Since I got here I have had multiple people from home ask me, "Should I join the Peace Corps?" and follow up with all sorts of questions that go in the same vein. I think the best I can do is make my general response public for everyone, and then individually follow up with anyone who wants to.
PLEASE NOTE: I am speaking only from my personal experience. What it was like for me, applying, and then getting accepted, getting nominated, getting sent to Morocco, training, and now my mere 20 days at site. I make absolutely NO claim that any of this will apply to you. Also, I am at this current moment, head over heels in love with this program, so maybe check in again in a few months?
Applying: You don't get to pick where you go. You don't get to go somewhere where you are culturally acclimated. You don't get to go somewhere where you speak the language.
I was an exception for very specific reasons, and those reasons made my first three months here a work-in-progress and probably made me the program manager's least favorite person and my teacher's least favorite student. They were opening a post in Tunisia, and they wanted people who spoke Tunisian already, because the program was going to be new so there was not infrastructure prepared to teach people the language. When the revolution happened (tahya Tunis) Peace Corps in collaboration with the Embassy decided it would not be sending us there. I was notified I could choose to either go the next available place or wait 18 months. If I chose to wait, they would either send me to Tunisia if it opened in that time or send me to Morocco. I chose to wait, and with Tunis not opening I was sent to Morocco. Accordingly, the language training was set up for beginners, and I was not the happiest student (in retrospect, I was an unhappy jerk - that somehow my teacher, classmates, and volunteer who came to visit put up with me).
Normally, you pick a region and if the stars align you get sent there and if they don't you don't AND the regions are huge. They are: the Caribbean, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Asia, North Africa & The Middle East (mine), Africa, The Pacific Islands, South America, and Central America & Mexico. They also supposedly try hard not to send you somewhere where you speak the language (unless you speak Spanish or French: then they tell you those are helpful in your application and they maybe will put you in places where those languages are spoken).
Their website can explain that process way better than I can because I just don't know how it works from the inside: http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/howvol/faq/
They also decide what you are best suited to do. I would say, no matter what, don't accept a nomination for something you don't actually want to do for two years. I was slated for youth development, education, and business development, despite the fact that in every stage of the interview process I said that I wanted to do construction projects (I wanted simply to be extra hands where more hands were needed- and have experience roofing and siding so I felt my skill set matched that desire pretty well). I told them that no matter what I would not accept a business development post because my approach to development does not involve me pushing American capitalistic ideals on others, and I have absolutely no qualifications to make me capable of actually helping anyone do anything entrepreneurial (it would be a case of, I am from a country with more money so maybe I know something, and that just isn't what I accept as service).
As for your skill set, they try really hard to find things that you seem suited to do, and they try during training (which is different in every country) to give you some skills you are lacking - but mostly you have to be VERY willing to self-teach (so all the Hampshire students who have asked me or thought about Peace Corps, you really will get to use some of the skills we learned there, undoubtedly). The resources are phenomenal (in Morocco our library is incredible) to help you become the best volunteer possible, you just have to be determined to do it, often on your own.
Healthcare/Dentalcare: One thing I wish I knew long before applying for this was that the hoops for health and dental clearance were expensive for me. From what I understand you have to be the healthiest person of anyone you ever met. I understand why, but I also dislike it. More frustratingly, they don't care if you don't have health or dental care, they reimburse you only for what each procedure/exam/test would cost if you had healthcare. I think all in, because I had to go through the process twice (because the time between my two departure dates was more than a year off, and all your exams have to be within a year of they day you get on the plane) I racked up about $3000.00 in credit card bills that I will be paying off for the next long time (because I surely don't have enough cash in this program to start making any payments, though I am trying to make $20.00 payments a month so the interest doesn't kill me and my credit doesn't fail).
This all was frustrating for me, because all of those tests etc. were things I never would have done if not for Peace Corps. I think if you don't have either health or dental you should seriously consider other ways you can volunteer, or decide if you have that cash to spend/that credit to use- and look into dentists who do the exams for free (some do which made this all bearable cost wise, but they have limited schedules when they are able to do them so plan accordingly). Similarly, my student loan deferments have still not been accepted, and it is stressing me out every single day I am here. Money issues do not leave you alone no matter how far you run, or how fast, or in what direction.
That being said the housing/living stipend is REALLY enough to live on. You will comfortably live, better than many around you. You will not be able to afford the silly American things that are available here, like McDonalds, except on the occasional splurge, but you will get to eat excellent meals you cook yourself every day for 2 years. Truthfully though, if I could do this all again so far, I really would have saved a lot lot more, because the purchasing power of the dollar here is so incredible that I realize with a couple hundred more dollars in my home bank account I could lavish the people I adore here with some pretty excellent things and could travel this country a bit more. I am doing my best to save up for a bike and a camera now, and again, those random expenses I didn't expect, would be nonexistent if I had been able to save more before I left.
