A hundred billion years ago, in a galaxy far, far away. I was working for a large insurance company in Connecticut (Aetna, Glad I met ya'). I was two years out of college and had just finished paying off my student loans. I was debt and responsibility free! (WOW!!) I wasn't much into material possessions and I wasn't at all ambitious. Going to the office every day with only two weeks vacation a year had lost all appeal.
Then a friend was accepted into Peace Corps. They'd been assigned to Nepal. It seemed wildly exciting; living overseas, learning new languages, meeting new people, doing new things. How cool was that?! So I filled out an application for myself and sent it in. I went to the regional office in NYC to be interviewed. There were recommendations to send in, medical clearances; lots of paperwork and formalities. And eventually, I too was accepted into Peace Corps. I can still remember the recruiter calling me at my little cubicle at work and giving me the news. I had just one question "Where on earth is Malawi?"
Peace Corps is a US government development agency that was started in 1961. You may have heard the famous quote from John F. Kennedy's inaguration speech: ""My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what can you do for your
country." Well, that got the ball rolling. And it's kept on rolling for almost 50 years now.
But what does Peace Corps do? I sure as heck didn't know. The image I had back then was of newly graduated college kids living in mud huts and helping dig latrines. "The toughest job you'll ever love". But it's not really like that. The one thing all these poor countries have in abundance is cheap labor. So they don't really need American college kids for that. No. The ditch digger image was all wrong.
There are 3 goals to Peace Corps:
1. Providing technical assistance
2. Helping people outside the United States understand U.S. culture
3. Helping Americans understand the cultures of other countries
So Peace Corps is there to help out, sure -- that's the first goal. But the next two goals are cultural exchange.
Peace Corps Volunteers have wonderfully altruistic attitudes and hope to improve the living conditions of the poor in the country to which they are assigned. The first goal is definitely the priority of volunteers while in service. They join to help. Once on assignment, volunteers make a difference on personal and community levels.
The cultural exchange is equally important to the work the volunteers do. Volunteers live in the communities where they work. Over the two years they are there, they become part of the community. It's great for people in other countries to see Americans as helpful and hard working. Kids in those places grow up with a very positive image of America. And the volunteers gain new family, friends and an appreciation for another culture. They take that home with them and share it with their American family, friends and coworkers for the rest of their lives. Peace Corps is all about cultural exchange.
I joined Peace Corps with a sense that I wanted to help a greater cause. I wanted to share my good fortune; to help those less fortunate. I was eager to learn and I was looking for adventure. While on assignment, my focus shifted to helping a set of individuals in my community. I developed personal connections and friendships. I shared my values and learned theirs. I learned the lessons of a lifetime.
Nowadays, there are roughly 8,000 Volunteers
serving in 80 countries. The average age of a volunteer is 28. Probably most volunteers are between 24 and 27, with a number of 60+ grey hairs upping the average. The total budget is $400 million. That works out to an average of 100 volunteers and $5 million per country / per year. Almost all of that goes toward administrative and volunteer support costs.
Malawi, it turned out, is a small sliver of a country in south central aftica. A tremendous 360-mile lake of the same name runs along its eastern side. It's peaceful, has beautiful weather, and the people are magnificently hospitable. It is promoted for tourism as 'The warm heart of Africa'. My stay in Malawi was unfortunately brief, just under 6 months, but I went on to serve for two years in the Dominican Republic - that deserves many blogs of its own.
