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Oh shi.... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/peace-corps-volunteers-in-liberia-isolated-for-ebola-exposure/ Two volunteers quaranteened in Liberia for exposure to Ebola. Volunteers from Libera, Sierrea Leone and Guinea being temporarilly evacuated  Anyone here in those countries?
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Jul 30, 2014 22:15
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I honestly have no idea why they waited so long to evac that area. Once it was obvious that Ebola was having a major outbreak, they should have pulled us out immediately. I wouldn't be surprised if Togo and Benin are looking at evac in the near future, too. Lagos just had that confirmed case of Ebola, right across the border from Benin and apparently his flight stopped for some time in Togo.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:39
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Thesaurus posted:Oh shi.... Currently sitting in the PC hostel in Freetown, Sierra Leone waiting for my free trip home. We are all getting put on Admin Hold and honestly will probably get new countries in 3 months or so. Always nice to get paid to do nothing. Halfway through PCT but I honestly figured this would happen when I accepted Salone. Still was nice to get a month here and hopefully my next placement will be econ dev and not math teaching.
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Jul 31, 2014 00:11
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huhu posted:Question to couples who met in PC, and maybe married couples as well. What do you guys do for fun? I'm getting a little tired of meeting up in the regional capital and getting a hotel room. My fiance and I met in PC. We were lucky enough to live within a six hour bus ride of each other so we'd visit each other's sites and sometimes meet in the middle (regional capital)--depending on what we both had going on. Other PCVs in relationships who are much farther away generally just visit each others sites a couple of times over the 2 years. To me the hotel rooms were totally boring. I found the site visits more fun and productive!
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Aug 7, 2014 10:42
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Getting my poo poo together for a physical at the same time my specialist is making me get a biopsy. Just getting anxious and hoping this all pans out. I've got til January for everything to be fine.
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Aug 19, 2014 00:00
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So today is the last day of my PCV life. I will be an RPCV once I finsih the meeting with my director this morning.  And its official. RPCV status!
Slaan fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Sep 3, 2014 |
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Sep 3, 2014 07:23
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Congrats!
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Sep 4, 2014 03:32
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Does anyone know anything about extending for a second tour of service in a different country? I probably won't discuss it with my CD until next spring (a year before COS), so I'm mainly wondering if it's possible, and if so, how the process usually goes. N. Senada posted:Got accepted to do youth development, shipping out at the beginning of next year. Anyone want to give me some tips and tricks? I do YD in Morocco. It probably varies from country to country, but work here is pretty much whatever you want it to be. In Morocco, most of us are officially assigned to youth centers, but we're not necessarily confined to them: in fact, a lot of PCVs stop working in their youth centers altogether. Your community's perception of you also varies from site to site, and that perception will have some influence over what you do work-wise. I live in a huge city close to the country's economic and political hubs, so a lot of people see me first and foremost as an English teacher. On the flip side, PCVs in other sites often struggle to find anyone who wants to learn English. When my work starts picking up in the next few weeks, I'll probably devote about a third of my time to English teaching. There's a lot to talk about, and I have a lot of free time on my hands for the next few weeks, so shoot me a message if you have any questions.
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Sep 8, 2014 23:55
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xcdude24 posted:Does anyone know anything about extending for a second tour of service in a different country? I probably won't discuss it with my CD until next spring (a year before COS), so I'm mainly wondering if it's possible, and if so, how the process usually goes. I know it's possible since in world view and emails there are back to back two years tours. I think you just have to apply again in the normal process during your first tour and then move to the next place a month or so after cos. Worst case there are tons of peace corps response positions for a third year. There are two in benin that did a response year right after, moving nations.
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Sep 9, 2014 00:50
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Congrats on COSing. Don't forget to take advantage of your non competitive eligibility (if you're interested in those sorts of jobs). I wouldn't have gotten my government job without it. Also check out the RPCV groups wherever you live. The one in my state us cool and huge. Having had to do "interrupted service," I'm always a little sad I didn't get to make it to the COS conference with my cohort. (Still got my rpcv perks, though!) Already thinking about a second tour in a few decades for an early retirement. I wonder what the PC will look like then?
