A Peace Corps Volunteer Returns from Colombia, by Mark Walker (Guatemala 1971-73)
Tony Banegas and our lifelong commitment to service.
Recently, I met up with my buddy Tony Banegas, who just returned from his Peace Corps service in Colombia. I closed my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Guatemala in 1973, but we weren’t counting. I met Tony when he was at the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), which was set up 15 years ago to provide impact loans to qualifying groups for essential projects to benefit local communities. I was representing Food for the Hungry or MAP International at the time as ACF also funds programs of International groups with a presence in Arizona. Tony was a program officer for 10 years.
As President of the Greater Arizona Association of Fundraising Professionals(AFP), I invited Tony to speak to our group, which represents some 300 not-for-profits, about the resources ACF could provide. We also discussed the broader philanthropic professional fundraising community, as AFP has chapters all over Latin America.
Although a U.S. citizen, Tony was born in Comalapa, Honduras, where he worked on several community-based projects. Years later, he would be named the Honduran Consul to Phoenix, and we worked on several migrant support programs for migrants from Central America.
Tony was an ideal Peace Corps Volunteer, as he already knew the culture and language. He initially faced a steep learning curve, but was a quick learner. He promoted small business development programs and worked out of several schools in rural Colombia. Fortunately, one of the principles of the school was supportive, accessing support and resources from several local and government-level groups.
Tony’s positive experience motivated him to apply for a country director position for the Peace Corps. Unfortunately, after his interview, all hiring was frozen. Tony said that staff had been fired on the office level in Colombia and heard that some volunteer resources on the field level would be restricted.
Not to be daunted, Tony was tapped as the country director of Manna Project International, an NGO working in Nicaragua and Ecuador. The organization aims to build communities of young, talented leaders working in Ecuador and Nicaragua, bringing social change to their poor communities. With support from volunteers and donors they have served over 3,000 community members with programs focusing on education, leadership and economic development. He’ll be working in an isolated part of the jungles of Ecuador off the Napo River. I’ve worked on projects in the area with MAP International to give him a lay of the land.
This is the story of just two Returned Peace Corps volunteers’ impact over the last 50 years, and is worth remembering as the US government dismantles our overseas programs and downsizes the Peace Corps, which has provided many of the motivated and skilled professionals in the academic, diplomatic, and overseas development fields around the world. Spreading good works and goodwill where it’s most needed is not something our country can afford to ignore.
