I was 21 years old before I heard about this worldly experience you can have in the PeaceCore. I am joining , this is exactly what I’ve needed in my young adult life. Thank you for simplifying so many things and being real. I am so happy
As a Peace Corps volunteer to Liberia Africa in 1978 to 1980 I was paid 205.00 dollars per month. I consider that a salary. Because..... volunteers could live off of that amount. Even though........most of the volunteers that I knew lived too high on the hog to get by on 205.00 dollars per month !!! They constantly partied drinking beer....and spending money on needless things ! In Ziahtown Liberia I could live on 1.00 dollar per day for food. Out of that 205 dollars my rent for my house was 40.00 dollars per month. I actually saved money while in Liberia. Over 98% of the volunteers sent home for money. They never lived with the people. They lived among themselves......party time ! I soon learned I became a part of the community since I seldom seen other volunteers. Mail once in two months..... no electricity.... carried water from creek side....and nothing for phone service. Made a single call home for 13 seconds... it cost me 27.00 dollars. Got disconnected. Thats it for trying to call home ! Peace Corps.....its what you make it !
@@jodimiddendorf As a farmer.........direct out of high school I was accepted to Liberia. I had no other schooling ! I was thrilled to just be accepted. Come to find out later .after returning to state side......I was only two out of over a million volunteers accepted with no other schooling. So......it can happen !
I just got invited to serve in Madagascar with the peace Corp and it starts in September and I’m so excited! Your videos are really helpful. I just hope I still get to go with the virus...
@@jodimiddendorf not yet unfortunately. A while back they said our tentative date to depart would be July 2021 but I haven't heard anything besides an email they sent a few weeks ago saying anyone who goes has to get vaccinated
@@dahboo2273 I hope for the best! I will hopefully be visiting Madagascar in the next year if it is safe to do so, so keep me posted on where you end up living in Madagascar!
@@jodimiddendorf thats awesome, yes maybe we can meet up! With the presidents announcement today about the vaccines and that things should be "normal" by July 4th, I have alot more hope now
@@dahboo2273 that’s awesome! I’m actually in isolation right now with covid. So getting back to normal sounds amazing. I’ll try my best to meet up if you’re in Madagascar when I go!
Holy crap this was helpful. I'm retired from the military, and can't really work in the trades anymore as I use to build Data centers and pull fiber optic cable until A lyft driver ended my career with permanent Nerve damage that unrevierisable. So the Doc won't give me a clearance to get back to work operating the heavy machinery required to do my job. Nor will my work okay the medication that I'm on as it impairs your ability to operate said machinery. Since I'm going to be in Physical therapy for the next few years, and thought I would do something like this to at least keep me busy. Seems like something worthwhile to do.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind a host family for the first couple months to a year and then move into an independent living situation with another fellow Peace Corps roommate.
Hi Jodi! Thank you so much for making this video, it was super helpful! :) I've heard that the Peace Corps will also pay off student loans or give volunteers money to continue their education after their volunteer term is done. Is this true? Or could it be the readjustment money that they're referring to?
Peace corps does not give money for school. Coverdell fellows is where RPCVS get funds for grad schools. Past student loan debt is not paid off by Peace corps, but you may find some loan forgiveness program that Peace corps fits into.
Another great video..we should collab since you live close. FYI, if you owe money to the government because of taxes or student loans for example, the money you get at the end can and most likely will be taken to pay those debts.
Yeah I’d be down to meet somewhere for a collab. The money absolutely can be used to pay those debts. But it’s your choice. I used mine to pay off some student loans.
Jodi Middendorf ok. How should I get ahold of you? Shouldn’t post too much info on here. I have an Instagram under the same name if you want to send me a message there
@@MickeyMishra for the most part. But some volunteers found that their stipend wasn’t always enough, for example if they needed to travel away from site for some unforeseen reason. Then they might come up short. But overall your needs are covered
Thank you so much for sharing! This video is helpful and answer most of my questions. Some are my personal that I will need to figure out. Such as I'm renting now, so need to find a space to store my belongings while I'm gone. How long in advance did you plan for serving the Peace Corp?