Health and dental in country, at least in Morocco is INCREDIBLE. Our medical kits are clearly tried and true, everything you could ever want (except maybe dayquil/nyquil). Unlimited and restockable they make me feel like a billionaire. Even the less obvious but still preventative medical things are supplied to us, sunscreen, dental floss, bug spray, and mosquito netting, for example. So far, my encounter with the Peace Corps Medical Office (PCMO) has involved breaking my glasses. The arm of my glasses broke off in my sleep. They asked me to drop them off at our next meeting rather than try to fix them myself. I did and rather than crazy glue the arm back on which would have been my solution they went ahead and had a whole new pair made for me -which they just handed to me a few days later!! I was stunned. What incredible incredible support. They also managed to get me a new carbon monoxide dioxide detector in about 3 days when mine broke.
As to the veracity of the general horror stories about how PC handles sexual assault I can not speak. I thankfully, have no idea what is or is not true.
What I can say is two completely opposite things: I absolutely hated our original, DC required sexual harassment training. I in fact, reacted so harshly that at one point I raised my hand and said "Everything you just said was bullshit" really disrespectfully to our PST director because I was so agitated, and left shortly thereafter. That being said, our country director and a number of other really incredible administrators, and volunteers, reached out to me. They acknowledged that the presentation of the information was not as good as it could be, and asked for more constructive criticism. Though I am still working on my formal letter (because as you can imagine this whole thing has been quite a whirlwind) I feel really listened to. I can't decide if that is because our country director is a kick-ass phenomenal woman, and our safety and security lady is clearly one of the coolest women I have ever met, or because Peace Corps really listens.
As for what they do when something happens, I can say from first hand experience there is a definite system in place that works within the context of the assault. I had a very scary situation, and Peace Corps reacted perfectly before I even picked up the phone. My host family called my teacher, and he met me at our house, before the police even got there. By the time we got to the police station the regional manager was there waiting. Both the head of safety and security, and the head of our training called me on the phone, and they actively explained what courses of action I could take and how each would look. They spoke with my host father, and found out that he wanted to press charges, and then spoke with me again to ask me what I wanted now that they knew he was going to. They quadruple checked that I still felt safe in my town, and offered to put me up in other towns/with other host families/in a hotel etc. Within days I was contacted by the victims advocate in DC and the safety and security director had come to visit me in my town. They continue to check up on me, and asked if I wanted mental counseling as well.
All in all, I feel like I have a really strong safety net, and I wish I felt like I had that kind of administrative support back in the US.
Some of you asked for the most negative thoughts I could come up with, here they are: I have made the comment that this program makes me fall in love with it and fall in hate with it every day. The hate part is usually due to some weird rule that makes me feel like I am 8 and not trusted and underutilized (for example, we had to do serious training for spring camps, I worked my butt off to plan what would be a cool one, my town isn't having one, and I wasn't granted permission to go to the closest town to help with theirs…whomp whomp whomp - I feel pretty useless and like I am wasting this week because there is no volunteer work to do while my town is on vacation). I really expected Peace Corps to be nonstop volunteer work, and so far it feels like I could have come here on a paying job and just volunteered 20 hours a week in my spare time. I think that has to do with the learning curve/work curve of the first few months - and also with the fact that I am living with a host family that really loves just hanging in the living room with me. I won't know that until I get to know my community much better and am submerged in whatever my work will look like in the future.
So far, my previous volunteer experiences feel like they have had more depth of impact up to this point, despite the fact that they were shorter or less full time. I know that will change, I just don't know how soon.
