CO with an MCC related organization. This will feel like a good bookend to my active work life. My role is still being developed but I hope to do some agriculture and computer/GIS related activities for VAVA.