Same here.... as a Liberian Volunteer I had as long as I wanted......but decided and was off..... with in 9 months. Please keep in mind though....what Jodi Middendorf is stating here .... things are very different from one volunteer to the next. I had no " in country " training. What I was taught was worthless because they taught us the wrong dialect to speak ! We had no books ! We had no paper.. nothing ! Everything had to be brought in by the volunteer.......or nothing happened ! However that said.....how to know what you need until you get to your town / sight ?????? A simple thing in teaching the " root systems " of a plant.......I could not remember them......and how to learn what they are ? Granted...this was back in 1978.....but still not easy to adjust ! More or less....a volunteer learns to adapt. Key is ......stay away from other volunteers once in country. It sets a bad example for all......when just one person makes a fool of them self ! A volunteer will become much closer to the local people by staying away from other volunteers !!!!
Hey Jodi, question for ya, did you complete your Svc before the evac or were you evacuated??and I would also like to say, Thank you for your Service. 🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️
Technically it's 24 hours a day. The goal of Peace Corps Is to spread Peace and Friendship and that is all day every day for two years. A secondary goal is to provide a service. My service was teaching English. I taught for 16 hours per week. It did not feel like a part time job though.
Do you believe it’s possible to keep a part-time remote job alongside doing peace corps volunteer? Like would time allow? Basically, in trying to figure out if I can keep my current research admin job on a project based or part time basis while doing this.
I’m sure people have tried it. I wouldn’t honestly. It will be much more difficult than it seems. Because even if I was only teaching 16 hours per week, I would spend sooooo much time on chores because everything is manual. And sometimes our town would be out of electricity for weeks. And everyone who I know that brought a laptop had it crash on them due to humidity or heat or dust etc. The odds would be stacked against you. And I believe it’s against peace corps policy to work while being a volunteer. Not positive though, the rules are fuzzy to me these days. It’s been a while. Also, the first three months of service as trainees our post cut us off from WIFI at the training center as some kind of weird power trip thing. Even if we needed to reach out to our bank/student loan servicer/family. It was kind of a weird vibe around WiFi at the time. But the staff are of course different everywhere.
I wondered about this before joining the Peace Corps too. The Peace Corps bought all of my plane tickets to get to and from Madagascar. They asked me what airport I wanted to fly out of from my home state and then sent me the itinerary. You may have to cover baggage fees and part or all of that will be reimbursed. Once you get to staging, you will stay overnight in a hotel before flying to country. The Peace Corps will pay for the hotel and they should give you a card with money on it to buy food that evening. In general, Peace Corps should pay for your needs from the Time you leave your home airport. There are always small things that slide through the cracks. Sometimes people lose money or have money stolen, In my experience I was not reimbursed for that. So definitely be prepared to have extra money available if necessary. But Flights should be covered. When In the country you will be living in, if you need to fly throughout the country, Peace Corps should pay for flights (except when you are on vacation or doing tourist visits). Even though they pay the fee, they probably will not actually book those flights for you!
So im in trade school for HVAC, but im barely coming up on a month, and yes, i know if i jump ship and leave it, ill still owe em a bit, but as is, i live at home n dont have a job n dont pay bills n stuff, do u think it be a good thing to do so? Cuz i could stay n finish off school for another 8 months n leave, but owe em lik 15k, but if i jump ship now, that readjustment money could probably help pay off that 1 month, idk, im just trying to figure out what to do with my life 🤷♂️
@@stevedale4800 most people in peace corps are not rich. Far from it. But it’s definitely an easier process to do Peace Corps if you have access to some money for when you are pick pocketed or need a new phone or really need to go home for something important with family… etc.
But what would rich kids need to do peace corps for anyways? I mean I guess the free Passport is cool, but that's only $130-160 bucks max. To me, I guess the lure would be the education you get along with the free room & Board and being able to experience another country for 2 years. I guess they have stints of only 1 year now, so that's better.
