A Peace Corps Story Jam narrative describes why peeling a banana is a much cheaper way to not only build community but stem and reverse the spread of terrorism, move walls, make friends, and improve economies, while hardly breaking a sweat. Imagine what the world would be like if 21 million Americans peeled these bananas for a generation... And other nations selfishly copied this national service model. Pestered Congress?

::::::::

Three+ decades ago I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the slums of Bombay doing Urban Community Development.

(Click here for Peace Corps Story Jam YouTube narrative from San Francisco's MoJo Theater of this written piece.)

Sometimes us UCDers would feel that we were not achieving much "community development."

To offset that negative feeling I would undertake seemingly little projects that I hoped helped in some small way.

That's how I met Fr. Nelson's boys who taught me a deeper meaning to Breaking Bread and Urban Community Development... by Peeling Half a Banana a day.

**

Father Nelson was the assistant priest at Our Ladies Home Orphanage. The elder priest was his superior, but as far as I could tell did next to nothing but stay in his room. Father Nelson was with the kids 24/7.

I asked Father Nelson if he'd be open to having me teach physical training to the boys. I quickly learned that he hoped that after my trainings, he and I would occasionally share a glass of wine to talk about the world. Since his days were filled 24/7 with orphaned boys talk, he worried about developing an orphaned brain.

**

My last days with Fr Nelson's boys went something like this.

During the last weeks of my service, I took large groups of boys on a little tour.

Although the train was less than mile walk from the orphanage, most of the boys had never ridden it. We took the train to Church Gate railroad station and walked to the waterside tourist attraction called the Gateway of India, adjacent to the majestic and famed Taj Mahal Hotel, attacked by terrorist in 2008.

I got the boys ice cream sandwiches, which I am quite sure was the first they ever had. As we ate the ice cream gathered around an old boat docked near the Gateway of India Arch, I was more surprised to learn that this was the first time the boys had seen the Indian Ocean.

As we started walking back to the train station, we had to pass the Taj Mahal Hotel, so I gave the kids another first. I walked them through a section of the courtyard that cuts through the ritzy hotel.

The boys were scrubbed up and dressed cleanly in their one change of shorts and shirts. They had on their handsome, beautiful, awesome smiles.

Within a couple minutes of our cut-through, as the boys were looking about in awe at the Taj's opulence, a uniformed Indian worker came up and nervously said I must get the boys out. He was not pushy or demanding, but nervous and maybe embarrassed.

My boys could have been his sons.

I told him we were just walking through and would be out in a few minutes. He still seemed nervous and anxious.

Then a fancier dressed, pompous, managerial type came up and in a commanding voice said, "Get the boys out." I don't remember if there were patrons or security looking on. I do remember that I was pissed at what this guy and the Taj Mahal represented to me when stacked next to the boys and the orphanage.

To the big boss manager, in my lyrical but unharmonious voice, I said something like, "Listen Bera Saab, these are the best people you'll have walking through your fancy hotel today or any day. And these kids are walkin' through."

***

Now let me take you to my first day with the boys. It went something like this.

All the boys came out from their classrooms, 90+ as I remember, aged from about 8-18. They gathered on the paved area under part of the building that was open on two sides, where they would eat their meals together.

I tried to get them to line up in order and perform in cadence, like the exacting drill sergeant or good coach wants his team to do to look good. But there was little hope of that happening during our first bedlamistic sessions. Abject failure was I at that -- initially.

"Do you want to do British exercises?" which involved rolling arms and shoulders to build up a meager Bombay sweat, I asked on that first day.

"Or do you want to learn American exercises?"

Jumping and twirling, in their wavingly contagious way, they shouted "American! American! American!!!"

Then I warned them that American exercises would be much harder than the meagerly sweaty British stuff" and demoed push-ups, jumping jacks, knee bends, squat-thrusts, toe-touchers and other football based calisthenics"

With even more jumping, spinning and hilarious impersonations, they shouted "American! American! American!"

**

Thanks to God, Krishna, or the Pope, we had a shaded work out area. But none of those powers had provided us workout equipment" Or had they?

Along with our calisthenics, I soon showed the boys how we could use each other's bodies to push and pull to build strength.

Then I took them to the immovable walls that encased them and showed them how we would lift, push, and move them to get stronger.

**

Each time I came the boys would call out, "Sir, sir" Come see how straight are my push-ups... Come see how I curl the wall... Feel how bigger my muscle are becoming."

Of course, there were other reasons they would "Sir, come see" me.

Like when Pope Paul VI visited and provided about 30% of the school with their first beds. Then it was "Sir, come see my bed."

"Sir, come see my foot locker," laden with their one change of clean clothes -- the shorts and shirts they wore to the Taj.

