Well I officially accepted my invitiation to join the Peace Corps leaving June 4th. The whole process of joining the Peace Corps was a slow and tiresome adventure that really tested my patience. It was an incredibly slow process until I got the phone call asking me if I could move up my departure date two months and live in a French Speaking community. At this point the process went from me having an entire summer to get ready to go, to holy crap I leave 2 weeks after my graduation. The change in time was something that caught me completely off guard, but the opportunity that awaits in Togo sounds amazing, and if I'm going to go then I might as well go as soon as possible. The French on the other hand is something I'm a little anxious about. Usually programs in French speaking African countries only accept applicants that have at least 2 years of high school French plus 2 semesters worth in college. My Peace Corps placement officer was confident that I could adjust to the situation so I accepted. I currently have 1 quarter of French in the 7th grade and nothing else since. So Honestly, I am a bit nervous to be so behind as far as my language goes, however, I have heard encouraging news from multiple Peace Corps volunteers who were in the same predicament as me who progressed just fine. I realize that I will have to put a lot more effort into my language skills than a lot of my other Peace Corps trainees, and I plan on spending most of my evening engaging in conversations with my host family and reading some basic French literature(basically I'm going to shut down my English for two years if possible). My progress in French is absolutely critical if I am going to be an asset to my program. The projects that I will be working on in Togo are going to require me to engage in quite a bit of public speaking. Presentations, demonstrations, and counseling are just some of the activities that I will be doing on a daily basis.
So you might be thinking there's no way that you will be fluent in French after your 3 months of training. This is true, It will take longer than the three months of training to become fluent, however, The Peace Corps is known for having exceptional language training classes. The French courses will be tailored to situations, events, and conversations that are relevant to what I will be dealing with in terms of my job and community setting.
Basically to sum up I'm more worried about the language adaption rather than the other cultural differences that I see when I am there. Yeah I'm probably going to have to use a hole in the ground as a bathroom and walk 400 meters to a stream for microbial infested water that I will have to boil for 20 minutes before I can use it to take a bath and wash my clothes. This stuff doesn't really bother me, but if I cant make progress in adapting to the language, it will make for a frustrating experience. I'm still confident though....A tout à l'heure
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Monday, 14 April 2008
Togo in June!
I have just received my invitation to join the Peace Corps. The assignment is HIV/Health work in Togo, West Africa. Togo is a small French speaking country that borders Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso. I am really looking forward to this opportunity and judging by the pictures I have seen online Togo looks like an amazing place to be. I will be leaving the United States on June 4th, and will not return for 27th months. In the mean time I will be learning as much French as I can possibly handle. More to come soon.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Application status
My application is currently on hold because I need to have my wisdom teeth taken out. I am getting this done during Spring Break so hopefully I will get my invitation to a specific country sometime in late March or April. Hopefully there are no other complications in the application process. Kinda getting anxious here.
Monday, 4 February 2008
My Future
If you have found this site you probably already know that when I graduate in May from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro I will be going into the Peace Corps. This will be the site of my blogs for the next two years. I would not count on this being updated regularly for obvious reasons. The Peace Corps is a government program that will be shipping me over seas for 27 months. I have thought about joining the Peace Corps for roughly two years now and over the course of my time here in college I have realized that helping people who sincerely need it is one of the most rewarding aspects in life. Over the past few years my views have changed exponentially as to where exactly I want to go in my life. Though my original goal in college was to come out a Registered Dietician, I have come to realize that there is a greater opportunity for me to have an impact on peoples lives by working in the Peace Corps first.
On December 11th, I was nominated for public health education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since that time the Peace Corps have sent me quite a bit of paperwork (medical/dental forms) and I have now finally completed it all. Right now I am waiting on my invitation to serve which will tell me which country I will be in for the next 2 years.
For now all I can do is wait, My approximate departure date will be Aug/Sept. 08.
Frequently asked questions that I get all the time:
Are they going to send you to Darfur?
- no the Peace Corps do not have programs set up in countries where the workers will be in an unsafe environment ex. Sudan, Congo, Chad
How long will you be there?
27 months - 3 months of language and job related training followed by 2 years of service
Will you have access to internet?
Probably not, I have noticed that a lot of the blogs that Peace Corps workers have in Africa have sparse postings (monthly) and a lot of them stop after training because when they move to away from the training site they lose internet access.
Do you get paid anything to volunteer?
Volunteers are given money to provide necessities of living during the time that they are abroad. It will definitely be enough for me to eat and drink an adequate amount in a given day. At the end of the service I will be given $6,000 to acclimate myself back to the United States.
Why would you want to go to Africa?
first, I am ineligible to work in South/central America because all of the programs there require fluency of Spanish prior to departure. In Africa, it is unrealistic to think that many volunteers speak Swahili or some other indigenous language found in the southern countries.
second, Africa posses challenges that intrigue me. Most countries in Africa suffer incredibly high infant mortality and HIV rates. That being said, It should not be to difficult to address the needs of the community and take action. Don't get me wrong though change is not easy by any circumstances, but the possibility is there.
third, The area of health that I am most knowledgeable in is nutrition, and there are many preventable vitamin and nutrient deficiencies that parts of Africa suffer from and they can be cured.
Any chance you will be placed somewhere else?
There is a chance that I could end up in Asia or Eastern Europe, however, it is doubtful since I have been nominated for Africa.
What are the dangers of serving in Africa?
Water borne pathogens and parasites are the most common problems I have read about thus far. It is important to watch what you eat and drink. I have read a number of cases where volunteers are out for weeks at a time with intestinal problems.
Are you scared/nervous?
nope
On December 11th, I was nominated for public health education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since that time the Peace Corps have sent me quite a bit of paperwork (medical/dental forms) and I have now finally completed it all. Right now I am waiting on my invitation to serve which will tell me which country I will be in for the next 2 years.
For now all I can do is wait, My approximate departure date will be Aug/Sept. 08.
Frequently asked questions that I get all the time:
Are they going to send you to Darfur?
- no the Peace Corps do not have programs set up in countries where the workers will be in an unsafe environment ex. Sudan, Congo, Chad
How long will you be there?
27 months - 3 months of language and job related training followed by 2 years of service
Will you have access to internet?
Probably not, I have noticed that a lot of the blogs that Peace Corps workers have in Africa have sparse postings (monthly) and a lot of them stop after training because when they move to away from the training site they lose internet access.
Do you get paid anything to volunteer?
Volunteers are given money to provide necessities of living during the time that they are abroad. It will definitely be enough for me to eat and drink an adequate amount in a given day. At the end of the service I will be given $6,000 to acclimate myself back to the United States.
Why would you want to go to Africa?
first, I am ineligible to work in South/central America because all of the programs there require fluency of Spanish prior to departure. In Africa, it is unrealistic to think that many volunteers speak Swahili or some other indigenous language found in the southern countries.
second, Africa posses challenges that intrigue me. Most countries in Africa suffer incredibly high infant mortality and HIV rates. That being said, It should not be to difficult to address the needs of the community and take action. Don't get me wrong though change is not easy by any circumstances, but the possibility is there.
third, The area of health that I am most knowledgeable in is nutrition, and there are many preventable vitamin and nutrient deficiencies that parts of Africa suffer from and they can be cured.
Any chance you will be placed somewhere else?
There is a chance that I could end up in Asia or Eastern Europe, however, it is doubtful since I have been nominated for Africa.
What are the dangers of serving in Africa?
Water borne pathogens and parasites are the most common problems I have read about thus far. It is important to watch what you eat and drink. I have read a number of cases where volunteers are out for weeks at a time with intestinal problems.
Are you scared/nervous?
nope
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