Why Peace Corps?

I originally wrote this on March 17th, 2012 and posted it elsewhere. However, this seems a reasonable introduction to the 2+ years of my life I will be documenting here. Why am I even doing this, anyway?

I’m here in that fleeting space between clearance and invite, and I’ve spent the last year thinking really hard about why I want to join the Peace Corps, and not do some other type of volunteerism abroad. And really, witnessing volunteering abroad is a lot of my motivation for fully pursuing the Peace Corps.

Some back story: In December of 2010, I was fully set on applying to MA/PhD programs in Canada – I wanted to focus on language change and identity. I was writing an interesting paper about the duel theories of Michif phonology – the exotic and the practical. I was siding strongly with the practical. It felt like a really promising time.

An e-mail came out over my university’s linguistics listserve – a new partnership with Peace Corps Master’s International. Do grad school and gain international experience. That sounds awesome. But I had my own plans already in motion.

Then, of course, came the great computer death. I saw it coming, had data backup plans, but ultimately was too late. Everything I had worked on for grad school applications was gone. So I might as well just throw something out there, right? That PCMI program sounded pretty neat – so with a week to get it all done, I harassed some faculty for recommendation letters and threw together an application promising that no matter what, I would be a PCMI student.

Of course, I didn’t really believe it at the time. It all seemed a little far-fetched. I had a healthy skepticism of federally funded international programs, with no small thanks to my liberal arts education. I mean, sure, volunteering abroad combined the two things I regretted not doing as an undergrad: volunteer work and studying abroad. But, you’ve got to be kidding me, I’m not going to volunteer with the Peace Corps. 

In February of 2011 I went to visit some friends in Argentina. They were doing volunteer work in an orphanage, and it seemed awesome. The hostel I was staying at was filled with other people doing volunteer work here in Argentina – a lot of which I would be qualified for.

Then I started asking questions. First, I thought they would get living stipends. No. Then, I assumed they had a living allowance. Also, no. What about cost of travel? No. Finally, I asked how much it was going to cost them.

$100 a week. Not including any of their other costs (food, transport, etc).

Almost everyone I met had a similar story. They had saved and saved and saved to come to South America so they could pay $100 a week just for the benefit of volunteering. And even then, I kind of got it. I mean, not all volunteer agencies can have great funding. Any little bit helps, right?

About halfway through my trip, my friends told me about a trip to Tigre – a town outside of Buenos Aires – that was sponsored by their volunteer agency. Let’s do it! A day outside the city would be a welcome change. So we got on the subway, changed trains about five times, and finally found ourselves in Tigre. Only then were we lead to a booth to buy a ticket for a river ferry.

This was the view from our boat. We spent maybe an hour heading down these ‘latte colored waters’ of the Parana Delta. We had no idea what our destination was to be, so we were a little surprised when we got here.

This is a small schoolhouse that serves the children of the delta – they had an amazing library, a computer room, a music room, an organic garden. Just – a lot of great stuff. It was really great to go inside and talk to the teachers and meet the students – they were really proud of the garden. But then they lined us up and made the appeal for money. Everyone pulled 100 pesos ($25) out of their pockets, instantly. I felt uncomfortable and retreated outside.

There, I spoke to a Scandinavian gentleman, who on the surface, seemed deeply attached to the school and its problems. The delta frequently flooded, so the students had inconsistent access to education. The teachers were often unable to get out to the school. Despite the passion, things seemed grim. I guess the role call for money made sense, but I was still a little uneasy. He then offered to take me a few others down the delta to see a project that he was working on.

This is his hostelria in progress – this is where wealthy portenos will come for the weekend, and for the equivalent of $400 a night, have access to an on-site organic chef, Turkish baths in the downstairs, and private rooms with a breathtaking view of the delta.

