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Alumni Spotlight Spring/Summer 2010
Linda Nelson Ayer '54 Don't Sit Back in Your Rocking Chair!
Take it from Linda Nelson Ayer ’54. There’s always more to experience and more good to be done, even beyond retirement.
Linda, who grew up in Palermo with her sister Mary Lou Nelson Noyes ’53 and brother Douglas Nelson ’60 (D), decided to go into nursing after her graduation from Erskine. She trained to be a Registered Nurse at Eastern Maine General  Hospital in Bangor and then took her first job at the Sisters Hospital in Waterville (now St. Joseph Nursing and Hospital). Later she worked at Togus and then married Richard Ayer. It wasn’t long before their thirst for adventure resulted in a cross-country drive to California, but after two years they chose to move back to Maine to raise a family.
While their kids were growing up, Linda worked part time and her husband worked for the State. They even ran an ice cream stand during the summers and built the Chelsea Market (still in business), which they owned for ten years. Alas, the marriage ended and Linda went back to full-time work at Maine General in Augusta. She also worked for the State in the nursing licensing and certification program and then retired in 1998 … at least, that was the plan.
At the same time as her retirement, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She headed to Florida to recuperate from the treatment but didn’t care for the lifestyle, so she came back to Maine and began to work again. Then she retired—again. Retirement, however, found her longing to do more. She had always thought about getting into the Peace Corps, believing that it’s best to help rather than to fight. So she started an application, but when her cancer returned in 2001, she set it aside and underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. In 2004, she retired—again.
 It was not surprising when a former coworker asked if she would consider working—again. This time she said no, but thought that if she was still good enough to be asked to work again, she’d be good enough to work in the Peace Corps. So she got another application, submitted it, and after surviving the 14-month-long interview, investigation, medical, dental, and finger-printing process, she was approved to join the Peace Corps and begin her training.
On January 27, 2008, she flew from Portland to Philadelphia to meet the other trainees. There were only four others over fifty years old (one New Hampshire woman was actually six months older than Linda). Most, however, were just out of college and much better able to withstand the grueling travel from New York to Frankfurt, Germany, then to Johannesburg, South Africa, and the final three-hour bus ride to her assignment.
Her first nine days were spent on a college campus for re-acclimation and cultural training. Because she had requested an assignment to sub-Saharan Africa to work with AIDS patients, she was then moved to a two-month training program, where she stayed with a host family who spoke Sepedi language in addition to English. Meanwhile, she was learning Zulu language and culture. It was intense training and being a student again was not easy. Finally, she received her actual assignment and was stationed near the Indian Ocean. She was very lucky to live in a house with all the amenities—hot and cold water, TV, and kitchen. Others were not so lucky. She had a roommate for six months and sometimes other students (German and Dutch) would come to stay for short periods. The parents of these “kids” were always happy when they learned their children would be staying with an “older” woman.
Her assignment was to work for an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called the Home-Based Care Program, serving people whose lives had been affected by AIDS. In the Home Based Care Program, there is no direct medical care given and staff members have very little medical training. In fact, only one other person in her group was an R.N. Instead, the program focuses on capacity-building and social support. Because Peace Corps workers are not allowed to drive cars as part of their work assignment, she had a “chauffeur” (who was also the program’s coordinator) to drive her to visit clients. She also rode the “khombi”—a 15-person van/bus that provides transport between townships.
In addition to her main assignment as a Peace Corp volunteer, Linda was required to take on two other assignments. She taught computer classes to a few young children ages seven to ten and ran a little store that sold things townspeople made, such as simple bead jewelry and candles (an Income Building Program). Also, she spent time informally with neighborhood children and their friends, sort of as a babysitter. They particularly loved the peanut butter and cracker treats she made for them.
One especially fond memory was of a 38-year-old man with AIDS and tuberculosis. At 6’2”, he was too tall for his borrowed crutches, so he had stayed in bed for nearly a year and could no longer stand. Linda took him to get a walker and then helped him get his first ever identification card so that he could receive disability. Before she left at the end of her assignment, she happened to meet him out walking to a “tuck shop” (little store), and he was doing much better.
Linda’s assignment ended 26 months after it began. On March 29, 2010, she flew home (19 hours), having used her Peace Corps stipend to purchase a business class seat so that she could sleep on the plane. Her daughter was there at Logan to welcome her.
What will Linda do next? Take the summer off! Then she will do more volunteering, probably with Senior Spectrum. She’ll enjoy the pleasures of owning her own home again (except for dealing with the broken lawn mower and kitchen stove, etc.). Meanwhile, she’ll continue to share her Peace Corps experience at various functions and organizations, and she encourages those who are interested in the Peace Corps to contact her at her at lindaayer@gmail.com.
Her parting comments were: if you want to expand your life experience, give Peace Corps a serious thought. It’s very rewarding! Don’t stop just because you are older. You can always learn and experience more. Get to know another culture and its people. Don’t sit back in your rocking chair if you’re not ready to. Go do it!
© 2007 Erskine Academy
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