Summing up the Peace Corps Experience

Well, we’re getting down to it – only six days until my COS (“close of service” – gotta love Peace Corps’ obsession with acronyms). I dedicated two years of my life to this experience, so I’ve been doing lots of reflecting this month.

Most importantly, would I do it again? Yes and no. If I were able to go back in time and talk to myself two years ago, I would absolutely say “YES!” But looking ahead, I don’t want to do Peace Corps for a second time in my life – two years is just too long.

The best part of my experience was undoubtedly been building relationships with the kids in my host family and at school. I’ve gotten to watch babies learn how to walk, students graduate from high school, elementary school, and ECE (the equivalent of Kindergarten), plus lots of goofy dancing and singing. I don’t think I would have made it through without the kids – I relied on their smiles and laughter when I was struggling.

And to be honest, I struggled a lot. I don’t remember how many times I went down to the river to cry. I was frustrated almost daily at school dealing with cross-cultural attitudes to teaching, treatment of children, work ethic, etc. I missed home and never really found a way to discuss my feelings in a meaningful or deep way with my host family (I relied on my fellow volunteers for that). I confronted aspects of the culture that were truly horrifying to me, and came to truly appreciate America’s gender roles and attitudes. I survived some very unpleasant illnesses (and even got a free trip to Thailand as a reward for my suffering, he he).

Overall, though, it was a positive and life-changing experience (sorry for the cliché). Like many volunteers, I think I got much more out of it than I was able to give to my community. I think it’s an inevitable paradox of volunteering.

Also like many volunteers, I am constantly questioning whether or not I made a difference. Once again, I think the answer is both yes and no. I know that I had an impact on my students. Over the two years, they improved their English and, more importantly, they developed their abilities to think critically and express themselves creatively. The 8^th graders that participated in GLOW and BoyzIIMen camps learned the skills that will hopefully help them transition to healthy, respectful, confident adults. Some students started reading for pleasure and others gained a concept of world geography from our Magic Tree House/World Map project.

But helping my students was only half of my task in Micronesia. Peace Corps’ larger goal is SUSTAINABILITY, meaning that, after I leave, the progress will continue from co-teaching and “skills transfer” (Peace Corps’ favorite phrase). In that sense, I don’t know if my work will prove at all sustainable. It depends on what the teachers choose to do when I leave. One of the other volunteers described it well – we are only the catalysts for change, but the actual change is up to other people. I am very lucky that my school is receiving a new Peace Corps volunteer in August, so the progress will continue for at least another two years!