TWO years?!?
That will be quite an... experience.
Will you have internet?
Will you have enough food to eat?
Don't get married.
Don't get kidnapped.
Don't die.
These are some of the most amusing responses that I've gotten when I say that I'm going to serve in the Peace Corps as an English Education Volunteer for two years in Ethiopia.
The reality, though, is that more often the question I'm asked is,
"What made you decide to join?"
For some reason it is absolutely the hardest question to answer, and it's probably because answering it honestly makes me sound like a brochure. I'm going to go ahead and give it my first attempt at an honest-to-goodness answer anyway, though.
It ends up being two-fold:
1. Giving: I wanted to give of myself in the most complete and humble way possible, and the Peace Corps mission is designed to help me do just that, in a way that no other organization I've found allows me to do. Part One of the Peace Corps mission is: "Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women."* That's me, a (soon-to-be) trained woman, answering a call to service! I was drawn to that undercurrent of answering a call, which helped me feel less like a tool of neo-colonialism. I was also drawn to the emphasis the Peace Corps places on helping members of a host community find and implement solutions that are sustainable. In other words, solutions they can finance and maintain without the presence of a Peace Corps Volunteer. In that way I would act as a facilitator, rather than as an all-knowing American with handouts. That is what impelled me to join the Peace Corps: I had found an organization whose ideals I admired and believed in, and I wanted to be a part of it!
2. Getting: I wanted to go out into the world and prove myself worthy; to live immersed in another culture, learn a language, and maybe even find a focus for my future. After going on a study abroad to India for two months in 2009, I caught a glimpse of how living in another country, immersed in their culture and trying to pick up the language, can open your worldview and give you empathy for the problems they face and wonder at the beauty of their triumphs. It also gives you a chance to see your own culture and country in a completely new light, once you understand that it's just one way of doing things, and not necessarily the right way. I absolutely loved it, and wanted more. Much more.
*http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=about.mission
That will be quite an... experience.
Will you have internet?
Will you have enough food to eat?
Don't get married.
Don't get kidnapped.
Don't die.
These are some of the most amusing responses that I've gotten when I say that I'm going to serve in the Peace Corps as an English Education Volunteer for two years in Ethiopia.
The reality, though, is that more often the question I'm asked is,
"What made you decide to join?"
For some reason it is absolutely the hardest question to answer, and it's probably because answering it honestly makes me sound like a brochure. I'm going to go ahead and give it my first attempt at an honest-to-goodness answer anyway, though.
It ends up being two-fold:
1. Giving: I wanted to give of myself in the most complete and humble way possible, and the Peace Corps mission is designed to help me do just that, in a way that no other organization I've found allows me to do. Part One of the Peace Corps mission is: "Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women."* That's me, a (soon-to-be) trained woman, answering a call to service! I was drawn to that undercurrent of answering a call, which helped me feel less like a tool of neo-colonialism. I was also drawn to the emphasis the Peace Corps places on helping members of a host community find and implement solutions that are sustainable. In other words, solutions they can finance and maintain without the presence of a Peace Corps Volunteer. In that way I would act as a facilitator, rather than as an all-knowing American with handouts. That is what impelled me to join the Peace Corps: I had found an organization whose ideals I admired and believed in, and I wanted to be a part of it!
2. Getting: I wanted to go out into the world and prove myself worthy; to live immersed in another culture, learn a language, and maybe even find a focus for my future. After going on a study abroad to India for two months in 2009, I caught a glimpse of how living in another country, immersed in their culture and trying to pick up the language, can open your worldview and give you empathy for the problems they face and wonder at the beauty of their triumphs. It also gives you a chance to see your own culture and country in a completely new light, once you understand that it's just one way of doing things, and not necessarily the right way. I absolutely loved it, and wanted more. Much more.
*http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=about.mission