**

What do first beds, foot lockers, and pushing walls have to do with "Breaking bread?"

It wasn't long before I discovered that for breakfast the boys had half a banana a day along with some kind of porridge.

Once a month for dinner they were treated with a meat portion with their dahl like sauce on rice. No fat to muscle ratio worries with these once-a-month-meat eating smiling kids.

**

Some years later, while comfortably ensconced in the states, I received a letter from one of the boys. He reminded me of who he was and said, "Sir, you will probably not remember me, but I wanted to thank you""

For now this kid was a member of -- which Indian Olympic Team do you think he was part of?

India's Olympic Weightlifting Lifting Team.

**

Peeling half a banana a day, that kid made his way with his friends and himself curling, pressing, and moving immovable walls.

Dirty Harry never had a better "Made Day" than mine that day.

A LOT more Americans should have the chance to break bread or peel half a banana with good people who move walls. And more often we ought to help them do it.

That's why I hope that after viewing this you will google People's Lobby's "American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal," a citizens initiated proposal that would dramatically grow the Peace Corps and other do good organizations at a time when America, and most other nations in the world, needs to develop a ROBUST peaceful national service program that fields a million Americans a year.

If we want to check the spread of and deal with the after effects of climate change, refugees, terroristic thinking, while producing fewer battles for our soldiers to bleed in, put more American sandals on the ground.

**

By the way, in 2000 I revisited the orphanage and took pictures of smiling, waving boys. I recently stacked them next to the orphans' pictures from decades ago.

God or some fifth dimension is playing me" because those are the same happy faces in 2000 that I photoed decades back.

After snapping photos of those boys, the smiling grown man who had been standing off to the side, came up and said, "Sir, you probably don't remember me but... "

One of the boys in that wild crowd of push-ups doers was now the managing director of a much bigger Our Lady's Home Orphanage.

***

May you peel some bananas or break bread with little smiling people who move walls.

And pester Congress to take a stand on People's Lobby's still unintroduced American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal which, with enough of the public pushing the walls, could be implemented with little or no taxpayers' dollars.

Thanks.

(click here for Peace Corps Story Jam YouTube narrative from San Francisco's MoJo Theater of this written piece.

Authors Website: http://peopleslobby.us/

Authors Bio:

Dwayne served in the Peace Corps in the slums of Mumbai, India, worked several Habitat Projects, and was on the start-up team of the California Conservation Corps. He has a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, has been a builder, teacher, political organizer, small businessman, affordable housing developer, and a rock-piler at Rubel's Castle. Some pics and stories at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

Some story tidbits about his recent well-regarded book about Rubel's Castle are available at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

In 2013 Rubelia was designated a National Historic Monument, right up there with Hearst Castle. CBS clip: Rubel's Castle is on verge of listing on National Registry http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/08/07/rubel-castle-in-glendora-on-the-verge-of-getting-national-historic-recognition/

Dwayne is presently Executive Director of People's Lobby Inc (PLI, 501c4)and People's Lobby's Education Foundation (PLEF, 501c3). You can read PLI's American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal (AWSC) at
http://peopleslobby.us/awsc-congressional-proposal

Rebuilding People'Lobby web site is available at http://peopleslobby.us/

Congresswoman Woolsey (D, CA) offered to introduce it in the 111th Congress, then retracted. Please contact your Congressional reps and ask them to become an original sponsor or cosponsor. The AWSC citizen-initiated congressional proposals could be, with you pushing your representatives, among the most significant legislation passed and implemented in decades. Imagine having 21 million Americans cost effectively doing good at home or abroad over the next 27 years.

In December 2009 Ralph Nader choose People's Lobby's book, "Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary, The Story of Ed & Joyce Koupal's People's Lobby" as one of the Ten Best Books to Read for 2009. You can purchase the book from PeoplesLobby.us or learn more at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/books.

"This country runs on laws. If you want to change the country, write its laws," People's Lobby's founders Ed and Joyce Koupal used to say. If you want to enlighten public policy, involve millions of Americans in addressing public needs, prepare for climate weirding, etc., help make it happen. The AWSC addresses with people action many of our most pressing and costly needs. To sign the reopened American World Service Corps petition/letter, which contacts Congress for you: Paste http://www.change.org/petitions/view/field_21_million_american_world_service_corps_volunteers_over_the_next_27_years
Please help make the AWSC happen. To learn more about People's Lobby, visit the web site at www.Peopleslobby.us.

Recent books both available on line and from publishers: Every Town Needs a Castle (Prelude to next book, Every Country Needs a World Service Corps)
http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia


Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary (Nader's 2009 TopTen Books to Read List)
http://peopleslobby.us/archives/736
Library: http://peopleslobby.us/organizations/peoples-lobby/library