I was also really hurt by the language exam. You all know how I feel about exams anyway (that they don't mean a thing, especially because I pour sweat the second I think I might be being tested), but despite the fact that it was supposed to all be private knowledge, the information was presented in such a way that they told 100 of my colleagues they don't think I am an advanced speaker of the language, based on asking me questions only about really basic concepts. A bunch of people I don't know from a hole in the wall made direct eye contact with me as they announced that there are no advanced speakers in our group. My practice tests included some pretty serious tough questions about stereotyping, terrorism, & international relations and then on actual test day the questions were much simpler...'describe your family and your favorite book.' It was a kick in the pride. They also decided semi last minute that the speech at our swearing-in ceremony would be given by someone who had no Arabic background (rather than who had improved the most which I believe would have been fair, or what it was originally, who had scored the highest). I studied my ass off during CBT, lots and lots and lots of conversations, books, and flashcards, only to be told I wasn't in the running for the speech because I studied fusha in college. It took all the wind out of my sails and made me second-guess other things this program had me excited for. That being said, the girl who gave the speech did a great job and if that small kind of frustration is the worst this program has to offer, I just need to become a bit more humble and shove my head back in a textbook so I can achieve the advanced level next time we are tested. _______________________________________________
My final answer is, look at Peace Corps only if you are flexible and okay with understanding loneliness on a level you didn't imagine before. Don't look at it if you have some really tangible particular goal in the next couple years of your life that involves making money or directly starting a career. DO NOT DO PEACE CORPS TO 'BUILD' YOUR RESUME. Please, for the love of all that is good, this is actual service to actual people, who only really need someone who actually wants to help them in the ways that they ask for help. And surely, don't apply if you think you know what other countries need already. You need you be willing to hear people ask for assistance and then give the assistance they ask for.
You have to be outgoing at least to the extent that you won't drown in loneliness or stay inside all day. You have to not embarrass easily. You have to want to change things for the better. You have to want to grow. You have to be willing to criticize your own understanding of development REALLY consistently. You have to be willing to be treated like a child, and called 'meskine'/'pobrecita' as all the people around you consistently tell you how unfortunate it is that you are so bad at speaking their language/following their customs/cooking their food/sleeping in 100degree weather. You have to be willing to leave your comfort zone, and... your life will be easier if you are willing to eat everything ever cooked, drink really weird things, play silly games, learn awkward dances/songs, be the odd one out in every room, and to be misunderstood, consistently, no matter how many languages you speak or how hard you study.
I once read a quote about a woman opening her coin purse and having rials, dirhams, pounds, quarters, and yen fall out. That is the woman I am becoming/have always truly been. That wanderlust made me sure that my future after getting my degree was not meant to be in the US. I didn't choose Peace Corps, it chose me, long before I was ready to start applying. I always knew I wanted to devote my life to service. The privilege of being from America, and young, and healthy, meant that I could do it long term, abroad, without raising money for the travel first. I feel like the luckiest woman around, and I am incredibly excited for these two years. If this paragraph made sense to you, then apply, and feel free to ask me to read over your application/essays.
If you have any personal questions, or follow-ups PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. I'll continue to give you the best/most honest response I can.
PLEASE NOTE: I am speaking only from my personal experience. What it was like for me, applying, and then getting accepted, getting nominated, getting sent to Morocco, training, and now my mere 20 days at site. I make absolutely NO claim that any of this will apply to you. Also, I am at this current moment, head over heels in love with this program, so maybe check in again in a few months?
Applying: You don't get to pick where you go. You don't get to go somewhere where you are culturally acclimated. You don't get to go somewhere where you speak the language.
I was an exception for very specific reasons, and those reasons made my first three months here a work-in-progress and probably made me the program manager's least favorite person and my teacher's least favorite student. They were opening a post in Tunisia, and they wanted people who spoke Tunisian already, because the program was going to be new so there was not infrastructure prepared to teach people the language. When the revolution happened (tahya Tunis) Peace Corps in collaboration with the Embassy decided it would not be sending us there. I was notified I could choose to either go the next available place or wait 18 months. If I chose to wait, they would either send me to Tunisia if it opened in that time or send me to Morocco. I chose to wait, and with Tunis not opening I was sent to Morocco. Accordingly, the language training was set up for beginners, and I was not the happiest student (in retrospect, I was an unhappy jerk - that somehow my teacher, classmates, and volunteer who came to visit put up with me).
Normally, you pick a region and if the stars align you get sent there and if they don't you don't AND the regions are huge. They are: the Caribbean, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Asia, North Africa & The Middle East (mine), Africa, The Pacific Islands, South America, and Central America & Mexico. They also supposedly try hard not to send you somewhere where you speak the language (unless you speak Spanish or French: then they tell you those are helpful in your application and they maybe will put you in places where those languages are spoken).
Their website can explain that process way better than I can because I just don't know how it works from the inside: http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/howvol/faq/
They also decide what you are best suited to do. I would say, no matter what, don't accept a nomination for something you don't actually want to do for two years. I was slated for youth development, education, and business development, despite the fact that in every stage of the interview process I said that I wanted to do construction projects (I wanted simply to be extra hands where more hands were needed- and have experience roofing and siding so I felt my skill set matched that desire pretty well). I told them that no matter what I would not accept a business development post because my approach to development does not involve me pushing American capitalistic ideals on others, and I have absolutely no qualifications to make me capable of actually helping anyone do anything entrepreneurial (it would be a case of, I am from a country with more money so maybe I know something, and that just isn't what I accept as service).
