Volunteering and travel go hand in hand; it’s a perfect match in heaven. It’s a chance to leave your comfort zone, head abroad, meet like-minded people, and make a difference while also seeing some beautiful places like Gary Lindberg did.
Although Africa inclines to be talked about as one big, homogeneous country, the landscapes, and people are as diverse as the vast continent. From the desert cities, centuries-old mosques, and ancient intellectual traditions of the North, the West’s colorful cultures and extroverted personalities; to the lush jungles, vast savannas, and untainted reefs and beaches of the East, each region possesses a character uniquely its own.
It’s also a continent with many volunteer opportunities to get involved and is frequently considered a volunteer destination. Volunteers supply labor to produce goods and services for the benefit of others. Volunteer work is significant when social safety nets are thinning, and there are ever-increasing demands on welfare organizations.
Common traits of volunteers can be seen through being hardcore people’s person. Language and cultural differences are never an obstacle for you to kick into a meaningful conversation with a native. You understand the seriousness of what to say, to whom, and when. Another one is you do not fear solo traveling.
Apart from those mentioned, patience is your biggest virtue. Teaching Programs, nurturing people to have better lives, and traveling from one place to another, considering the climate, takes a lot of patience to handle an entire classroom, community, and people. Gary Lindberg is not exempt from that.
About The Book
The Vegetable Grows and the Lion Roars: My Peace Corps Service by Gary Lindberg is a memoir about Peace Corps Volunteers of his experiences in the Ivory Coast, Africa, in the 1960s. This powerful book offers a fascinating glimpse into what being a Peace Corps Volunteer was like. This is a one-of-a-kind memoir. It presents how he decided to apply for the opportunity, how he trained, and the friends he made there. He also shares highlights from his travels on vacation breaks. Get ready for first-hand insight into a truly extraordinary experience!
This memoir combines historical elements with personal vignettes as Gary Lindberg elaborates on his adventures – such as having a broken radiator in the middle of nowhere and how he and his companions got help. In addition, he offers an exciting view of village life and works during a particular project he worked on in a village called Déahouépleu. The text’s accompanying photos illustrate his work, life, and travels.
About The Book
The Vegetable Grows and the Lion Roars: My Peace Corps Service is a memoir about Peace Corps Volunteers by the author Gary Lindberg. It tells his experiences in the Ivory Coast, Africa, in the 1960s. This powerful book offers a fascinating glimpse into what it was like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in the program’s early days. This one-of-a-kind memoir presents how he decided to apply for the opportunity, how he trained, his project, his daily life activities, and the friends he made there. He also shares highlights from his travels on vacation breaks. Get ready for first-hand insight into a truly extraordinary experience!
This memoir combines historical elements with personal vignettes as Gary Lindberg elaborates on his adventures. It narrates events such as having a broken radiator in the middle of nowhere and how he got help. In addition, he offers an exciting view of village life and works during a particular project he worked on in a village called Déahouépleu. The text’s accompanying photos illustrate his work, life, and travels.
About Gary Lindberg
Gary Lindberg was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The author’s parents moved to Santa Maria, California, just before his seventh birthday. There he grew up and attended grade schools up through high school. Gary holds a U.S. History degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Then he volunteered to join the Peace Corps for two and a half years.
He taught primary school students and teachers various techniques in a trial school gardens program in the Ivory Coast in West Africa between Liberia and Ghana. He became fluent in French during that time. After his Peace Corps service, he toured Europe and visited Italy, Germany (including East Berlin, then under Communist control), France, England, and the Netherlands. After he was drafted, he volunteered for the Navy for four years. Next, he went to San Francisco State University and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a concentration in Management and Personnel.
After that, he began his 43-year career as a Human Resources professional for several major companies, including National Gypsum, Celotex, McCormick (spices), Del Monte, Quebecor Printing, and Micro Lithography, Inc. He retired in November 2019 to pursue personal endeavors.
Parting Words
Volunteers give their skills, life experience, time, and expertise to their community. As a result, they provide the opportunity for extended services, enhancing community life through their active participation in the community. One can make a difference by participating in volunteering missions and helping less fortunate people to enjoy the kind of life we have!
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