Clik here to view.
12 things you can only do in Senegal
Call the U.S. “Amerik.” People will not understand – and will probably look pityingly at you – since you clearly can’t speak properly. Burp loudly in public. This is rampant in Senegal and is not at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
7 things I learned as an Asian Volunteer in Asia
Can you guess who the Volunteer is? May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month, or so people tell me, but I never knew that we had our own special month because I’ve always identified as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
City or village life: Which would you choose?
Mix of buildings and huts in the city You can find Peace Corps Volunteers living in huts and houses, way out in the bush, five minutes from the beach, tucked away in a small town or lost in a bustling...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Malaria, mourning and the moments we remember
This is the first time I have ever seen her like this, now curled up in a small space between my arm and chest as I hold her and console her. I watch as each tear rolls down her cheek, suspends...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On being a Chinese American Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia
No matter where I am, my race and ethnicity permeate all my interactions. Some in America claim we live in a post-racial, color-blind society, but regardless whether we do or not, that’s not the goal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A little encouragement goes a long way
“Miss Beth!” I turned to see who was shouting and barely caught a glimpse of a group of children before they vanished behind a bush. They shouted again and again. At last I saw the crew of three boys...
View ArticleClik here to view.
3 lessons I learned as an Asian American in China
Peer into a crowd in China and you won’t be able to distinguish me from the locals around me. That may be because I am Asian American, specifically Korean American–an Asian living in Asia. China is one...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Peace Corps service has changed me
My name is Charlotte and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar. I have served here in a rural village for 21 months. Peace Corps has changed me in a variety of ways. It has made me appreciate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Serving as an LGBTQ Volunteer altered my outlook
In celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month, Peace Corps Northeast Recruiter Zoe Armstrong discusses how her experience living and working as an LGBTQ Volunteer in the post-Soviet Caucasus region helped to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
8 things I’ve learned in 50 years between Peace Corps tours
The first time I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer was in May 1965. Fifty years later I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Cotonou, Benin. I am the first to admit that I have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy in Morocco
“Mom, I’m gay.” These were the words I uttered to my mother, two weeks before leaving for my Peace Corps service in Morocco. There we were, me in the driver’s seat and her in the passenger seat. Her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Introducing the Latest and Greatest Peace Corps Acronym: BYOT
We have all heard of BYO. From devices to stories – we ask people to bring their own to everything. Here at World Wise Schools (WWS), we have our own BYO: BYOT…or Bring Your Own Teacher. One of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
VARO: Share your experience and we will pay you back
Volunteers in Action Recruiting Others, or VARO,* is a program that encourages currently serving PCVs to speak about their experiences when they travel back to the US on home leave – and provides...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Service is the rent we pay for being”
Manuel Colón served in the Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Volunteer in Paraguay from 2010 to 2012. He is currently the National Coordinator for the LGBT Returned Peace Corps Volunteers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My name is B-Ben and I’m in the P-Peace Corps
I’m a stutterer. That’s not an easy thing for me to say, figuratively or literally. Talking about stuttering has always brought out the worst of it, so stuttering has been in the category of “things I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s Peace Corps service like? It depends.
Future China PCVs, we can’t possibly tell you everything… nor should we try. Because it depends. Get used to this phrase: “It depends.” Because it’s true, it does. And as unsatisfying as it is, “It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A visit to Incahuasi
Twice in May I traveled to Incahuasi in the mountains of northeast Lambayeque. Peace Corps is considering sending a Volunteer there and asked me to check out the road conditions and the work...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is “Summer Slump”?
Consider the following scenario: A Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) is matched with an American teacher through the World Wise Schools program. She asks her host country students to write letters to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning 80 in the Peace Corps
“I had my 80th birthday in Ghana as a Volunteer!” exclaimed Dorothy Wooldridge, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who lived and worked in Ghana from 2009 to 2011. Wooldridge had nurtured a lifelong...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two is twice as tuani
Like any applicant and wannabe Peace Corps Volunteer, hours were spent scouring the Internet and talking with any RPCV to gather information and get a glimpse into what was to come. We were looking for...
View Article