As for your skill set, they try really hard to find things that you seem suited to do, and they try during training (which is different in every country) to give you some skills you are lacking - but mostly you have to be VERY willing to self-teach (so all the Hampshire students who have asked me or thought about Peace Corps, you really will get to use some of the skills we learned there, undoubtedly). The resources are phenomenal (in Morocco our library is incredible) to help you become the best volunteer possible, you just have to be determined to do it, often on your own.
Healthcare/Dentalcare: One thing I wish I knew long before applying for this was that the hoops for health and dental clearance were expensive for me. From what I understand you have to be the healthiest person of anyone you ever met. I understand why, but I also dislike it. More frustratingly, they don't care if you don't have health or dental care, they reimburse you only for what each procedure/exam/test would cost if you had healthcare. I think all in, because I had to go through the process twice (because the time between my two departure dates was more than a year off, and all your exams have to be within a year of they day you get on the plane) I racked up about $3000.00 in credit card bills that I will be paying off for the next long time (because I surely don't have enough cash in this program to start making any payments, though I am trying to make $20.00 payments a month so the interest doesn't kill me and my credit doesn't fail).
This all was frustrating for me, because all of those tests etc. were things I never would have done if not for Peace Corps. I think if you don't have either health or dental you should seriously consider other ways you can volunteer, or decide if you have that cash to spend/that credit to use- and look into dentists who do the exams for free (some do which made this all bearable cost wise, but they have limited schedules when they are able to do them so plan accordingly). Similarly, my student loan deferments have still not been accepted, and it is stressing me out every single day I am here. Money issues do not leave you alone no matter how far you run, or how fast, or in what direction.
That being said the housing/living stipend is REALLY enough to live on. You will comfortably live, better than many around you. You will not be able to afford the silly American things that are available here, like McDonalds, except on the occasional splurge, but you will get to eat excellent meals you cook yourself every day for 2 years. Truthfully though, if I could do this all again so far, I really would have saved a lot lot more, because the purchasing power of the dollar here is so incredible that I realize with a couple hundred more dollars in my home bank account I could lavish the people I adore here with some pretty excellent things and could travel this country a bit more. I am doing my best to save up for a bike and a camera now, and again, those random expenses I didn't expect, would be nonexistent if I had been able to save more before I left.
Health and dental in country, at least in Morocco is INCREDIBLE. Our medical kits are clearly tried and true, everything you could ever want (except maybe dayquil/nyquil). Unlimited and restockable they make me feel like a billionaire. Even the less obvious but still preventative medical things are supplied to us, sunscreen, dental floss, bug spray, and mosquito netting, for example. So far, my encounter with the Peace Corps Medical Office (PCMO) has involved breaking my glasses. The arm of my glasses broke off in my sleep. They asked me to drop them off at our next meeting rather than try to fix them myself. I did and rather than crazy glue the arm back on which would have been my solution they went ahead and had a whole new pair made for me -which they just handed to me a few days later!! I was stunned. What incredible incredible support. They also managed to get me a new carbon monoxide dioxide detector in about 3 days when mine broke.
As to the veracity of the general horror stories about how PC handles sexual assault I can not speak. I thankfully, have no idea what is or is not true.
What I can say is two completely opposite things: I absolutely hated our original, DC required sexual harassment training. I in fact, reacted so harshly that at one point I raised my hand and said "Everything you just said was bullshit" really disrespectfully to our PST director because I was so agitated, and left shortly thereafter. That being said, our country director and a number of other really incredible administrators, and volunteers, reached out to me. They acknowledged that the presentation of the information was not as good as it could be, and asked for more constructive criticism. Though I am still working on my formal letter (because as you can imagine this whole thing has been quite a whirlwind) I feel really listened to. I can't decide if that is because our country director is a kick-ass phenomenal woman, and our safety and security lady is clearly one of the coolest women I have ever met, or because Peace Corps really listens.
As for what they do when something happens, I can say from first hand experience there is a definite system in place that works within the context of the assault. I had a very scary situation, and Peace Corps reacted perfectly before I even picked up the phone. My host family called my teacher, and he met me at our house, before the police even got there. By the time we got to the police station the regional manager was there waiting. Both the head of safety and security, and the head of our training called me on the phone, and they actively explained what courses of action I could take and how each would look. They spoke with my host father, and found out that he wanted to press charges, and then spoke with me again to ask me what I wanted now that they knew he was going to. They quadruple checked that I still felt safe in my town, and offered to put me up in other towns/with other host families/in a hotel etc. Within days I was contacted by the victims advocate in DC and the safety and security director had come to visit me in my town. They continue to check up on me, and asked if I wanted mental counseling as well.
