"Life is calling...how far will you go" the saying for Peace Corps calls. Since 1961, young and old people from various parts of the United States and Puerto Rico have left their homes,families and everything they knew to give two years of their lives for adventure and the opportunity to try to be better people, to do something for someone else that they've never met. The posts and advertisements show Americans with a group of locals sitting together at a table enjoying a meal, or crowded by young children with one up on their shoulders. And I knew before coming here, that it wouldn't all be as pretty as it seems in the pictures. The manual for PCVs goes into great detail of how you'll be sick, and disrespected, lonely, and depressed nearly at every step of the game - intimidating reading material, but necessary.
We don't hear much about how disappointing Peace Corps service can be at times - that you can work hard, and have projects that you loved and are proud of and still feel so upset with the lack of community interest. I gave my final presentation of all my work yesterday to my community - the trees and trash, radio shows, environmental classes and festivals, the PTA classes, the "Ama Tu Peru" tv commercials, billboards, the youth development program that Carolyn and I created that has and will be replicated all over Peru by other volunteers. I told them how much I cared about them, and how I'd take them everywhere in my heart and share them with my friends, family, and future students in the United States.
Then came the time to honor the 8 families that had made small-landfills at their houses and give them fruit trees as their reward. The 75 people at the meeting rushed me and Tina (the other volunteer who was helping me) to take the trees intended for those families. When I tried to explain they were bought specifically for people who had completed the requirements, they each took a turn telling me off and calling me "bad". One of the women that I thought was my friend is still telling everyone how terrible I was for not giving her a plant. The irony is that I had originally written a grant for over 2000 soles to give every family in Corral de Arena trees. We got the money, and I presented the project at several meetings, visited people at their houses, put announcements on the radio - each time explaining the simple rules. All they had to do was dig a hole 1 meter by 1 meter by 1 meter to bury their trash instead of burn it. After 7 months of trying to get people to make the holes, only 8 families did it. So, I wrote another grant proposal so that we wouldn't lose the money. We used the money to make tv commercials for my "Ama Tu Peru" campaign. Two of the videos feature people from Corral de Arena.
After two years of service, my last meeting ended with the townspeople leaving the room angry at me for the 2 fruit trees (valued at 1 dollar each) that they didn't receive for the work they didn't do.
If given the choice to do Peace Corps all over again, I'm not sure that I could (well, at least not in Corral de Arena). I'd have requested a bigger site with more interest in working. But, I'm still glad I did Peace Corps. The other saying - "the hardest job you'll ever love" - is right on the money. I know that being here has changed the lives of many of my high school students, and especially my host brother Anderson. I just wish these weren't the final words from that meeting. After two years, I wish they would have been more interested in saying goodbye than asking what I was going to give them and yelling at me.
If you're reading this and thinking about doing Peace Corps, do it! No, seriously. It is by far the most meaningful thing I have ever done with my life. But keep in mind that you're probably going to poop your pants (didn't actually happen to me, but to most of my friends), people in your community will probably steal from you at some point, and even towards the end of your service there will be some people who still see you as a dollar sign.
On the positive side, my momma and sis will be here in just a couple of weeks to travel Peru with me. Also, here is one of the videos from the "Ama Tu Peru" campaign, which was my last project. Thanks to all of the volunteers especially Sara, Annie, and Tina, USAID, and the PC staff for making these possible.
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2 comments:
Wow...just goes to show, you can be in Lambayeque or you can be in the Sierra of Lima and there are some things that do not change...reading this post, it brought me back to my Green Households project and how all the people in my community had to do to receive two trash cans for their homes was attend 3 charlas (JUST 3!) and in the end, the women who did not follow that one single rule and only attended 1 or 2 or ZERO charlas yelled at me in the street for not giving them trash cans for the work THEY didn't do and spoke very badly about me behind my back...So I SOOOO know how you feel! Crazy, huh, how fully-grown adults here can act worse than children? Stay strong, girl! Almost done! :)
Terrace,
What a heart-felt post. It's a shame that the end of your goodbye meeting didn't go as positive as you deserve. It's good that you can find the humor in it all though, the fact that we are getting "peru-ed" even on our last days at site.
You will always carry the lessons you've learned, the memories you've had, and the relationships you've formed. Congratulations on finishing your service... you've not only survived, you've thrived. Take care and see you Stateside.
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