@@jodimiddendorf In 2020, Carol Spahn was a Program Manager at the Peace Corps in Washington, District Of Columbia. began working at the Peace Corps in 2014 with a starting salary of $142,714. Since then, 's salary has increased to $170,800 in 2020. So the top heads can make a living salary unlike you and the other stupid slaves...$8000 in two years...once again 🖕
I was 21 years old before I heard about this worldly experience you can have in the PeaceCore. I am joining , this is exactly what I’ve needed in my young adult life. Thank you for simplifying so many things and being real. I am so happy
Be careful what you wish for you may get it :)
@@woolenslippers4124I actually want it, but I may be not qualified, because Im not "educated", nor have experience in any related fields.
As a Peace Corps volunteer to Liberia Africa in 1978 to 1980 I was paid 205.00 dollars per month. I consider that a salary. Because..... volunteers could live off of that amount. Even though........most of the volunteers that I knew lived too high on the hog to get by on 205.00 dollars per month !!! They constantly partied drinking beer....and spending money on needless things ! In Ziahtown Liberia I could live on 1.00 dollar per day for food. Out of that 205 dollars my rent for my house was 40.00 dollars per month. I actually saved money while in Liberia. Over 98% of the volunteers sent home for money. They never lived with the people. They lived among themselves......party time !
I soon learned I became a part of the community since I seldom seen other volunteers. Mail once in two months..... no electricity.... carried water from creek side....and nothing for phone service. Made a single call home for 13 seconds... it cost me 27.00 dollars. Got disconnected. Thats it for trying to call home !
Peace Corps.....its what you make it !
wooo hooo Minnesota. Good info
I wanted to join right out of high school but so many people told me the pay is 0; if I would’ve known All this information I would’ve gone for it
It is hard to get into Peace Corps right after high school. Because of the experience requirements… so maybe you’re meant to join now! 😉
@@jodimiddendorf is there any options with the peace corps right out of high school?
@@jodimiddendorf As a farmer.........direct out of high school I was accepted to Liberia. I had no other schooling ! I was thrilled to just be accepted. Come to find out later .after returning to state side......I was only two out of over a million volunteers accepted with no other schooling. So......it can happen !
I just got invited to serve in Madagascar with the peace Corp and it starts in September and I’m so excited! Your videos are really helpful. I just hope I still get to go with the virus...
Have you had any updates about going to Madagascar?
@@jodimiddendorf not yet unfortunately. A while back they said our tentative date to depart would be July 2021 but I haven't heard anything besides an email they sent a few weeks ago saying anyone who goes has to get vaccinated
@@dahboo2273 I hope for the best! I will hopefully be visiting Madagascar in the next year if it is safe to do so, so keep me posted on where you end up living in Madagascar!
@@jodimiddendorf thats awesome, yes maybe we can meet up! With the presidents announcement today about the vaccines and that things should be "normal" by July 4th, I have alot more hope now
@@dahboo2273 that’s awesome! I’m actually in isolation right now with covid. So getting back to normal sounds amazing. I’ll try my best to meet up if you’re in Madagascar when I go!
Great video.
Love that you broke down answers to the questions in a simple way
Holy crap this was helpful. I'm retired from the military, and can't really work in the trades anymore as I use to build Data centers and pull fiber optic cable until A lyft driver ended my career with permanent Nerve damage that unrevierisable. So the Doc won't give me a clearance to get back to work operating the heavy machinery required to do my job. Nor will my work okay the medication that I'm on as it impairs your ability to operate said machinery.
Since I'm going to be in Physical therapy for the next few years, and thought I would do something like this to at least keep me busy.
Seems like something worthwhile to do.
Thanks for posting this!!
Actually, I wouldn’t mind a host family for the first couple months to a year and then move into an independent living situation with another fellow Peace Corps roommate.
The goal is to integrate… I don’t think I would have integrated as well as I did if I lived with another Peace corps volunteer.
