Judy Herman

I had been the director of my community’s art center in Pennsylvania for 25 years. When I retired at 64, I knew I wanted to work directly with people who needed help, rather than those who had the resources to help themselves. I no longer wanted to be in charge, but rather wanted to work more in the “trenches.”

The project I have been most involved with was called “Friends Across Cultures” organized by the Intergenerational Center of Temple University.  It was a volunteer program working with Burmese women refugees in Philadelphia. While schools were assimilating their children and their husbands were going to work, the Burmese women were on their own to find their way.

As part of a group of volunteers (all women), I met with the women once a week to help them understand their new environment, and all the experiences that challenged them, such as transportation, schools, holidays being celebrated, medical services, supermarkets and all that was new and strange. While we incorporated some basic English, we were also demonstrating, role-playing and taking field trips around the neighborhood. Finally, we were trying to befriend them and make them feel comfortable with us.

Burmese women are shy and never want to cross you. They called us “teacher” and always agreed with us. While teaching them that in hospitals, schools, etc., they were entitled to an interpreter, we learned how hard it was for them to say “No.” We ended up practicing the sentence. “No, I need an interpreter.” As each woman tried it with her own inflection, they found it very amusing.

I have accompanied one woman to make a doctor’s appointment, called landlords and pestered the gas company when a household had no heat. I have taken moms and their kids to enroll in art classes, introducing them to something totally new. While the second year of the program brought us all much closer together, the bridge has not yet been totally crossed.

My encore has helped me move into retirement and experience the kind of social-service work that invigorates me. The world needs to realize that older workers are very young, with lots of acquired experiences and wisdom. My advice to those contemplating an encore, not just retirement, is: “Just do it.”