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Sep 10, 2014 15:44
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Man, how much can change in a year! I was pretty frustrated the last time or two I posted in this thread. Luckily I advocated for myself and was able to change the direction of my service. Everything falls into place during the second year! 6 months to go! I think PC response would be the way to go instead of extending for a year in a different country. The beauty of PC Response is you go in with your role defined. I'm also going to guess that PC placement is jammed right now with the closure and suspensions of a few big country programs.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:53
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xcdude24 posted:Does anyone know anything about extending for a second tour of service in a different country? I probably won't discuss it with my CD until next spring (a year before COS), so I'm mainly wondering if it's possible, and if so, how the process usually goes. My understanding (from conversations with my CD and RPCVs from other countries) is that this is no longer possible. Two examples: a guy from group before me who served in Lesotho and wanted to extend for 1 year in my country, but they made him serve another full 2 years. The second is a girl who started her west African extension, was evacuated, and instead of having 1 more year in my country they also made her serve another full 2 years. Both regret the decision. So I'd say look at PC Response instead of trying to extend in another country. IF you go directly into PC Response following normal service, it basically acts like an extension now (so your NCE is on hold, etc). I just had my COS conference so picked up that new fun tidbit!
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Oct 2, 2014 09:39
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javacup1107 posted:My understanding (from conversations with my CD and RPCVs from other countries) is that this is no longer possible. Two examples: a guy from group before me who served in Lesotho and wanted to extend for 1 year in my country, but they made him serve another full 2 years. The second is a girl who started her west African extension, was evacuated, and instead of having 1 more year in my country they also made her serve another full 2 years. Both regret the decision. agreed. with PC response you can also do a run-around and reach out directly to a small organization in a country you want to serve and work with them to write your own job description for a PC response position.
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Oct 4, 2014 03:19
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Hi guys I applied to the Peace Corps yesterday, I already filled out the medical thing and the location thing, I told them I could go anywhere but I didn't want to teach English and I didn't want to go to West Africa. I put community development and health as my tops because of their Panama and Timor slots. I want one of those. edit - I got rid of the rest because I got those questions largely answered already and they were pretty noobish anyway. Seems wrong to remove the whole post though. I've got a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies and some IT and fringe finance experience, and I am a veteran just to give some background. Not sure what my chances are but I figure I would apply now.. Any advice? I'm fine with just winging the whole thing though, doesn't bother me.
the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 04:38
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Stress during your interview that you can Be Flexible and Do Whatever. They love that stuff. If you can keep working on some volunteering activities, language learning, etc. during the application period it can probably help you in the interview or other misc. contacts with the applications staff.
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Oct 10, 2014 11:11
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Yeah it's ok to have your convictions and suggest you might like doing X or going to Y country but always back it up with "But I can do whatever is needed". It may sound pandering on here but they're looking for people who are willing to deal with curveballs. Like any interview, have a few questions ready to go at the end, even if you kinda know the answer it helps a recruiter to know you're actually invested in this and did enough research that you actually have questions to ask. The recruiter might even surprise you and give you answers you didn't know before. Almost all of them have been RPCVs so they'll tell you the real deal.
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Oct 11, 2014 01:57
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I think it is important to advocate for yourself. Yea, be flexible and willing to go anywhere when dealing with HQ staff during recruitment. However, when talking with your APCD before or during PST you should let them know what kind of work you want to do. The country staff want to place you at a worksite where you will be successful. So feel free to be vocal about what you want to do, but totally be prepared to get a placement doing something totally different than what you hoped for. There are only so many slots and your country staff have to make do with what is available.
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Oct 11, 2014 02:51
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Tautologicus posted:Hi guys I applied to the Peace Corps yesterday, I already filled out the medical thing and the location thing, I told them I could go anywhere but I didn't want to teach English and I didn't want to go to West Africa. I put community development and health as my tops because of their Panama and Timor slots. I want one of those. edit - I got rid of the rest because I got those questions largely answered already and they were pretty noobish anyway. Seems wrong to remove the whole post though. I've got a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies and some IT and fringe finance experience, and I am a veteran just to give some background. Not sure what my chances are but I figure I would apply now.. Any advice? I'm fine with just winging the whole thing though, doesn't bother me. Health as in construct water systems and latrines? Panama doesn't have standalone health or community development positions. I'm in Panama btw so feel free to ask me any country specific questions.
