Lacey reflects on time in Peace Corps

CARBONDALE - Ella Phillips Lacey didn't retire as a community health educator. Instead, she broadened her emphasis to include the whole world.

Lacey, 66, recently received the President's Volunteer Service Award for her service in the Peace Corps.

A retired health education professor from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Lacey has dedicated the last decade of her life to helping others.

Although Lacey was honored for her aggressive work with polio eradication over the last seven years, it was her period in the Peace Corps that really began a strong pattern of service to others.

Lacey's two-year Peace Corps stint from 1995 to 1997 placed her in Malawi, Africa, as a child survival specialist.

Her responsibility was to ensure children could make it past the age of 5 without falling prey to malaria, malnutrition or measles.

Lacey arrived in Malawi on her 55th birthday. She discovered that the country is a startling mix of contrasts.

She spoke of beautiful Lake Malawi, which makes up 20 percent of the country's land. Poverty is another prominent fixture of the country, and one that is difficult to reconcile with what she described as "breathtaking natural beauty."

"There are some people who didn't wear shoes because they didn't have shoes, or they wear torn and tattered clothes because that's the only garment they have," Lacey said. "The poverty was such a striking contrast to the beauty."

Although Lacey was a sole volunteer in her particular health clinic, she was one of 96 Peace Corps volunteers who were stationed in Malawi. She describes the experience as life-changing, but there were times that being one person in a country of such poverty was overwhelming.

"There are days you feel like, 'What can you really accomplish?'" Lacey said. "There are others days that you can think, 'Wow, I'm really doing something here.'"

Christine Torres, public affairs specialist for the Chicago Regional Office of the Peace Corps, said Lacey is a good example of an older volunteer contributing immensely to the global cause.

"She's keeping that spirit of volunteerism alive and inspiring those around you to do the same," Torres said.

Since retiring from the Peace Corps, Lacey has spent her time working with Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP), an organization dedicated to eradicating the threat of polio.

She has traveled to Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sierra Leone and several times to India to educate about the importance of the polio vaccine.

Age restrictions by the World Health Organization will prevent Lacey from heading back into the field as a polio worker, but she's researching other options for service.

She hopes to go to Tanzania to work with women on economic development, but she's not ruling out any options. A second stint in the Peace Corps Crisis Corps is another option she's researching.

Lacey is also active in Southern Illinois, lending her considerable talents to Rotary, Delta Sigma Theta and the "I Can Read" program.

Going into the Peace Corps is a decision she doesn't regret, but she said it's not one that should be made lightly.

"A person has to look within themselves to see if they have that to give," Lacey said. "If they can give up their home and their home base and say yes to that, it's one of the greatest experiences they can have."