If you want to talk about a profoundly awful feeling – this is the house next door. Bare mattress lying on the floor, dirt clinging to everything. I am still not certain this man’s relationship to this house, but I do remember something lodging itself in my stomach. If all the school really needed was money, why not donate some proceeds from his hostelria to the school? Why not give the students a chance to use some of their skills in upkeep? Give them jobs? Anything?

It’s taken me a year since this trip to really understand everything that I felt. I think volunteering abroad is great. But I do not think money is a solution. What happens when some other agency captures up more eager young (non-Spanish speaking) post-bacs and their money starts to flow elsewhere? What is the fate of the school then? What even, does the gift of money really do for anyone? Sure, there’s that temporary relief that comes from financial gain, but what about when you have to go it alone? Where is training in skills?

I still do not think the Peace Corps is a perfect agency with perfect answers to these questions. But I do believe it is an agency that has at least begun the process of addressing them – and on an institutional level. It’s up to the individual volunteer whether or not to address them further.

A month ago, I went and watched a lecture by a former country director, and she outlined what Peace Corps was about: Human capacity (not infrastructure), Sustainability(not emergency relief), and Process (not product). So what I saw in Argentina was the opposite of all of these. No one was touting the ability of the people to create their own change, and everyone believed that money was ultimately the solution. Set weekly donations plus random extra donations does not change make. Hell, I don’t even know what makes change, I just know it isn’t that. Like I said above, what happens once the donors are gone? What happens when you sweep in, get people accustomed to random gifts and then pull that away? How does that help?

So, I like Peace Corps because they emphasize the sustainability, the reliance on human capacity, engaging in the process of a solution without a focus on the product. I mentioned my Michif paper above because it seems that all too often the uncommon gets exoticized and othered. It gets special treatment because it’s different. And I don’t really think like that. It turns out I do like the rules when they shut that sort of nonsense down. I am not joining the Peace Corps thinking that I have a special gift that will change peoples’ lives. That there is this magical other reality out there that only exists as an arena to highlight my own skills. NOPE, no way.

Here’s what I do have: I know some things about how to do some things. I want to talk about them if people want to listen. I have a fundamental belief that English is a skill that, if someone feels so motivated to learn, they should have a facilitated journey to that end goal. I think that what they can accomplish with their skills is ultimately up to them, not me. But I know a little bit about how to pass on a skill. That’s pretty cool. But only if someone else really wants it.

If I were to say, “Oh hey I want to learn how to build and maintain my own house” and someone came up and built me a house, maintained it for a few years, and then left… I’d be totally screwed. But if someone listened for what I was having trouble with and facilitated my own learning process, maybe helped me a little way through, and then left? That’s okay. Because someone else is coming along to make sure that knowledge doesn’t get lost. Let’s make sure to focus on the listening bit. I never said, “If someone noticed I lived in a house that they considered ill-built and maintained”. Listening and not noticing.

That is ultimately what I see the Peace Corps as. They have long running projects, that may seem fairly unmonumental from the outside, but that’s exactly what I’m in to. I don’t want to come back talking about how I changed someone’s life. I want to talk about how my own life was changed. From having to navigate the same sorts of situations my future students will: being in an unfamiliar culture with unfamiliar rules.

Maybe I won’t come away having accomplished anything like what I outlined above; maybe I won’t be teaching skills. But this nice thing about Peace Corps is: they account for this. Two of their three goals are simply:

– Help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
– Help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Which is to say,  the Peace Corps is ultimately about fostered intercultural communication and understanding. While that may not be as tangible and concrete as giving someone money to buy something they need, it sure does seem like it will go a lot further.

So you know what? I got in to my master’s program in May 2011, and I started that application process.

I go through this process with a full understanding of the conflicts presented, but I don’t believe in absolutes or a black and white world. And besides, if two thirds of the goals set for me are about giving and gaining a better perspective on this world we all occupy: I got that in the bag.

I know it won’t be easy, and it may not always be fun. But I do know I am so ready, and I am so glad that I decided to pick Peace Corps.