The Stress of Not Knowing Your Site!

Last week we returned from Field Based Training. Essentially, this is a time where Peace Corps Trainees get to venture out into the country as a group to visit other Volunteers who work in the same field. It's absolutely amazing to see a "real" PCV in their "native" habitat :) For me it was a mixture of highs and lows as most Peace Corps experiences seem to be. Right now, our group is in the torturous stages of being so close to knowing where we're going to live for the next two years but also still having to wait a significant amount of time. It's like when you're waiting for acceptance letters from college! I don't have a specific site in mind that I want to live in necessarily, the largest part is making sure I'm set up with a municipality that has some structure and will be supportive as well as that I live with a family for the first three months that is very open, accepting, loving and can make me feel at home more or less. That's really what's stressing me out, I can live in the east, west, north, hot, cold, I don't care that much it's just those two factors that keep me up at night. Because I'm working in municipal development and elections are coming up it's going to be a challenging time for us municipal volunteers. Parties are going to want us to campaign with us and we are prohibited from being involved in such things (thank goodness!) that could also potentially mean that funding is tied up to election related activities to beef up votes. Also, with the second year it will be challenging if the administration does change because oftentimes that entails a completely new staff and new priorities. Thus, we'll be starting from zero essentially. It's going to fascinating and challenging at the same time but one thing that I have to ensure is that I continue to motivate myself and take initiative. In a couple months, the summer camp that is training is going to end and I'm going to have to once again deal with the politics of works...except even more so because it will literally be in a political environment, in another culture, and another language.

The Peace Corps volunteers offered some valuable advice that I want to post for other trainees, volunteers or people interested in Peace Corps.

One: TAKE INITIATIVE! In training we learn a lot about capacity building and ensuring that host country nationals take the initiative, but one volunteer who I consider to have had a successful service says that many volunteers misinterpret this information and end up sitting in an office for two years and find that they have little to nothing to show for their close of service report. You always want to involve HCN but that doesn't mean you can't get things started!

Two: YOU MAKE YOUR SITE! It's all about attitude, outlook, setting goals, remaining flexible and keeping a sense of humor. I think that's going to be some what of a mantra for me

Three: WORK WITH YOUTH! I'm learning this in training, but kids are amazing. They always want to play, interact, learn, and even though this can be overwhelming at times when you just want to be alone, it is also a blessing and a great way to combat loneliness. If we can start educating youngsters...we may be able to galvanize some sort of change

Four: MAKE SURE YOUR FIRST SECONDARY PROJECT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL! This I found interesting, if the first project you plan is a total failure at first, you may have a pretty hard time building up trust if you've wasted a bunch of people's times. Be realistic about timelines, what can be accomplished and what it takes to get there.

Five: DO WHAT KEEPS YOU SANE! There will be a lot of sacrificing of self while in a more conservative country, but you have to find some outlets that help keep you sane. If that means you need to buy a tv...buy it! If that means you need to visit other volunteers nearby once a month...do it! The mental challenges are more difficult than the physical challenges of bucket baths, cold water, or non stop rain (or drought) so sometimes you're going to have to treat yourself!) but I'm also fascinated by the culture in the West. Kinda leaving it up to fate so that I keep an open mind because I know that it's up to me to make sure I have a good experience here!

Well, that's all for now I suppose, at some point I'll post some pictures to make things less boring haha