Returned Peace Corps Volunteers's topics - tribe.net

Peace Corp Questions

Heather — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:51:31 GMT

Hey, my name is Heather. I am thinking of applying to join the Peace Corps. It's either applying to the Peace Corp or Law School, now that I am starting my fifth year of college about to graduate.

I want to go to Law School eventually, but I feel the Peace Corp would be a great opportunity to travel, experience other cultures, and most importantly of all learn first hand about world issues I so far have only had the chance to complain about. I don't want to be a international lawyer who really has no real idea of what's going on in the world, and I don't ever want to be someone who complains about the ways things are but doesn't want to help facilitate change.

Am I being naive? I'd like to hear about everyday bad experiences people have when in the Peace Corp, things recruiters probably won't tell me. How does bureaucracy impact your everyday work on projects? What about sexual harassment? What about threats and being an American in a global arena that has become increasingly hostile to Americans? Did you ever feel your health at risk, and if so what was done about it? Do you feel the Peace Corp met their promises at far as safety, security, and educational opportunities?

I have studied and worked aboard, and I know about the fish-bowl effect. But six months of studying and working aboard is no where near enough to prep one for two years working in a foreign country, truly living in the experiences of the community. That having been said, I appreciate any responses! :)

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 4 replies

Any bad experiences?

ChanelCinq — Thu, 19 May 2005 22:46:36 GMT

I just applied to the Peace Corps and a friend warned me that I should do my homework first. He said that he had heard negative things about the Peace Corps. However I have traveled the earth extensivly and have never, ever met a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) that has disliked what they do. Every PCV has only raved about their ecperience.

Can anyone here shed light on the negative side?

Thank you in advance.

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 14 replies

Cameroon clean water project

brooke118 — Sun, 27 May 2007 19:05:03 GMT

hey all -- my Peace Corps friends are working on building a clean water source in a small village in Cameroon. they are seeking donations :) check it out:

The project will consist of building a reinforced concrete spring box and reservoir on the side of a hill at the source of a natural spring. The water will then be piped down to the village by gravity. This is all for one village of about 400 people who constantly suffer from diarrheal diseases caused by contaminated drinking water. This project will protect their water source and improve the lives of every member of the village. More information can be found at the following website:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=694-081 &

Thanks again for your support!! Take care!!

Lindsey
--
Lindsey Madson, PCV
BP 477
Ebolowa, Cameroon
Africa

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies

Peace Corps in the 21st Century

Dan — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:52:55 GMT

I'm reading these posts and wondering how the PC experience is different 20 years later. I was a volunteer in Honduras from1982 to 1984. I worked in public health (water sanitation and healh ed) in a rural community. I had to travel 5 hours to make an international call home. There were no fast food places then in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and this was 10 years before internet. It was a glorious experience for me but certainly isolating at times.

Fast forward to today. The whole world has internet. I'm told that even the smaller communities in Honduras have fast food places. With internet telephone, it's possible to make phone calls for less than $1 for 5 minutes as opposed to the $20 I would have paid for the same phone call 20 years ago. Plus it seems that hundreds of thousands of Central Americans now have family members living in the US.

So my question to you all is whether it's still possible to feel as isolated today as a PCV as it was in generations past.

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies

Cote d'Ivoire

Geoffrey — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 04:38:31 GMT

Hi,

I'm a RPCV from Cote d'Ivoire 1978-1981 interested in corresponding with any West African volunteers and Africans!

Ca fait plaisir,

Geoff

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 1 reply

RPCV Evacuated from Bangladesh

Maya — Sat, 06 May 2006 02:04:38 GMT

Hello Folks,
I am a recent RPCV... two months and counting... I am sad to say that Peace Corps Bangladesh is now shut down. We were evacuated in March. Its been really traumatic for most of us and there is no real sense of closure. Anyway, thought I would say hello and try to venture into various RPCV communities as most people don't understand what it means to be a volunteer. I am actually on my way to Thailand and Cambodia next week for a month long vacation and then I will look for a job.

Cheers!