Hi Jodi! Thank you so much for making this video, it was super helpful! :) I've heard that the Peace Corps will also pay off student loans or give volunteers money to continue their education after their volunteer term is done. Is this true? Or could it be the readjustment money that they're referring to?
Peace corps does not give money for school. Coverdell fellows is where RPCVS get funds for grad schools. Past student loan debt is not paid off by Peace corps, but you may find some loan forgiveness program that Peace corps fits into.
Another great video..we should collab since you live close. FYI, if you owe money to the government because of taxes or student loans for example, the money you get at the end can and most likely will be taken to pay those debts.
Yeah I’d be down to meet somewhere for a collab. The money absolutely can be used to pay those debts. But it’s your choice. I used mine to pay off some student loans.
Jodi Middendorf ok. How should I get ahold of you? Shouldn’t post too much info on here. I have an Instagram under the same name if you want to send me a message there
Whisker Whippers ™️ did u ever collab?
@@americandreams1978 not yet
Hello! For the monthly stipend, does it go into your U.S. bank account or does the Peace Corps create a new bank account for volunteers? Thank you!
We had a bank account that Peace Corps opened for us in Madagascar. I assume it is the same in other countries.
@@jodimiddendorf Hmm, they really do take care of everything.
@@MickeyMishra for the most part. But some volunteers found that their stipend wasn’t always enough, for example if they needed to travel away from site for some unforeseen reason. Then they might come up short. But overall your needs are covered
Love your vids, keep it up!
Thank you 😊
Possibly pay for the electricity?! Excuse me, but im takin my happy ass outside with a tent and a fire 😂
Thank you so much for sharing! This video is helpful and answer most of my questions. Some are my personal that I will need to figure out. Such as I'm renting now, so need to find a space to store my belongings while I'm gone. How long in advance did you plan for serving the Peace Corp?
I accepted a position offer 7 months before departure. So I was somewhat preparing for 7 months!
Same here.... as a Liberian Volunteer I had as long as I wanted......but decided and was off..... with in 9 months.
Please keep in mind though....what Jodi Middendorf is stating here .... things are very different from one volunteer to the next.
I had no " in country " training. What I was taught was worthless because they taught us the wrong dialect to speak ! We had no books ! We had no paper.. nothing ! Everything had to be brought in by the volunteer.......or nothing happened ! However that said.....how to know what you need until you get to your town / sight ?????? A simple thing in teaching the " root systems " of a plant.......I could not remember them......and how to learn what they are ? Granted...this was back in 1978.....but still not easy to adjust ! More or less....a volunteer learns to adapt. Key is ......stay away from other volunteers once in country. It sets a bad example for all......when just one person makes a fool of them self ! A volunteer will become much closer to the local people by staying away from other volunteers !!!!
Thank you for posting.
Thanks for watching!
You are a beautiful soul and person I hope we meet some day
Thank you!!
Peace is EVERYONEs responsibility.
Yesssss
Hey Jodi, question for ya, did you complete your Svc before the evac or were you evacuated??and I would also like to say, Thank you for your Service. 🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️
I completed my Peace Corps service before the evacuation. Thankfully. 😊
How many hours a day and week are you required to volunteer?
Technically it's 24 hours a day. The goal of Peace Corps Is to spread Peace and Friendship and that is all day every day for two years. A secondary goal is to provide a service. My service was teaching English. I taught for 16 hours per week. It did not feel like a part time job though.
Hello! How often are you able to travel home? Are there vacation days? Can you choose where you go on vacation? Thank you!
I believe we accrued 2 vacation days per month. Plus you get R&R days! Some people went home to visit once. Many never went home during their PC time.
Do you believe it’s possible to keep a part-time remote job alongside doing peace corps volunteer? Like would time allow? Basically, in trying to figure out if I can keep my current research admin job on a project based or part time basis while doing this.
I’m sure people have tried it. I wouldn’t honestly. It will be much more difficult than it seems. Because even if I was only teaching 16 hours per week, I would spend sooooo much time on chores because everything is manual. And sometimes our town would be out of electricity for weeks. And everyone who I know that brought a laptop had it crash on them due to humidity or heat or dust etc.
