I could be wrong but I think the majority of people, upon first hearing about the 27 month commitment, wonder why Peace Corps service is for such a long stretch of time. More than two years? That seems like overkill. Wouldn't one year suffice?
I personally didn't have a problem with the two year commitment in the beginning. One of the many reasons I wanted to join the Peace Corps was to become fluent in Spanish and I knew that I would certainly not be able to do that in less than a year and would probably need quite a bit longer. My brain rocks at many things, but language is not one of them. So I committed myself to two years without thinking too much about it. I mean, who am I to say what the most effective length of time will be when working in grassroots development?
Well, now that I have been here almost 23 months I feel like I know enough to have an opinion and I finally understand why Volunteers are asked to serve for 2 solid years in their communities.
They told us when we first got here that it would go fast. They told us that we should not have high hopes of accomplishing much in our first year, and certainly not in our first three months. They told us to focus on integration, on getting to know our communities, our community leaders, and the language. They told us these things but we were only partially listening. They told us that we would be most effective in our second year, after we had the "lay of the land" and could communicate well. And that it wasn't until near the end of our service that we would really begin to see our efforts come to fruition. But we didn't really hear them.
We figured that was the road of the generic volunteer and we weren't generic. We were ambitious! We knew what our community needed before they did! We were going to jump in head first and start swimming full speed ahead. Those generic volunteers could take their two years to accomplish what we would accomplish in one. No sweat.
Except they were right. We did jump in head first. And we were ambitious and had the best interests of our communities in mind. But there is no amount of passion or determination that can help your community as much as knowing them inside and out. And that doesn't just mean knowing all the little pathways between every house, knowing the names of all your neighbors, and knowing who is related to who, and how. It's about living every day in your community, sharing stories and listening to people talk. It's about being at the big events, like your host mom's sister's neighbor's son's christening and chatting with people about what's going on in their lives. You can spend everyday of your first three months in your community doing those things but it isn't until you've been there a year that you really become a fixture instead of that girl that smiles a lot but doesn't understand what you're saying.
There are always things going on in my community, always things to participate in, and I could be busy every single day if I wanted to be. In my first three months, I was. I've helped with all sorts of different things and had a great time doing it. But it wasn't until just last month, after a year and a half in my community, when a woman came up to me and asked me to help her woman's group become official, that I finally felt like I had become the volunteer I intended to be. I've taught Girl Scouts to make friendship bracelets, I've read kids books out loud, and I've acted as town photographer. I've done beach clean-ups, AIDS presentations, and youth focused leadership seminars. But this was the first time I really felt like I was a Community Economic Development Volunteer and the best part was that it wasn't even my idea.
I may have felt like I knew my community by my 6th month, or even my third. But it took that year and a half for them to really know me. Language barrier aside, it took that long for them to really understand why I was here and how I could help. Even more than that, it took them that long to reach the trust, the confianza, with me to be able to come up to me and ask me for the support they needed instead of me having to guess and hope I was right.
I personally didn't have a problem with the two year commitment in the beginning. One of the many reasons I wanted to join the Peace Corps was to become fluent in Spanish and I knew that I would certainly not be able to do that in less than a year and would probably need quite a bit longer. My brain rocks at many things, but language is not one of them. So I committed myself to two years without thinking too much about it. I mean, who am I to say what the most effective length of time will be when working in grassroots development?
Well, now that I have been here almost 23 months I feel like I know enough to have an opinion and I finally understand why Volunteers are asked to serve for 2 solid years in their communities.
They told us when we first got here that it would go fast. They told us that we should not have high hopes of accomplishing much in our first year, and certainly not in our first three months. They told us to focus on integration, on getting to know our communities, our community leaders, and the language. They told us these things but we were only partially listening. They told us that we would be most effective in our second year, after we had the "lay of the land" and could communicate well. And that it wasn't until near the end of our service that we would really begin to see our efforts come to fruition. But we didn't really hear them.
We figured that was the road of the generic volunteer and we weren't generic. We were ambitious! We knew what our community needed before they did! We were going to jump in head first and start swimming full speed ahead. Those generic volunteers could take their two years to accomplish what we would accomplish in one. No sweat.
Except they were right. We did jump in head first. And we were ambitious and had the best interests of our communities in mind. But there is no amount of passion or determination that can help your community as much as knowing them inside and out. And that doesn't just mean knowing all the little pathways between every house, knowing the names of all your neighbors, and knowing who is related to who, and how. It's about living every day in your community, sharing stories and listening to people talk. It's about being at the big events, like your host mom's sister's neighbor's son's christening and chatting with people about what's going on in their lives. You can spend everyday of your first three months in your community doing those things but it isn't until you've been there a year that you really become a fixture instead of that girl that smiles a lot but doesn't understand what you're saying.
There are always things going on in my community, always things to participate in, and I could be busy every single day if I wanted to be. In my first three months, I was. I've helped with all sorts of different things and had a great time doing it. But it wasn't until just last month, after a year and a half in my community, when a woman came up to me and asked me to help her woman's group become official, that I finally felt like I had become the volunteer I intended to be. I've taught Girl Scouts to make friendship bracelets, I've read kids books out loud, and I've acted as town photographer. I've done beach clean-ups, AIDS presentations, and youth focused leadership seminars. But this was the first time I really felt like I was a Community Economic Development Volunteer and the best part was that it wasn't even my idea.
I may have felt like I knew my community by my 6th month, or even my third. But it took that year and a half for them to really know me. Language barrier aside, it took that long for them to really understand why I was here and how I could help. Even more than that, it took them that long to reach the trust, the confianza, with me to be able to come up to me and ask me for the support they needed instead of me having to guess and hope I was right.
When it rains, however, it pours and my months spent playing with Girl Scouts and reading in my hammock have morphed into a jam packed final four months in my community. But there is no other way I would rather leave in October than as an integrated and valued member of my community. Yes, Peace Corps service needs to be 27 months. Honestly, it could even be a little longer.
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