I am very often asked why I joined the Peace Corps. It is never easy for me to give a short and complete answer, but for the sake of not wasting space or your time, I will try to do both. Life, in my opinion, is innately self-centered. We spend all of our time focused on ourselves; our interests, pleasures, goals, and our basic survival. I see nothing wrong with that because that is just life, but I wanted to take the opportunity before my life became filled with responsibility to devote a short period to something that wasn’t just about me. I also can’t deny the idealistic intensions either. I want to try to make a difference in the world. Maybe that’s ridiculous but why not give it a shot.
There are three main goals of the Peace Corps: to promote world pace and friendship through the service of American Volunteers abroad; to help the people of developing countries meet their basic needs; and to help promote mutual understanding among Americans and people from other countries. This seems like a good idea to me so I applied. It is a 27-month minimum volunteer commitment that can be very rewarding and also extremely challenging. I was definitely up for the challenge and looked forward to the potential for adventure.
Since I majored in Spanish and Latin American History I hoped to be placed somewhere in Central or South America. Instead I was nominated to Central Asia and was assigned to teach English as a second language in Turkmenistan. Turkmeni-what was my initial response but I did some research and soon grew excited about my assignment. I spent months preparing. I began learning Turkmen, studied the history and bought an entirely new wardrobe for the cold and conservative climate. By the time I arrived in Philadelphia for staging before departure I was really excited.
Sadly, my excitement was short lived. Within the first hour of our staging we received news that the Turkmen government no longer wanted our assistance and we were being sent home. Our program was canceled. Needless to say, we were all devastated. We were told that if we chose to continue with the Peace Corps, they would do their best to try to reassign us to another country as soon as possible. I had spent a small fortune and given up my entire life to do this. I knew I couldn’t give up.
Fortunately, the day after I returned home, the Peace Corps called me with great news. They had an opening to serve as a Community Health Promoter in Mozambique, Africa. I was thrilled! This was everything I had ever wanted and never knew it. I had always dreamed of visiting Africa but was intimidated and now I would be living there. I would be learning Portuguese; another Romance language that could be useful after completion of service. And finally, I was going to be entering the health field, an entirely new path for me with so many possibilities. I only had 5 days to readjust what had previously taken me several months. I had to hurry because my training group was already in Mozambique and I would already be a week behind. Less than a week after the cancelation of my initial program I was on my way to my new assignment and I was filled with so much enthusiasm.
And here I am, in Mozambique. Everything happened so fast. But every day I am so thankful to be here fulfilling a dream
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Emily:
I am COO of Water Charity, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does water, sanitation, and public health projects worldwide. We recently started a new initiative, Appropriate Projects, to fund small water and sanitation projects very quickly.
I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Bolivia ’66-’68), and am well aware of the difficulties Volunteers face in the field. Appropriate Projects is an addition to our regular Water Charity model that is allowing us to provide project resources to PCVs in the field immediately.
Often there is that little project that must be done now (before the rains start, before school begins, or in response to a critical need), but there are no funds available. Traditional funding sources are cumbersome, and there are long forms, detailed requirements, limited resources, and long delays.
PCVs working in water and sanitation usually have potential projects lined up. For those working in other program areas, there may be water components to their projects, or improvements needed where they work or teach.
Sample projects may be: a rainwater catchment, handwashing stations for a school, water for a clinic, piping, tanks, pumps, sinks, latrines, wells, etc.
We like to “finish” projects that have been started, and “fix” things that have ceased to function.
We encourage follow-up projects that expand upon the successful completion of the first small project.
If you have a project in mind, please fill out the application form. We want this to be easy for you, so we have developed a simple form that you can fill out in one sitting.
If you have any questions about the appropriateness of your project, or you need some time to get it together, just let us know.
We pre-fund projects, so you don’t have to wait around for donations to roll in.
If you do not have a project that qualifies, please pass this message on to your fellow Volunteers who may have an interest. Finally, if this initiative resonates with you, please let others know what we are doing through your social networks, websites, and blogs.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Averill Strasser
Appropriate Projects
http://appropriateprojects.com
Water Charity
http://watercharity.org
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