Peace Corps Probabilities

An old friend recently asked me what Peace Corps was like. While each volunteer's unique is different, most are likely to experience some of the following.

Peace Corps can be incredibly challenging. You are thousands of miles away from a comforting home and those you love, living in a far-off village alone while speaking a foreign language. People may laugh at you and you aren't sure why. They might not understand you or what you are doing there and you might have problems communicating with them; people questioning you then makes you wonder why you're there. Work is slow and sometimes you have to fight to find it. Your body and mind might change. You will miss the important people in your life and important events: weddings, holidays, births - and it will hurt.


But all the while Peace Corps can be immensely rewarding. Your independence will be strengthened beyond what you can comprehend. You will surprise yourself with your resourcefulness. The strange village will become your home as people greet you by name and interact with you. Things that seemed odd at first will make you laugh, like riding with goats on a taxi. You will meet people you never would have met, see things you never would have seen and do things you never would have done. You might travel to discover more. You will make amazing friends. You will learn to appreciate what you have and the experience that is changing you.
I've still got ten months to go before I finish this life-changing service, but I can already see why they say Peace Corps is the toughest job you'll ever love.

Enough sentiments.... I've been "busy" preparing for the shipment of books coming to my area schools! Over a thousand books are on a ship heading to South Africa full of reading books for my local preschools. We've got to prepare for them: making shelves, organizing the books, training teachers how to use them, etc. I've also got a workshop of teaching safety in the preschools coming up in the mountains.