Some older people never lose their thirst for adventure. Even with pensions in hand, grandchildren to spoil and the freedom to pursue personal interests, they crave the challenge of meaningful work in foreign lands -- often under primitive living conditions.
Sally and John Mincks sold their Fresno, Calif., home so they could spend two years in a Panamanian mountain house without electricity or running water. Winifred Huff of Clovis, Calif., traded her apartment for a house without walls in Samoa. And Karen and Allen Goodman of Fresno traveled to Bulgaria, where they lived in a dilapidated apartment with a water heater that others told them might explode.
The Goodmans, Huff and the Minckses are part of a growing contingent of Americans who are joining the Peace Corps later in life. All served as members of the agency's 50 Plus program, which puts the skills and life experiences of people older than 50 to work in countries seeking Peace Corps volunteers.
According to the Peace Corps Web site, one of every 20 volunteers these days is over 50. Many are retired, and others are signing up to rejuvenate their lives with a midcareer change of pace.
John Mincks, 64, had retired from the U.S. Forest Service when he joined the Peace Corps six years ago.
"I've always been fascinated with the idea of learning about other cultures," he said. "Life had been good, and I thought it was time to give something back to others."
The Peace Corps was created in 1961 to assist developing countries. American volunteers, primarily college students or recent graduates in the agency's early years, were sent overseas to be good neighbors and share their skills in fields such as education, agriculture, health, technology and community development.
The two-year commitment, which then as now requires volunteers to speak the language of the host country and live on an economic level comparable to the people, has been seen as a way to do something good for others while helping to improve the image of the United States.
That spirit of self-sacrifice appealed to the Minckses, who wanted something more than a leisurely retirement lifestyle in their golden years.
"John has always been an adventurer," said Sally Mincks, 65, a retired psychotherapist. "Joining the Peace Corps was something we both thought we would like to do."
The couple accepted an assignment to work with the people of La Martillada, a mountain village of about 300 in central Panama. Sally Mincks worked as a counselor in the village grade school; John led the effort to build a new community center and helped area farmers learn better ways to grow rice and coffee.
The village had no electricity or running water. Its only connection to the outside world was a dirt road that was impassable during periods of heavy rain.
"We washed clothes by hand and did our reading by a kerosene light," Sally Mincks said. "We didn't go out when it got dark because there were poisonous snakes all over. I kept a flashlight under my pillow in case I had to get up at night."
To avoid illness, drinking water had to be filtered and treated with chlorine. An ice chest served as a refrigerator. Every three or four days, the Minckses bought a 50-pound sack of ice, which was hauled to the village on a small bus that made four daily round-trips between the village and the nearest town, which was about an hour away.
The villagers ate a lot of rice and lentils, plus some chicken and vegetables. Those who were able to find work earned about $5 a day in the fields.
Despite the Third-World living conditions, the Minckses enjoyed life in La Martillada.
"The people were very nice and worked hard," John Mincks said.
They also were appreciative and eager to learn. When John Mincks organized a coffee-growing seminar, farmers from as far as 10 miles away walked to the village to participate.
Living and working with people from other countries is one of the best ways to learn about a different culture, said Huff, 71, who taught accounting in a private school in Samoa for the Peace Corps from 1988 to 1990.
"I was 52 at the time and was working as a bookkeeper for a Fresno radio station," she said. "I was tired of the routine and decided to take some time off to do something different."
Although she wasn't sure the Peace Corps could use her skills, Huff applied for a position and was sent to the South Pacific.
"I taught at a Catholic girls' high school and lived in a compound with a group of New Zealand sisters," she said.
Daily temperatures in Samoa, about 1,800 miles northeast of New Zealand, are in the 90s year-round. Huff's house, which she shared with three other volunteers, had no walls. But it did have blinds that could be lowered to keep out rain and provide privacy when needed.
The Peace Corps requires a 27-month commitment from its volunteers. The first three months are devoted to preparation.
"The training is pretty rigorous but very worthwhile," Huff said.
Volunteers learn about the culture and language of the country where they will be serving. They also live with host families during training to gain additional language practice and cultural insights.
Once on assignment, the volunteers focus on areas of need that have been identified by their host communities.
The Goodmans introduced economic development ideas and a spirit of volunteerism to Veliki Preslav, a town of about 10,000 in northeastern Bulgaria.
"When I retired 10 years ago, I wanted to live overseas in a place where I could be part of the scenery, not just a tourist," said Allen Goodman, 69, former city manager for Lemoore and Clovis. "I was a community development consultant, and Karen worked with ecology projects and orphanages."
Although volunteerism is taken for granted in America, it was a new concept to the Bulgarians, who were moving from a closed society to a more open one when the Goodmans arrived.
"They were used to being forced to volunteer under communism," said Karen Goodman, 68, a retired real estate broker.
Karen Goodman organized Earth Day activities and encouraged people to get involved in community work. Allen Goodman offered suggestions on how to enhance tourism and create organizational strategies -- such as service clubs -- for getting things done.
The Goodmans were initially greeted with suspicion.
"The people didn't believe we'd stay for two years," Karen Goodman said. "And they couldn't believe we were doing this on our own."