Norwood Peace Corps Returnee John A. Ahearn Recalls Dominican Republic Service and Grassroots Co-Op Development-October 6, 1964

“These people do all the work. If we ran things, as soon as we left, they might go to pieces. But the most important part of our work is teaching the people to think differently. They have been thinking the same way for 400 years,” reflects John A. Ahearn of 33 Rock Street, Norwood.

At just 24 years of age, Ahearn has returned to his hometown after serving an intensive 18-month enlistment in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

A Rocky Welcome and Early Challenges in Moca

Ahearn, an economics major who graduated from Boston College and was engaged in graduate studies when he accepted the call, had originally chosen the Dominican Republic as his top assignment preference. However, his introduction to the Caribbean island in February 1963 was far from gentle.

“When we arrived in February of 1963, there were people throwing rocks at us,” Ahearn recalled. “The last time they had seen Americans was during an invasion by Marines thirty years ago. I guess they figured we were going to be like those Marines.”

Despite the initial hostility, Ahearn and his fellow volunteers quickly won over the local population. When they arrived in Moca, located in the northern part of the island, residents were processing animal feed by hand-grinding corn for local hogs. Through the establishment of a feed cooperative and a modern consumer supermarket—only the second supermarket on the entire island and the first in the region—volunteers introduced modern pricing and merchandising methods.

The cooperative experienced explosive growth. From modest beginnings, the enterprise generated gross revenues of $1,000 within two weeks, scaled to $100,000 the previous year, and projected $250,000 for the current year.

The tremendous economic disruption caused local merchants—who had previously profited by 20 to 100 percent margins—to launch whispering campaigns branding the volunteers as Communists who were robbing the people. Nevertheless, the cooperative persevered, returning all profits back to its members at the end of the fiscal year.

Training and Peace Corps Philosophy

Ahearn’s preparation for the assignment began with a rigorous two-month training program at Putney, Vermont, where volunteers studied Spanish, co-operative history, Latin American affairs, and U.S. foreign policy. This was followed by three weeks of physical conditioning, climate acclimatization, and further language training in Puerto Rico.

A core tenet of the Peace Corps training emphasized grassroots empowerment rather than external direction. “We offer suggestions,” Ahearn explained. “We’ve found that, just as in many other cases, if a person thinks something is his idea, he’ll work at it much harder.”

Education and Community Impact

Beyond his economic development work, Ahearn maintained a punishing daily schedule that often ran from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. He taught English to a class of 70 Dominicans—a skill highly prized on the island—and served as an instructor at the Central American School for Economics, lecturing on the history of co-operatives and labor policy. Two of his former students are now in charge of cooperative districts covering roughly half the country.

Ahearn also observed the profound social and religious shifts occurring across Latin America, noting the revitalizing influence of the Roman Catholic Church against communist inroads. He highlighted the impact of a local chapel donated by Boston’s Richard Cardinal Cushing, pointing out that $1,000 could construct an entire church in Latin America compared to minor parish alterations in the United States. He also noted the success of the Cursillo renewal movement, which brought even former critics of the church into active spiritual life.

Reflecting on why a young man volunteers two years of his life to the Peace Corps, Ahearn concluded: “There’s a lot of idealism, but also a lot of realism. For me, the economic area was particularly interesting. Where else would I have had a chance at the age of 22 to set up a business of the size we did? Besides, I’m going to write my master’s thesis on development in the Dominican Republic. But… you really have to want to help those people to do it.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger