Questions and Answers

But First: Got my results from the FSOT. Didn’t pass this time around. I was close, but just a little below the cut off. Got some good tips from people who did better than me on what I can improve for next year, and I have a much more solid grasp on what I need to do to pass.

However, with that out of the way, I’m fully committed to extending my service now. Because my service at my site may now only be about half way over as opposed to ¾, I thought now would be a good time to do some question and answer, particularly the harder questions I’ve come across.

Why would you extend for another year? Are you crazy? Aren’t you just putting off real life for another year?

To be clear, I still need to get approval for my extension. Not guaranteed until then. Above is actually a few different questions, and I’ll try to address each (out of order).

Are you crazy?: Probably. It has nothing to do from Peace Corps. I’ve always been the kind of person to stick with something. I skipped a semester of college to keep working on the Obama Campaign, which I had only originally signed up to work for the summer of 2008. It’s actually a pretty similar situation now.

Aren’t you just putting off real life for another year?: Real life is what you make it to be. I have a job, responsibilities, friends, and plans. I guess my student loans are deferred for now, and I’ll eventually have to get a job that can pay those off. So in that regards yes, I’m putting off student loans another year, but real life? It’s a bit dramatic.

Why extend?: Several reasons. The most important is that I have a lot of good work I can do with another year. I’ve written a lot about my out of school youth project. It’s still gradually progressing, and I want to see it reach a point where I can pass it off to my host country partners, something I’m doubtful I can do in the next six months, but I think 18 months is more than reasonable. If I extend, I may also get the opportunity to be a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (PCVL). It’s a chance to work closely with our staff in Manila and work to improve the overall program. Not only is it a chance to do a lot of management-level work (and maybe convince employers back in America that I AM qualified), but more importantly I do feel confident I can add a lot to the program, taking in all the things other volunteers have told me. I’m happy here in the Philippines, and though I don’t intend to live here the rest of my life, I can spend some more time here. I love the work I’m doing, which isn’t a guarantee in life, so I’ll keep doing what I love while I can. 

Why does it take two or more years to get something accomplished?

Ooh, good question. I ask myself that one often. When I first applied to Peace Corps I balked at the two years. Clearly my perception’s changed a bit. First, you don’t need two years to get something accomplished. Sometimes you just need one moment to inspire a child, to turn a community’s opinion of Americans into a positive one, to learn a valuable life lesson you’ll take with you for the rest of your life. However, when people ask me that question, and when I ask it of myself, usually we’re referring to more of the “glamorous” projects, the one’s you can find in the newspaper, or on the Peace Corps website. When we talk about accomplishments, we aim high. So here’s a rough timelines for my experience here in regards to my projects.

July 2011-September: Pre-Service Training. I learned Ilocano, got adjusted to the culture, learned different tips and tools from Peace Corps.

September-December: Got settled into my community. Had one good leadership camp. One month in there was spent sitting around due to a couple large typhoons that hit us.
January 2012-July: I had a number of small projects. About a half dozen projects that didn’t go anywhere. Got to know more and more people in my community. Helped with a couple camps at other volunteer’s sites.
August -November: Finally hit gold with a project. I wanted to work at helping the out of school youth, it really clicked with my community. Still, took a few months to meet as many people as I could, haggled my way into getting to the far flung areas, had to reschedule a few meetings. Also compiled all the feedback they gave me.
December: Not a whole lot. Holidays kind of slows things down here. Also took a two week vacation back to America.
January 2013-Now: Designed a framework for a much more comprehensive project than I planned. Slowly but surely getting all the community partners I need on board, getting things prepared, trouble shooting, etc.

You just don’t get off the plane, put on a smile, and suddenly start building wells, and doubling the farm crop. If that was the case, there really wouldn’t be a need for Peace Corps. We learn, we do some trial and error, and hopefully it pays off.

Why does the Philippines still need the Peace Corps after over 50 years?

Another good question. Answer one: It’s not the job of the Peace Corps to “save” countries worldwide. We work mostly on a micro-level, doing good works for specific communities, we don’t have the resources or manpower to tackle country-wide poverty. However, just because something’s on the micro-level, doesn’t mean it’s not important. A thousand people better won’t change the entire country, but nothing to scoff at. Even a hundred. Even ten youth in need.

Answer two: Even America still has a strong need for NGOs and community service. I don’t think there’s a single country worldwide that has ever been so perfect as to not benefit from aid in one form or another.  

I heard the Peace Corps isn’t a very good organization because of X, Y, and Z.

Pessimism is how people without ideas or solutions attempt to sound smart.

That being said, the Peace Corps is over 50 years old, it has had over 200,000 volunteers, it currently has about 8,000 volunteers in over 70 countries. Mistakes do happen, and just like any organization or agency, it has its strengths and weaknesses, and just like anything else people disagree on what those strengths and weaknesses are. My best advice is if you’re trying to get a feel of the Peace Corps as a whole, look at as many experiences and sources as you can, and put them all together. After all, I’m hardly in any position to judge the experience of my friend teaching English in Sierra Leone, or of a volunteer doing healthcare in Latin America, or comment on how our headquarters in D.C. is doing things. Most of us only ever get a limited perspective.

If I am selected as a PCVL, hopefully I can help make Peace Corps Philippines (even) better. 

I feel like I’m not getting a lot done right now. What should I do?

This is a question I get from other volunteers. It’s been easier to answer this one with newer volunteers, as they’ve yet to reach the point where I personally found a more long term project. It’s more difficult to answer with volunteers who came into country the same time as I did. One thing I wish Peace Corps did was to be more candid about how we’re not guaranteed some sort of community changing project when we sign up. Just like in any job you apply for, there’s no guarantee it’ll match all of your expectations. However, for most volunteers I’ve talked to, it’s not that there hasn’t been some good. They were able to accomplish things here and there, they just wanted more. I can’t blame them, it’s the main reason why I’m extending.

If all else fails, it’s still a learning experience. It’s not all the time you get to live and work in another culture. It’s a unique experience.

Why aren’t you dating a Filipina? Do you not like Filipinas?

Now this question has come from my own community. It still irks me that even should the out of school youth get the services and assistance to really improve things, there will still be a lot more people who care more about whether I’m dating. My personal favorite is when they ask “How many chicks” followed by a kissing sound. I normally just joke out of it, say I’m in love with my older, married coworkers, and make claims that I’ve tried, but no one wants to date the young, white guy they think is rich. However, I do have a few legitimate reasons.

The biggest thing is if I’m going to date, I’d like it to be with someone I have a lot in common with. My interests are in global affairs, international development, and it’s difficult to find that in a young woman in rural Philippines, and I don’t spend the same kind of time in the larger cities to get so acquainted as to find people with those interests like me. I’m told often how “pretty and nice” a girI is, which isn’t a bad start, but I’m really more interested in shared interests.

Also there is the trust issue. I’m hot stuff mostly because they do think I’m rich. To be fair, I probably will be rich by comparison to most my community whenever I get my loans paid. Living in America does have more amenities even if I don’t have the mansion they think I have. However, I’m not going to date someone because they’re looking for a green card. Although it might not be everyone, it’s hard to tell the difference.

The final reason is that I have a good thing going in my community and with the Peace Corps. Dating sounds like a solid way to add a lot of drama that could undo a lot of what I’ve been building up. Not worth it.

What have you learned in the Peace Corps?

Too much. This question’s tricky cause I don’t know where to start, and because I don’t want to go so long as to lose your attention. So let’s stick to a few of the highlights.

-Expectations!: A hamburger tastes so much better if you’ve been without for six months. An hour’s delay if nothing if you’re used to things getting delayed far longer. Whether a Peace Corps experience is positive or negative is sometimes determined more on the volunteer’s expectations than what’s actually happening. Getting a community behind a project is about shifting their own expectations, making them expect more from themselves.

-Development: Development needs more doers than thinkers. I love to think. I love to plan and brainstorm and think I’m brilliant, but my success in the Peace Corps has come from finding the ideas that already exist in the community. To all the aspiring undergraduates and graduates looking into development, all your years of studying is helpful, but it’s not going to make you understand more about an impoverished people than they understand about themselves. You’ll find that successful development projects worldwide almost all stem from local ideas, inspired by the people themselves.

-Myself: I think I’m doing a few things right with my life. Always room for improvement.

Would you recommend the Peace Corps to me?

Hm… that depends on who you are. That depends what you’re looking for.  It doesn’t hurt to start the application process, it took me about eight months from typing the first letter on the online application to stepping on the plane, that’s a good deal of time to consider if it’s right for you. The other thing I’d suggest is to ask yourself what you’ll do instead if not doing the Peace Corps? My first paying job after getting my undergraduate was being a cashier at the Home Depot. I have two years “relevant work experience” under my belt to finally be qualified for those jobs I tried to get two years ago, but now I might have the chance to do some really great things in a third year that none of those jobs offered. However, that was just me. Other people probably have more tempting alternatives.