All in all, I feel like I have a really strong safety net, and I wish I felt like I had that kind of administrative support back in the US.
Some of you asked for the most negative thoughts I could come up with, here they are: I have made the comment that this program makes me fall in love with it and fall in hate with it every day. The hate part is usually due to some weird rule that makes me feel like I am 8 and not trusted and underutilized (for example, we had to do serious training for spring camps, I worked my butt off to plan what would be a cool one, my town isn't having one, and I wasn't granted permission to go to the closest town to help with theirs…whomp whomp whomp - I feel pretty useless and like I am wasting this week because there is no volunteer work to do while my town is on vacation). I really expected Peace Corps to be nonstop volunteer work, and so far it feels like I could have come here on a paying job and just volunteered 20 hours a week in my spare time. I think that has to do with the learning curve/work curve of the first few months - and also with the fact that I am living with a host family that really loves just hanging in the living room with me. I won't know that until I get to know my community much better and am submerged in whatever my work will look like in the future.
So far, my previous volunteer experiences feel like they have had more depth of impact up to this point, despite the fact that they were shorter or less full time. I know that will change, I just don't know how soon.
I was also really hurt by the language exam. You all know how I feel about exams anyway (that they don't mean a thing, especially because I pour sweat the second I think I might be being tested), but despite the fact that it was supposed to all be private knowledge, the information was presented in such a way that they told 100 of my colleagues they don't think I am an advanced speaker of the language, based on asking me questions only about really basic concepts. A bunch of people I don't know from a hole in the wall made direct eye contact with me as they announced that there are no advanced speakers in our group. My practice tests included some pretty serious tough questions about stereotyping, terrorism, & international relations and then on actual test day the questions were much simpler...'describe your family and your favorite book.' It was a kick in the pride. They also decided semi last minute that the speech at our swearing-in ceremony would be given by someone who had no Arabic background (rather than who had improved the most which I believe would have been fair, or what it was originally, who had scored the highest). I studied my ass off during CBT, lots and lots and lots of conversations, books, and flashcards, only to be told I wasn't in the running for the speech because I studied fusha in college. It took all the wind out of my sails and made me second-guess other things this program had me excited for. That being said, the girl who gave the speech did a great job and if that small kind of frustration is the worst this program has to offer, I just need to become a bit more humble and shove my head back in a textbook so I can achieve the advanced level next time we are tested. _______________________________________________
My final answer is, look at Peace Corps only if you are flexible and okay with understanding loneliness on a level you didn't imagine before. Don't look at it if you have some really tangible particular goal in the next couple years of your life that involves making money or directly starting a career. DO NOT DO PEACE CORPS TO 'BUILD' YOUR RESUME. Please, for the love of all that is good, this is actual service to actual people, who only really need someone who actually wants to help them in the ways that they ask for help. And surely, don't apply if you think you know what other countries need already. You need you be willing to hear people ask for assistance and then give the assistance they ask for.
You have to be outgoing at least to the extent that you won't drown in loneliness or stay inside all day. You have to not embarrass easily. You have to want to change things for the better. You have to want to grow. You have to be willing to criticize your own understanding of development REALLY consistently. You have to be willing to be treated like a child, and called 'meskine'/'pobrecita' as all the people around you consistently tell you how unfortunate it is that you are so bad at speaking their language/following their customs/cooking their food/sleeping in 100degree weather. You have to be willing to leave your comfort zone, and... your life will be easier if you are willing to eat everything ever cooked, drink really weird things, play silly games, learn awkward dances/songs, be the odd one out in every room, and to be misunderstood, consistently, no matter how many languages you speak or how hard you study.
I once read a quote about a woman opening her coin purse and having rials, dirhams, pounds, quarters, and yen fall out. That is the woman I am becoming/have always truly been. That wanderlust made me sure that my future after getting my degree was not meant to be in the US. I didn't choose Peace Corps, it chose me, long before I was ready to start applying. I always knew I wanted to devote my life to service. The privilege of being from America, and young, and healthy, meant that I could do it long term, abroad, without raising money for the travel first. I feel like the luckiest woman around, and I am incredibly excited for these two years. If this paragraph made sense to you, then apply, and feel free to ask me to read over your application/essays.
If you have any personal questions, or follow-ups PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. I'll continue to give you the best/most honest response I can.
