I've probably said all this before, here, at one time or another, but I figured I'd put it up in response to the MR reader.
I were the US government, I'd be pushing PC into more Muslim countries, even loosening the safety requirements, for this very reason. If you could get people to volunteer for assignments that dangerous, getting PCV's into schools all over Afghanistan would, I bet, have an incredibly positive effect on attitudes toward America.
I think you are absolutely right.
I were the US government, I'd be pushing PC into more Muslim countries, even loosening the safety requirements, for this very reason. If you could get people to volunteer for assignments that dangerous, getting PCV's into schools all over Afghanistan would, I bet, have an incredibly positive effect on attitudes toward America.
My understanding is that Peace Corps will only send volunteers to places where a member of the community has requested volunteers, though I could be wrong.
Incidentally, Peace Corps has programs in Jordan and Morocco and they used to have one in Yemen, not sure whether they still do.
Oh, certainly -- they only go to countries were the government requests them, and they only go to countries that are reasonably safe and stable. And there are certainly programs in some Muslim countries. I'd just like to see a relaxation of the safety regulations, and a hard sell from us to get more volunteers into countries where we're unpopular.
My gut feeling is that you're quite right, LB, and that it is the presence of living, breathing, helpful Americans that does the most for our image abroad. When I was a student and very involved in queer rights activism, conventional wisdom was that we sh/could march all we wanted but that real change happened in person-to-person relationships, thus the strong emphasis on coming out to friends/family/etc. I imagine this is largely true for all those who would bridge cultural gaps. Stereotypes and other second-hand information may seem to work just fine when it comes to filling in the knowledge gaps a person has regarding what differentiates them from Those People, whoever they are - and I would argue that to a degree stereotypes serve a very useful purpose when it comes to organizing information - but it is in personal relationships that we learn what we have in common, and that's where the bridges get built.
Right. It's not that we're so impressive in person, but we are charmingly ridiculous and eager to help -- a good image for the US overseas.
I feel bad that this post isn't getting many comments because I think it's very good. I just wanted to say the reason I'm not commenting on it is because I think you get it exactly right and I don't have anything to add. Didn't want LB to think it wasn't appreciated. Yay LB!
I agree with #8.
Would like to especially emphasize that it seems wrong that so many Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to be teachers in a classroom setting. This is a job that roughly zero percent of people who just graduated from college are good at, and the percentage actually goes down when those people are teaching students with a completely alien cultural/educational background.
I had a friend whose Peace Corps job was to teach chemistry in Cameroon. It took her about three months to decide that she would never be able to explain anything to a single one of her students, for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
I agree with #8.
You would, wouldn't you?
Heh. I wasn't that badly off -- I'd say that a solid 20% of my students got something out of my classes, and 3 or 4 kids learned a fair amount. Those three or four were really sort of heartbreaking -- anyone who was successfully learning calculus from me, given all the obstacles, was awfully, awfully smart, but they weren't heading for any serious future education.
Still, smart is always useful. They're probably all doing well for themselves.
I met a couple who were on vacation after a year of Peace Corps duty in a tiny remote village in Senegal. They said they did absolutely nothing while there were there. They would come up with various projects for the village but because people were either herding or farming or taking care of children all day, no one had time to participate. This couple found it very demoralizing and were considering leaving before the end of the two years.
6 s/b 7 and I should just type 'Yay LB!', and wave a little flag, since that's what I meant.
This is a job that roughly zero percent of people who just graduated from college are good at
Weird, that graduate students are expected to be good at it, often just out of college.
A friend of mine served in Tanzania and seemed to really enjoy it; he had very eager students.
15 gets it exactly wrong. In Crete.
12, 14: Cultural issues are very difficult, and very specific. I could interview a dozen people, and tell you which would be likely to be successful teaching Samoan kids (I would not be one of those). It's combination of body type and personality that help you fit in, or not, with the local culture. I'm sure it's the same with other countries. I'd bet the PC Sengal couple would have been able to connect with the locals someplace else, and the PC Tanzania teacher would have been unable to get through to her students in a different country.