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Oct 11, 2014 15:49
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huhu posted:Health as in construct water systems and latrines? Panama doesn't have standalone health or community development positions. They do, check the peace corps main site. Its in the urgent openings or whatever. Heres the direct link too - http://www.peacecorps.gov/openings/2656br/ Ive been to panama before actually but i think my main concern is what i can qualify for based on my experience. Cant i just learn on the job for some of this stuff. I have worked on a farm for 2 total months though. Im good with basic IT and i would be a good teacher unfortunately, because i don't want to teach english. I want to work on an actual project involving multiple people over a long period of time, thats my aim here. Anyway i just wanted to see what kind of thing you guys would say first, i think im just going to wait for my interview and ask questions there and see what they can give me. If i get one. But i got this email - quote:Thank you for submitting your Assignment Selection Form. Based on your qualifications and the departure dates of the programs you have expressed interest in, you will be contacted about your application. Anyway thanks for the replies everyone although i am sure they are useful to others too. the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 17:51
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Like I said, I live in Panama and you just linked my program. If you don't have an engineering or environment background, you've got about a 2 in 25 (there was a sociology guy and geology guy the rest engineering/environment background in my group) chance of getting in to that program in Panama. As for agriculture, there's a bit more room for variety. There are agriculture, biology, agribusiness, etc. majors and then also a lot of people with less experience. If you want to do agriculture I'd get more ag experience. As far as doing a project, agriculture is more like teaching English than environmental health on the scale of project to no project. Agriculture volunteers typically focus on one area of agriculture such as coffee and try and implement a few changes over time. As for English you work to teach the teachers to teach. There are also opportunities to start reading clubs, build a library, etc. huhu fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Oct 13, 2014 |
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Oct 13, 2014 19:28
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Any Community Economic Development volunteers here? How is the work? I'm also applying really close to the deadline, will that lower my chances?
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Oct 13, 2014 22:46
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huhu posted:Like I said, I live in Panama and you just linked my program. If you don't have an engineering or environment background, you've got about a 2 in 25 (there was a sociology guy and geology guy the rest engineering/environment background in my group) chance of getting in to that program in Panama. Thanks for the post. I am slowly getting the impression, which was always my doubt about the Peace Corps actually, that if I don't know how to do anything that I could imagine would be useful to a small village somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the world, there's nothing the Peace Corps is going to supply me with to make me useful to them, like disbursing resources to the village in some way. I have to bring something tangible to the table. I'll either find a way to work on that or withdraw my application. Right now I've got IT and a lot of soft skills, none of which I see being used in the jungle somewhere. I just read this too - http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10tp5l/iama_returned_peace_corps_volunteer_that_did_not/
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Oct 15, 2014 00:00
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Tautologicus posted:I just read this too - http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10tp5l/iama_returned_peace_corps_volunteer_that_did_not/ It is true you will sometimes get plain unlucky and end up in a lovely situation. If that happens then you need to bug the hell out of your in country staff to try to get it fixed. Otherwise, some volunteers get awesome communities and work sites perfectly matched to their skills while others may not. Part of PC is making the best with what you got and trying to do what you can while growing from the experience. Also, you will almost definitely be bored all the time unless you get a rare urban placement or have lots of travel opportunities.
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Oct 15, 2014 00:36
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laxbro posted:It is true you will sometimes get plain unlucky and end up in a lovely situation. If that happens then you need to bug the hell out of your in country staff to try to get it fixed. Otherwise, some volunteers get awesome communities and work sites perfectly matched to their skills while others may not. Part of PC is making the best with what you got and trying to do what you can while growing from the experience. Also, you will almost definitely be bored all the time unless you get a rare urban placement or have lots of travel opportunities. This. I'm a PCV that got a lovely placement (country and organization at site) and finally PC moved me to a larger city where I've been holding an office job (volunteer of course). Other PCVs LOVE their placements, including my former sitemates! It's really luck of the draw and your service is what you make of it. Also, I think PC tries to supply you with ideas for projects to do--granted I can't speak for every country. At least in mine they give us tons of ideas, trainings and resources. I'm a business-background agriculture volunteer with very limited previous experience, but I felt prepared.