Maya

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 4 replies

Hot meals entice Niger's nomadic children into school

itsoktoplay — Mon, 08 May 2006 15:44:47 GMT

Akarana, 3 May 2006 - The wandering lifestyle of Niger's nomads need not rule out a steady education for their children thanks to WFP's school feeding programme. Marcus Prior reports.

"You do know it's not term time?" asked my colleague Nafiou Issiaka as we piled into cars at the WFP office in Tahoua.

Not term time? Not term time?!

How on earth were we supposed to show our French journalist visitor the dramatic impact on attendance rates and learning of WFP's school feeding programme in Niger if there were no students at all at school? What were we going to show him? An empty classroom and a disused kitchen? My heart sank.

But the primary school at Akarana, a tiny hamlet of mud and straw dwellings set in a sea of sand some 60 kilometres off the nearest decent road, was unlike any other I had visited.

As we arrived, a crowd of children lined up to one side of the car, all screaming 'PAM!* PAM! PAM!" and clapping their hands in welcome.

Nomadic pastoralists

School, it seemed, was very much in. Except it was out.

Akarana is a school for the children of families who continue to pursue a life of nomadic pastoralism.

For nine months of the year, the children are quite literally left behind to attend school, while their parents attend to the business of managing their livestock, often many hundreds of miles away in the bush.

During the long holidays, the pupils rejoin their family in their nomadic existence.

Heading to the desert

Even the head, Abdullahi Hamed Ibrahim, profits every year from the three-month break to gather his own family together on camel and horseback and venture out into the desert to join his wandering brothers.

We arrived during the Easter school holiday, but at least 60 of the 133 students were still being looked after by the head and his small team.

A rudimentary dormitory was home to those who were not housed with local families.

Success among girls

Almost half the students are girls and all pupils wanting to go on to secondary education were successful in their exams.

A proper education is clearly highly prized within the community.

Crucially, parents are able to leave their children at Akarana for lengthy periods for one reason, and one reason alone – WFP provides the school with enough food to ensure three hot meals per day to every child, term-time or not.

School meals decisive in attendance

For the nomads, if there were no school meals for their children, there would be no schools.

"All the food we distribute here comes from WFP," said the head, pointing out spoons, plates and two large cooking vats which are also provided by the organisation.

The children wolfed down their lunch before gathering under the shade of the schoolyard trees to play traditional games of 'catch' using small stones or simply to idle the time away.

Teetering on the edge

It was the holidays and everyone seemed content. But Akarana is poor – very poor.

Last year the villagers received a general distribution of food from WFP because they had been driven right to the edge by the impact of drought and the locust invasions of 2004 which left their traditional grazing lands stripped bare.

Cattle and other livestock simply keeled over and died.

Prices on the market for their enfeebled animals plummeted.

The distribution was a welcome answer to their prayers.

Concerned but confident

This year, with pasture more plentiful, their animals are stronger and likely to fetch a better price on the market.

The villagers remain very concerned that the hunger season will again be tough, but they are more confident about prospects than at the same time last year.

Amidst the annual struggle to make ends meet, the school at Akarana is a symbol of hope; a starting point from which education and knowledge offer the best chance of escape from the cycle of poverty.

PAM – Programme Alimentaire Mondial, the French title by which the World Food Programme is known in some countries.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6PFHTR?OpenDocument