A girl I used to work with is currently a PCV in Namibia teaching kids (one room schoolhouse for something like 6-12 grade) art, math and computer skills, along with anyone in her village who wants to learn. She said it's the most rewarding work she's ever done and her students soak up the info. like a sponge.
Tangentially, all of my friends who were in the Peace Corps had a terribly difficult time readjusting to life in America afterwards. Even the one who had a miserable PC experience (in Jamaica). Especially her, actually.
I think the Peace Corps is splendidly useful for human development--that is, for the development of people who go into the Peace Corps. I think it's great self-work, including the recognition that it doesn't matter if your heart grew three sizes that day, your soul is pure, and you're totally willing to shovel pig shit in order to improve the life of a single starving orphan, there isn't that much you can do to save the world. Almost everyone I know who has been in the Peace Corps has come out a better human being for it in some respect or another. But as for whether the Peace Corps does useful, sustainable work in various societies, generally no so much. I can think of a few Peace Corps projects I've seen that were really smart, extremely limited in their focus and goals, and led to sustained positive change of some kind. Mostly it's just about making connections between Americans and the wider world, and about enlightenment of various kinds. Which is no small good in and of itself.
18 -- More of a hard time than those who went backpacking?
Yeah, readjustment is slow and difficult -- say, six months until you're sane again. And Jamaica is supposed to be about the toughest posting out there: the problem is that it's a resort. In a resort, the locals hate the tourists, and a scruffy white twenty-something looks like a tourist, not a volunteer. Everyone has a hell of a time in Jamaica.
It's combination of body type and personality that help you fit in, or not, with the local culture.
Curiosity piqued.
21: It was partly that and partly being a female economist in a society that is deeply dismissive of women.
Oh, if I were going to design the perfect PC Samoa Volunteer, I'd want a stocky, very strong, physically affectionate/touchy kind of guy, with a silly practical-joke/deadpan put-on kind of sense of humor, an explosive temper that cools down quickly, and at least fair musical abilities -- guitar and singing by choice, but definitely able to carry a tune. The closer someone came to that model, the easier it was for them to get respect and communicate with the locals.
Frail, skinny, slow-burn/grudge-holding people who don't like sweaty acquaintences draped all over them did less well. (Hi!)
#18: That's hardly surprising though, is it? Nothing like bashing your world view into hard truths....
Yeah it's good right? Take a look at his archives too.
Hrm. Maybe volunteering just gives you an attitude about backpackers, but I read that thing where it was linked somewhere before and just thought 'whiners'. People would drift through Samoa every so often and talk about the incredible connections they were forming to the local culture, and they really didn't know jack about anything.
After reading about all these happy PCV teachers, I now disagree with #8.
Just so I can look like I totally missed the point on #20, Guatemala is an awesomely complex place, well worth checking out. And, it's a lot closer than Samoa.
28: That's pretty much what I read the linked post as saying.
28: I have a hard time taking those people seriously as they wax on about how they're more in touch with Nature, God, the Earth, or Humanity. Actual volunteers are not annoying, just the 'but it was a real ethnic experience' types.
20, 28: Whoops, I just re-read it and it's great. I skimmed it before, without really reading it, and thought that he was saying that he wasn't like all those other backpackers. With a closer read, I get it, and totally agree with him.
I have Dominican relatives through a relative's marriage (ok, so maybe they're not my relatives, then) who say that the Peace Corps is roundly disliked in the Dominican Republic, mostly for just dropping in and acting, in a condescending way, like they know the best way to run things.
Interesting. I've been thinking of volunteering. I was thinking about changing employers and thinking about salary requirements, etc. I realized that what I truly need is quite low. I've neither house nor family.
I've always regretted not joining the Peace Corps when I got out of school. Then I thought it wasn't "practical". Now that I'm in my mid-40s I worry less about that.