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Oct 16, 2014 08:35
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laxbro posted:It is true you will sometimes get plain unlucky and end up in a lovely situation. If that happens then you need to bug the hell out of your in country staff to try to get it fixed. Otherwise, some volunteers get awesome communities and work sites perfectly matched to their skills while others may not. Part of PC is making the best with what you got and trying to do what you can while growing from the experience. Also, you will almost definitely be bored all the time unless you get a rare urban placement or have lots of travel opportunities. Also, that link seems to indicate that PC staff tried to move the volunteer to another site once she told them about the conflict but she refused because she didn't want to move. That kind of inflexibility (I don't want to have to uproot a few months in because it's annoying!!) is exactly the kind of thing you're warned against when going into service. I knew several volunteers who had to move for any number of reasons (lovely schools, awkward home situation, dangerous stalker situation) and they thrived in their new sites. Heck, my first host family tried to squeeze Peace Corps for more money and got lovely with me and I had to figure out a new host family with my coteacher. It happens, PC life isn't easy and predictable, and the fact that she ended up poo poo outta luck is only partly PC's fault.
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Oct 16, 2014 13:22
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Yeah, there's nothing uniform about this experience. Even within country, the challenges I face are completely different than those of the PCV 25 minutes down the road. By the way, I never expected dealing with the local bureaucracy would be such a major part of my time here. I'm extremely fortunate to have good counterparts that serve as mediators, but starting projects has nevertheless proven difficult lately. xcdude24 fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 21:56
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I read that thread too and was pretty  She goes to her site, has a bad experience. Peace Corps is like "K, we'll move you elsewhere". She declines. Mopes about having a bad experience. Like really what else could they do?
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Oct 17, 2014 01:39
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Tautologicus posted:Thanks for the post. I am slowly getting the impression, which was always my doubt about the Peace Corps actually, that if I don't know how to do anything that I could imagine would be useful to a small village somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the world, there's nothing the Peace Corps is going to supply me with to make me useful to them, like disbursing resources to the village in some way. I have to bring something tangible to the table. I'll either find a way to work on that or withdraw my application. Right now I've got IT and a lot of soft skills, none of which I see being used in the jungle somewhere. Think of your project as a general guideline if what you will spend a part of your time on. The amount of time you spend on it and the projects you pursue will depend in part on your abilities and interests, but more importantly those of your community. Don't get hung up on the idea of a specific project. Maybe you know how to do water projects and see a need for it in your town. Great, but if you can't get people on board with you then you're screwed. Maybe they want a library and you don't know anything about that. I guarantee that you know more than pretty much everyone in your community about how to plan it out and where you might learn more about it and pursue resources via the internet, grants, etc. All I'm saying is don't stress about your project, because that's more of a jumping off point than what determines your service. Also, training will give you a handful of project ideas, probably those that have been successful in the country. They will also give you guidebooks, etc, so don't worry about whether you have a lot of ideas of what you can contribute. Peace Corps is about determined volunteers who know their community's needs, not just placing specialists abroad (that also has its uses, of course). You know what most developing communities struggle with? Preventable illnesses, teen pregnancy, basic education, etc. To solve these problems you don't need an expert, just someone with a base of knowledge who gets out there to teach people. You don't have to be very skilled to teach people the importance of washing their hands with soap or how to prevent HIV or the importance of reading with your children. However, this is the kind of stuff that people often don't know and a PCV can teach successfully. It's not as glamorous as the big projects, but it's very important and within reach. Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Oct 17, 2014 |
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Oct 17, 2014 23:11
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Cool thanks.