The odds would be stacked against you. And I believe it’s against peace corps policy to work while being a volunteer. Not positive though, the rules are fuzzy to me these days. It’s been a while.
Also, the first three months of service as trainees our post cut us off from WIFI at the training center as some kind of weird power trip thing. Even if we needed to reach out to our bank/student loan servicer/family. It was kind of a weird vibe around WiFi at the time. But the staff are of course different everywhere.
@@jodimiddendorf ooo makes sense. Thanks for that insight!
Boa Noite from Minas Gerais - Brasil (happy feet )
madagascar - 150 month stipend for lemur jerky and rice.
So it's like a monthly allowance
Yeah kind of!
I want to join but i never really finished high school to begin with im bilingual if that helps ?
Hi, i wondered how they cover flights? Do they reimburse you? Is a government plane? Thanks in advance
I wondered about this before joining the Peace Corps too. The Peace Corps bought all of my plane tickets to get to and from Madagascar. They asked me what airport I wanted to fly out of from my home state and then sent me the itinerary. You may have to cover baggage fees and part or all of that will be reimbursed.
Once you get to staging, you will stay overnight in a hotel before flying to country. The Peace Corps will pay for the hotel and they should give you a card with money on it to buy food that evening. In general, Peace Corps should pay for your needs from the Time you leave your home airport. There are always small things that slide through the cracks. Sometimes people lose money or have money stolen, In my experience I was not reimbursed for that. So definitely be prepared to have extra money available if necessary. But Flights should be covered.
When In the country you will be living in, if you need to fly throughout the country, Peace Corps should pay for flights (except when you are on vacation or doing tourist visits). Even though they pay the fee, they probably will not actually book those flights for you!
@@jodimiddendorf awesome! Thanks
So im in trade school for HVAC, but im barely coming up on a month, and yes, i know if i jump ship and leave it, ill still owe em a bit, but as is, i live at home n dont have a job n dont pay bills n stuff, do u think it be a good thing to do so? Cuz i could stay n finish off school for another 8 months n leave, but owe em lik 15k, but if i jump ship now, that readjustment money could probably help pay off that 1 month, idk, im just trying to figure out what to do with my life 🤷♂️
Did you ever figure it out?
Am CorpsAfrica volunteer
Was the hotel nice, also are they flying you first class? Not that any of that matters just wondering
The hotel was nice, yes. And no, Peace Corps volunteers do not fly first class.
How can I join peace corps
You have to apply online... Google Peace Corp
is this doable for a single mom of 1 if im intersted in a teaching position
Only if you already have an income on the side to take care of things like daycare on our own from what I have seen.
It seemed like BS setup for rich kids when I applied.
@@stevedale4800 most people in peace corps are not rich. Far from it. But it’s definitely an easier process to do Peace Corps if you have access to some money for when you are pick pocketed or need a new phone or really need to go home for something important with family… etc.
But what would rich kids need to do peace corps for anyways?
I mean I guess the free Passport is cool, but that's only $130-160 bucks max.
To me, I guess the lure would be the education you get along with the free room & Board and being able to experience another country for 2 years.
I guess they have stints of only 1 year now, so that's better.
Learn to meditate.
you look like Brittany spears
Thanks
So in other words work for less than crumbs while I have major bills that will pile up back at home? 🖕!!!!
It’s volunteering. People don’t join the Peace Corps to make money. To each their own.
@@jodimiddendorf
In 2020, Carol Spahn was a Program Manager at the Peace Corps in Washington, District Of Columbia. began working at the Peace Corps in 2014 with a starting salary of $142,714. Since then, 's salary has increased to $170,800 in 2020.
So the top heads can make a living salary unlike you and the other stupid slaves...$8000 in two years...once again 🖕
That’s not everyone’s situation, maybe pay down bills before thinking about joining
Wait you don't get paid?