THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408090140
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER
LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
THE TIME IS now for Anna Prow, a former Smithfield High School English and journalism teacher.
It's time to stop teaching and start learning.
It's time to travel and grow personally.
It's time to test herself with things she's never done.
And as Prow, 28, packed up her teaching materials at Smithfield High School not long ago, a new episode of her life was leading her toward those goals.
It begins in 10 days, when she leaves with the Peace Corps for a two-year stint on Madagascar, an island slightly smaller than Texas, just off the east coast of Africa.
``This is something I've been considering since college,'' she said. ``And now is the time because I can go. I can do it. I can scratch my itches,'' she said.
First, Prow will get 12 weeks of training in the Malagasy language and culture at Antananarivo, the capital and and largest city in Madagascar.
Once her training is completed, she will be sent to a permanent location to serve as a teacher trainer, teaching English to adults.
Prow said when she applied with the Peace Corps in February 1993, she was almost assured a spot with the 27-member team because she was applying for a teacher-trainer position, a position that few ask for.
Prow said she wanted the position because she felt it could only make her a better teacher.
``I had already taught kids for six years, and I felt the experience could only help me grow.
``And I wanted to work with adults, to see the difference, and get a pulse on those learners,'' she said.
Prow said each Peace Corps mission has three goals. First, that workers learn another culture. Second, that people from other countries can learn about Americans and finally, to help the people meet manpower needs.
``I like the concept of serving in a global capacity. My family has always been very service-oriented. But, I needed to figure out this place first - my role as an American. Now I'm ready to figure out my global role.
``Now I can look at us from afar. It's my patriotism that makes me want to do this. I'll only be gone two years. I'm not abandoning my country. I'm working with an American group abroad,'' she said.
At first, Prow said she had been assigned to the Caribbean. Not a place she really wanted to go, but would, if that's where she was needed, she said.
Later, she was reassigned to Madagascar.
``I realized that if I went there, to Madagascar, that I would not be seeing my friends or family for two years. That this would be a real commitment.''
Prow is single and has been living with her parents in York County while teaching in Smithfield.
Prow said she hopes the experience will allow her to meet new friends, discover her strengths and weaknesses and help her become more grounded in her beliefs about life.
It should also give her a chance to recharge her mental and internal batteries, she said.
``I am at my peak right now,'' she said. ``I feel good about teaching. All of that should refill me, and give me what I need to come back and be an even better teacher,'' she said.
Prow said she hopes to return to Smithfield High School once she completes her two years in Madagascar.
``It's hard to leave a life that you're so immersed in. I've had six years of the real world. I had financial obligations - a college loan, car payments, a condo in Newport News.
``And I had to be totally debt-free before I left because I won't be making an income,'' she said.
Prow said the trip has been in the planning stages for so long that she's even let her hair grow out, thinking it would be easier to keep it pulled up than wear it short.
And then there were the small matters that had to be taken care of, like finding someone who could care for her cat for two years, she said.
This week, she's been juggling the contents of two suitcases that are limited to a total of 80 pounds.
That's not much when you're packing for two years, she said. Prow has clothes packed for four different climates, because Madagascar has four different climates and she's not sure where her permanent residence will be.
Also tucked away are items like a tape recorder and tapes, a manual typewriter, paper products, batteries and other odds and ends.
``It's a lot more primitive than it is here. They have a very simple diet. There's lots of fish. They have very exotic fruits - some don't even have an American name.''
But Prow said she's not worried about any physical discomfort she might experience. And politically, Madagascar is very stable. The people are a very relaxed nation, she said.
``But it's going to be very hard to leave my friends and family,'' she continued. ``And that is the unknown factor, emotionally. But, there's nothing I can do about it. I know that I'll miss them. I'll ache for them the whole time I'm gone.''
But, if it weren't the Peace Corps, Prow said it would be something or somewhere else - maybe a one-year trip across Europe.
``I've had to juggle every aspect of my life to finally make this happen. It's nice to finally know that everything is ready.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Bryan Brown helps his aunt Anna Prow pack her bags for her trip to
Madagascar.[color cover photo]
Anna Prow, who is joining the Peace Corps, says ``This is something
I've been considering since college. And now is the time . . . I
can scratch my itches.''
Smithfield to Madagascar
The trip is approximately 8,700 miles.
MADAGASCAR
Name: Democratic Republic of Madagascar
History: French colonial rule began in 1896; became independent
in 1960; coup in 1972; in 1990, after 20 years of Marxism, ban was
lifted on opposition parties
Government: Republic, strong presidential authority; president
and prime minister; 6 provinces;
National budget: $525 million in 1990
Capital: Antananarivo
Area: 226,658 square miles, or 587,041 square kilometers
Population: 12,185,000
Ethnic groups: 18 Mayalan-Indonesian tribes, Arab, African
Language: French, Malagasy
Religion: animism 52 percent; Christian, 41 percent; Moslem, 7
percent
Literacy: 53 percent
Life expectancy: 55 years
Per capita income: $230 annually
Monetary unit: franc
Industries: Food processing, petroleum products, cement,
textiles, fertilizers, chemicals; tourism brought in $28 million in
1989
Food crops: Rice, cassava, fish, livestock, bananas
Imports: $436 million in 1990; France has 32 percent; U.S. 15
percent
Exports: $290 in 1990; France took in 34 percent; U.S. took in 14
percent; main products: coffee (over 50 percent of total exports),
cloves, vanilla, sugar, sisal, tobacco, peanuts
Transportation: as of 1989, there were 27,000 passenger cars;
20,000 commercial vehicles; 52 airports with scheduled flights; 549
miles of railroad track in 1989;
Other statistics: 1 television set per 92 persons, 1 radio per 8
persons; 1 telephone per 239 persons;
Sources: National Geographic Atlas of the World; The World
Almanac.
by CNB