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Oct 17, 2014 23:22
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Pretty much everyone from a Western country underestimates just how effective our system of education is, even at the primary/middle school level. For us college grads, the difference is immense in how much more we know about... well, everything, compared to your average citizen in an underdeveloped country. You don't need specialist knowledge to do good projects, because you will know how to find out information better than your local partners. Think of yourself as a librarian or research assistant more than a development leader. You are there to nudge your partners along the right path on their projects, using the resources you help them find. The one project I did myself, latrines (yeah, I know.  ), failed pretty terribly, with only half of them actually getting finished even with a public health background to lean on. But the projects people brought to me, I was able to find and translate things for them; they took that information and used it in ways I didn't imagine.Once you realize that you are not the leader, you are the aide, things seem to get better. *This is probably more true in Africa than in other Peace Corps countries. Take it with a grain of salt.
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Oct 17, 2014 23:27
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Wow that's exactly what im good at. Im not the guy, im the guy behind the guy most of the time. Ok cool. Good info, this perspective stuff. Thanks
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Oct 17, 2014 23:29
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Slaan posted:Once you realize that you are not the leader, you are the aide, things seem to get better. Yep, having a great counter part who publicly leads the project but consults with you behind the scenes is pretty much the best way to go about a project. I think other people in my project respected this, and would come to me for advice or direction when my counterpart was absent. That first year you should focus on your primary assignment, but start feeling out what the community needs. Find leaders within the worksite or community and start having conversations with them on the subject. Then, when you enter your second year you can be ready to go My first grant was very rewarding, but wasn't necessarily what I was interested in doing as a secondary project as first. However, that was where there was a need in the community. I am lucky enough to have the chance to squeeze in another grant before my COS in 5 months which I find much more interesting. Just gotta keep up the communication with your counterparts and others in your community and the projects will flow.
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Oct 17, 2014 23:49
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Does anyone have experience or insight on the new application process? Judging from the website it seems more organized. Am I naive to think things have become more expedited? No rush, anyway. I'm looking to begin service in 2016. Also curious to hear who pursued their MA after their service. Did the benefits package keep you out of debt? I have my eye on the program through Teacher's College at Columbia. Cheers!
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Nov 26, 2014 05:52
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mrgoodtrips posted:Does anyone have experience or insight on the new application process? Judging from the website it seems more organized. Am I naive to think things have become more expedited? I applied on 10/13/2014, my interview is next Monday, 12/1 for a departure next June. Seems faster to me. Who knows though. This is the first set of applications going through the new process.
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Nov 26, 2014 06:16
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Edit
the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Nov 28, 2014 |
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Nov 26, 2014 06:52
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Stolennosferatu posted:I applied on 10/13/2014, my interview is next Monday, 12/1 for a departure next June. Seems faster to me. Who knows though. This is the first set of applications going through the new process. That's a quicker turnaround than I was led to believe. How was the interview? Hope you aced it!
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Dec 7, 2014 17:44
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mrgoodtrips posted:That's a quicker turnaround than I was led to believe. How was the interview? Hope you aced it! I think it went pretty well, but really the only person who can judge is the po. The placement officer said they hoped to place everyone in that program within 3 weeks. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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Dec 7, 2014 20:58
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That's great guys. I applied under the old system and it took 1 year and 4 months from when I submitted my application to when I left for staging. I guess there is a lot of pressure on you guys to get the medical stuff done in time for staging? I remember the medical office being super nitpicky about signatures. Had to visit the same doctor three times to get him to do signatures he had previously missed. My COS conference is next month. Two years seems like such a long stretch of time when you first get in country, but it really does fly by.
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Dec 7, 2014 21:31
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Yeah, it took my wife and I a year and a half between the time we applied and shipped out... Impressed to hear how fast people are going out now. After we submitted our medical stuff we didn't hear a single word for over four months straight, only to be told that we'd need to get more tests.
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Dec 8, 2014 20:46
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Yea I remember being the talk of department at Johns Hopkins Hospital because no one had ever gone in and requested such an obscure vaccination. I think I made 4 or 5 visits overall (sometimes just dropping off the forms for the dr. to add a signature he had missed). Luckily I had great insurance at the time so I spent more at FedEx Kinkos to fax the forms to PC HQ than I did on my medical visits & tests.
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Dec 9, 2014 01:41
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