I was a Peace Corps Volunteer: Best and Worst
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 кві 2018
- So this is the last video in this series and I wanted to touch on what I liked the most and the least about Peace Corps.
Best: Unique Experience
I joined Peace Corps to do something wildly different than my friends and to help people. What happened?
I ended up in a small village in the mountains of Guinea where I had to learn different languages to barter over mBoodi in the markets and ask for directions to hidden waterfalls all while avoiding mambas and runaway taxis.
I taught students older than me high school math who ditched class on Bob Marley's birthday and argued that the US had 52 states.
I helped show villagers the benefits of mosquito nets while the hairiest caterpillars rained on me from a tree above.
I encouraged acceptance of LGBTQ people who could never take a photo with me.
I argued with Guinean teachers about what was rape and consent and got angry when those same teachers raped without consent.
I loved meeting so many great people in the oddest of places like these French girls in my village for Thanksgiving or these Aussies at a cafe.
I hated losing kids and finding out they were already buried before I even knew they were sick.
I built a huge garden with sunflower plants all around the edges, and would eat seeds in the morning while I watched the sun come up.
I didn't join the Oopsy Poopsy club but laughed every time I heard about it.
And I also almost died, more times than anyone by the age of 23 should.
To you, those are all just simple statements. But there's a story behind each line that I'll always cherish. That unique experience is completely mine and I love that.
The worst has nothing to do with the bad stories or with the problems of funding or oversight that plague Peace Corps. It's its messaging when Peace Corps Volunteers die.
Peace Corps produces a generic press release for whenever a Peace Corps volunteer dies that seems completely robotic. It's wrong in my opinion because it just shows a lack of effort for someone who literally gave up their life to make a positive impact.
It bothered me as a volunteer because it played into my thoughts that Peace Corps didn't care about me. There were times where I felt like I could place a bet on what Peace Corps would write when a volunteer died and that I would win that bet.
I hope Peace Corps changes their press releases to something more respectful and diverse.
So that's the best and worst for me. Please share any comments or questions you have and stay in touch. Thanks so much for watching! I hope I helped any prospective volunteers make a life changing decision.
Thank you so much for your authenticity. I realize this is a dated video but your words mean so much in a timeless way. Did you ever decide to move forward with attempting to bring changes to the opening statements to honor the volunteers?
Id love to know more about your experiences and would help if my voice made a difference.
God bless, hope life is treating you well❤.
Im actually only about an hour from DC myself and try to stay active in the community
I will do this now that I built my career and retiring soon. If I die doing it, at least I was doing something unique and for a good cause. But I decided to wait and get my career going first
To estimate the chance of death if you volunteer for the Peace Corps, we can use the number of deaths over the years and the number of volunteers annually. With around 200 deaths over 45 years and approximately 9,000 volunteers annually, the rough chance of death would be around 0.05% per year, assuming the risk is evenly distributed among volunteers. However, this is a simplistic estimate and doesn't account for various factors like location, health conditions, and activities of the volunteers.
Those are good chances then. It is better than driving on I4 between Orlando and Tampa ❤
Sobering…but a really important message!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thank you!
I'm a TEFL invitee departing for Benin in June! Your videos have been so helpful. Thank you!!
Thank you! Congrats on starting a great journey!
- what's the probability of getting the position after having an interview?
- Were you stationed alone (are volunteers nearby there for the same purpose or other peace crops objectives)?
- What did you find is the best way to deal with loneliness?
- whats your major? Have you worked in the professional field before taking this position?
- did you feel like you're advancing your career or putting it on standby?
- do you have the option to live with a host family or have your own place while on site? (After the initial 6 months)
- do you know any WASH volunteers I could speak with? Engineers/Peru WASH would be best.
- my biggest worry in accepting a position is that I will be putting my engineering career on hold. I want an employer to count my peace corps work as a positive not a negative or lack of experience.
You should consider doing a q and a
Hi Madi! Thanks for this. I think I answer many of these throughout the videos but here's some short responses:
1) I don't know because those rules keep changing on where you are positioned. For us, we didn't have a choice
2) Learning the local language and meeting people as well as listening to my radio and calling friends
3) Aerospace Engineer, no
4) Not for aerospace engineering but I have valuable experiences nonetheless
5) I was with host family one year, by myself the next year. Depends on site and country
6)I don't
7) That depends on you...many people return to their careers or professions and do well
@@madi3006live steam Q&A with a few volunteers of different ages would be so helpful too
Death is part of life.
You have to use common sense.
Protect yourself.
The worl is real.
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
So if you could go back would you do it
Not as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
@@dawanrobinson5697y not?
@@ysb327 need to make money now
is 30 too old for the peace corp?
No
Any age 18+
They do take older 50+ people too
"In the last 40-50 years of peace corp, 200 volunteers have died'' !?! That's gonna be no from me, dawg ..
Lol I have been watching videos all night because I got an email from peace corp because I have been interested. Now after watching this video I don't know cause they seem like they do not care about their volunteers. I knew deaths and assaults happen but it is not comforting to know that the peace corp treats them in this manner.
200 volunteers have died since the beginning of Peace Corps. Around 9k serve annually across 70+ countries with volunteers being as young as older teenagers to senior citizens. The rates of death for Peace Corps volunteers is probably not that much different from anyone who travels and lives abroad. A lot of deaths have been due to automobile accidents, which affect everyone regardless if they are volunteers or not.
Peace Corps does care about its volunteers. But the level of resources isn't there to match how your family or American-side business would care about you. Volunteers know that and that's why our support networks come from each other. I think you're more likely to be assaulted in the US than as a PCV to be honest.