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies

Travel writer Tayler in Doha

itsoktoplay — Mon, 08 May 2006 15:30:05 GMT

Published: Thursday, 4 May, 2006, 04:17 PM Doha Time
Staff Reporter
Award-winning author and travel writer Jeffrey Tayler is visiting Doha. A US citizen living in Russia, he is being hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ).
Tayler, who has travelled extensively through Muslim Africa, will share stories of his journey at a talk on Sunday at the Diplomatic Club at 6.30pm.
CMUQ has invited Tayler to share his international travel experiences with its students. Tayler’s latest book, Glory in a Camel’s Eye, is being taught in CMUQ Professor Ben Reilly’s history class.
The famous visitor will attend Prof Reilly’s class on Monday, to discuss his travel writings and take questions from students.
“Bringing Tayler to our students gives them the opportunity to fully experience a book of this magnitude in a way not possible by just reading it,” Prof Reilly said.
By bringing a renowned author into the classroom, Carnegie Mellon is continuing its mission of promoting educational excellence.
“We provide students with the opportunity to learn firsthand from distinguished international experts from various fields, and interacting with an author adds an entire new dimension to the learning process,” Prof Reilly added.
Tayler is best known for his works Siberian Dawn and Angry Wind. He has also written for Harper’s Magazine, Marie Claire, Conde Nast Traveler, Spin magazine and Salon.com, and continues to write for The Atlantic Monthly online magazine.
His books have been widely received and translated into many languages and his writings have received numerous awards including Best American Travel Writing 2001 and Best of Salon Magazine 1998.
Facing the Congo was selected by The New York Times book review as a notable Travel Book in 2000, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and won the National Peace Corps Association Travel Book of the Year Award in 2001.
Tayler has travelled the world while serving with the Peace Corps and co-managing a security company. His career has involved photography, logistics co-ordination and interpretation for international media establishments.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=84890&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies

a few questions

ashley — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 20:55:29 GMT

Ok so I am a long way out from doing this...starting my junior year in undergraduate; however, I do have a few serious questions.

First, I am taking Swahili for two years and hope to have a major grasp on the language before I graduate. Do you think with this under my belt Peace Corps would try to assign me in an area that speaks some Swahili, like Tanzania or Kenya?

Second, has anyone done the joint grad school/peacecorps thing? Where you get a grad degree at the same time?

Third, If I want to do it like a month after I graduate in spring, how early should I begin applying?

Thank you so much for your help...I no I am not a returned volunteer but I hope to be some day :)

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 1 reply

Eastern Europe

Michael — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 15:50:01 GMT

Does anyone have any knowledge about programs in Eastern Europe? My son is applying, and I was a PCV in Ethiopia in 72-74. My son took 4 years of Mandarin in high school and college, and thinks he would like to go to China. But I've urged him to consider places like Bulgaria and Ukraine.

What say?

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 1 reply

I'm not a returned volunteer

Jake — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:05:22 GMT

I'm not a returned volunteer- infact i'm still in the aplicationa process (whicich as you know is a task in it's self) yesterday - i got my dental evaluation. it seems like this whole thing is gonna take forever! the program i'm signed up for - is scheduled to leave at the end of Feb.

So here's where you guys come in: Am i going nutz? Does it ALWAYS take this LONG!? i know patience is probably the most important virtue for someone in my position, but i JUST WANT TO GO!!!

where did you guys volunteer?
did you learn a language before you went?

please tell me any other info you think may help!

thanks a lot....

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 7 replies

volunteering

danielle — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:44:35 GMT

i know this is a tribe for returned volunteers, but i am pretty sure that the returners are very accepting people...i just wanted to hear stories of your past because i just recently applied and now i am awaiting for me to be accepted.

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 1 reply

Slow!

healingforthesoul — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 00:48:05 GMT

This is a slow forum, isn't it? Well, there are 11 of us now - who are you all, where did you serve? What program? What're you up to now?

I served as a Math teacher in Guinea (West Africa) from 97-99. Now I've got a small business, a healing practice, and I'm doing some temp work to make up for the shortfall.

Okay - Discuss! :)

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 6 replies

Albania

Allene — Wed, 22 Oct 2003 04:07:53 GMT

I just got done watching a show on the History Channel about some Peace Corps volunteers in Albania when the country fell apart and basically into anarchy. I'm guessing that's not a common experience for Peace Corps volunteers, but just curious if anyone has had any experiences like that, what kind of contigency plans there are for that sort of thing, etc. Thanks.

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies

Thinking about it...

Allene — Thu, 16 Oct 2003 06:14:02 GMT

Lately I've been seriously thinking about joining the Peace Corps when I'm done with grad school (in about two years). Has anyone here worked in health ed or HIV/AIDS ed as part of their volunteer service? That is what I'm interested in doing.

Thanks-
Allene

posted in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - 0 replies