I do wonder if I would fit the slots they tend to fill. I have experience in business, technical consulting, and government program management. PCV are doing more than just teaching in some countries, such Ukraine. Ah well, I've called my local recruiters (in metro DC that's a cinch) and when I get back from AUS I'll talk with them.
I agree with those who say the biggest benefit to the US is just getting Americans out there working with others one-to-one. In some ways this is parallel to why I favor national service within the US. I would bring back the draft—expensive and wasteful as it is—except I fear what politicans would do with a readily-available large army.
Hrm. Maybe that's the resorty problem again? I've never run into anyone from Peace Corps DR. I should ask someone from the neighborhood if they have a Peace Corps impression.
It is a condescending organization on many levels -- I was the head of the Math Department at my high school because I had the most education and taught the senior classes; this was totally culturally inappropriate, given that I was a 21-year-old unmarried (in Samoan terms, not fully adult) woman. I managed this by using the senior teacher who should have been the department head as a stalking horse; I deferred to him absolutely on anything unimportant, and wheedled him into agreement on the stuff I cared about -- he did the enforcement.
and 35: Definitely look into it. The volunteers who were any actual use in Samoa were the older volunteers (they knew stuff, and were competent, and it was much more culturally appropriate for people to listen to them), and I've heard the same about other countries.
The Instigator's fiancee was a PCV in the DR. Definitely not a resort post. She was the only PCV for a day's ride and slept with a machete because weird guys would come by her (no lock, slept on a mat on the floor) tent in the middle of the night and harass her. She had to end her post early because she caught some horrible jungle disease and was in the hospital for 3 months.
The disease was presumably jungle fever.
As I understand it, the interior/mountainous parts of the Dominican Republic are not for the faint of immune system (but in temperature terms, much easier to deal with than the hot low-lying areas). I don't know what kind of Peace Corps projects my relatives had run across; I only heard a general complaint.
Actually, it may be the other way around. More diseases in the tropical areas.
35: Bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps!
I am a current Peace Corps volunteer in Mexico (I got to your site via a link from The Poor Man today). To address some of the comments above -- Peace Corps is looking for all kinds of skills, not just teaching, so the guy who was talking about business and technical consulting and gov't program management is likely to get a warm reception from the PC recruiter. Recently the PC is making a big push towards small business assistance, and support of NGO's (such as local environmental groups) who could use the management and consulting skills. In Mexico, we generally work with one established government research office (which has offices all over the country) to promote economic competitiveness (especially, doing research that small businesses couldn't afford to do) and environmental best practices. In some ways, it's a little more like a "Trickle-down" Peace Corps these days. Which is a little disturbing to me, philosophically, because I'm a flaming liberal. But in the case of Mexico at least, it's what the Mexicans seem to want, and in my experience the PC tries very hard to (a) only go to places the host country invites us, and (b) do exactly what the host country wants us to do. No doubt some citizens of the host countries still view us as "condescending, knowing the best way to do everything," but this is probably a combination of PC Volunteer errors, cross-cultural gaffes, and misperceptions on the part of the locals. (It's our job to minimize all of those, and we get training in those subjects, but it's a constant struggle.) Generally, it's PC policy to let the host country locals tell us exactly what they want us to do and how they want it done; our job is to offer new options and new science and methods -- IF and WHEN they want it.
[blogwh·oring] I've read a couple of articles recently which denigrated the Peace Corps and the idea of volunteerism in general, so I posted an essay on my own site about Peace Corps goals and effectiveness. Let's see if I can get this hyperlink thing to work: http://www.wohlmut.com/kevin/pictures/PCVolunteerism1.htm [/ end blogwh·oring]
Interesting essay, and worth reading. Most of my frustration with Peace Corps was pretty Samoa-specific; it sounds as if PC Mexico is much more valuable.
the only person I know who volunteered for the peace corps had a good experience and was useful, it sounded to me, but this was a long time ago when I was a kid. he worked for our hippie leather store and then taught leatherworking to a school for blind people in Zimbabwe. he then went on to a life of working for CARE and now USAID, so that was a good investment all around.
Yikes! Something totally inexplicable just happened.