David Gurr

Former E&E RPCV board member, David Gurr, passed away February 26, 2020 in New York.  David served in the first group of Ethiopia Peace Corps Volunteers and was in the Georgetown University training group. He was assigned to teach auto mechanics at the Technical School in Addis Ababa, 1962-64, with a short stint at the Point Four School in Asmara.   He served on the board from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. 

He chronicled his Peace Corps experience in a delightful article for Peace Corps Worldwide entitled First Peace Corps Auto Mechanics Instructor .   His country director, Harris Wofford, decided that he was needed to teach auto mechanics rather than an academic subject. Although not technically trained as an auto mechanic, he believed he could teach auto mechanics because he had after all built his own car, included two engines, and had been involved in organized drag racing and sports car racing. How difficult could it be?  Vocational teachers did not receive the training that education volunteers received, but he noted that he and his fellow vocational teachers did take a tour of the US Steel plant in Sparrows Point, Maryland. 

He expected that there would be cultural and language differences, but little did he know that one of his major challenges would be learning the British terms for the various parts of a car, so much so that he devised a glossary of terms that included:  Accumulator (Battery), Commentator (Alternator), Damper (Shock Absorber), Mudguard (Fender), Silencer (Muffler) to name a few. His memories provide a glimpse of the Peace Corps life for those early Volunteers and the students whom they taught.

In addition to his service on the board, he joined a group of RPCVs from Ethiopia and assisted in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Peace Initiative to end the first war of 1998.  This initiative was recognized as a significant factor by the United States Institute for Peace.

This led to the bestowal of the Loret Miller Ruppe Award to the Ethiopia and Eritrea Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in 2002.  The award, named after the widely admired 10^th Director of the Peace Corps, is presented by NPCA to outstanding affiliate groups for projects that promote the Third Goal of Peace Corps or continue to serve host countries, build group spirit and cooperation, and promote service. 

In recognition of the efforts made by these Ethiopia RPCVs, it is stated:

Ethiopia and Eritrea RPCVs (E&E RPCVs) have pursued every opportunity to advance the cause of peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea after a border war erupted in May 1998. Members of the groupﾒs Peace Initiative Committee helped establish a neutral, extra-official channel for the two countries to exchange views and proposals for resolving the conflict. Committee members also called upon the US Congress, the Department of State, the UN, other countries’ diplomatic missions and private organizations.

When progress toward a peaceful resolution reached an impasse in 1998 over administration of the disputed area of Badme, E&E RPCVs proposed sending RPCVs to Badme to serve as neutral custodians. Unfortunately, the Ethiopians wrested Badme from the Eritreans before an offer could be reached.

A group of E&E RPCVs went on a peace-building mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea in June of 1999, meeting with the president of Eritrea and the prime minister of Ethiopia, as well as other senior government officials and important members of the public. During the long search for a peaceful resolution, E&E RPCVs have been held in high regard by leaders and foreign representatives of the two countries.

David was a frequent contributor to The Herald, regaling the reader with his interactions with His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie; Peace Corps Director, Sargent Shriver; and Country Director, Harris Wofford. 

David Gurr, we thank you for your service.

With his wife, Gigi.