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Hello everyone, new PCV here. I was sworn in about three weeks ago and have been working on site for two weeks. I live & work in the rural part of the country but my community is still well developed in relation to some of the other parts of the world that the PC serves. This is not what I had in mind when I started the application process one and a half years ago but I am happy to be here nonetheless!
grenada fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Apr 21, 2013 20:26
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I am having so much trouble understanding the teachers and students at my work site. It is so embarrassing to ask a teacher to repeat themselves 3+ times when they can understand me perfectly. grenada fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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May 9, 2013 23:29
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Do you mean in terms of growing a beard? I don't think anyone is going to judge you for growing a beard no matter what your country. I am definitely going to attempt a beard at some point during my service. I have never followed through with a full beard while back in the U.S. since it grows in kind of weird. Maybe have your family send you some quality razor blades in a care package. I brought some mach 3 razor blades down with me and I very rarely ever cut myself. You should talk to your PCMO if it really bothers you so they can reassure you or provide some tips.
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May 20, 2013 22:21
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Probably not any of Africa, Middle East, or Caribbean. Maybe parts of Latin America and E. Europe but probably only in the big cities. Good chance for some Asian countries like Thailand, Nepal and maybe Philippines. All speculation though! I think this is a good PR move by peace corps. This decision will be lauded by progressive supporters of peace corps and will offer no real downside. I doubt they will be able to place more than a handful of couples each year due to country/safety restrictions. I am sure the application process will take eons since it already takes 1.5+ years for a hetero couple.
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May 22, 2013 00:04
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a distorted reality posted:Graduating with a B.A. in August. Departing for Peru (is this considered Posh Corps?) in September as a community health volunteer. It's going to be a quick turnaround but certainly not a boring one. As with almost all posts.. depends on if you get an urban, suburban or rural placement. The capital and other cities/towns will be ''posh''. However, I know a girl that lived in a mud hut with a host family during her PC service in Peru.
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Jun 16, 2013 18:20
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Email a recruiter!! Agriculture is one of the fields where actual job experience can replace a bachelors so I imagine that you would be fine with associates degree plus farm work experience. But.. email a recruiter!!
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Aug 19, 2013 14:10
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grenada fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Sep 13, 2013 20:02
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grenada fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Feb 3, 2014 23:07
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Pieter de Hooch posted:Let it go. Thanks for the response! I'm just passing the one year mark at site and I think all of the frustrations with my work site are coming to a head now. I agree with you somewhat in regards to corporal punishment at schools. The reality is that the students often get beaten way worse at home than they ever would at school. It is definitely a cultural mindset. The students beg me to beat their peers. They'll sometimes take off their belts and try to hand them to me! I am still going to switch over to one-on-one tutoring with the lowest students at the school. I am a special education volunteer but am pretty much teaching unmotivated students right now. I would rather spend the last year of my service working with actual 'special education' students as well as helping the teachers understand basic special education practices. That along with after school activities would be very fulfilling and a great way to spend the last year of my service. I gave teaching the remedial program my best effort, on to other things.
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Feb 5, 2014 00:34
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grenada fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Feb 14, 2014 02:03
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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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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: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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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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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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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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Most people back in the States won't know that Peace Corps lasts two years. It's also none of their business why you ET. All grad schools and any jobs outside of the international development field will be impressed with one year of service Talk to your APCD, and report your feelings in your VRF. I reported in my VRF that my school was using me as a replacement teacher (which is against PC policy for my post) and he was at my school within a week to clarify the role of Peace Corps volunteers to the Principal. That helped, and I was able to focus on two secondary projects which at least made my service seem worthwhile.
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Jan 2, 2015 21:29
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huhu posted:Man, feels good to say, I'm getting a site change to the regional capital where I'll continue sector related work but not with my community. So much stress gone and really glad I was able to make the change. Great! A big part of PC is advocating for yourself when you get unlucky with your site/house/whatever placement.
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Feb 13, 2015 12:39
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Nothing wrong with voluntourism, but I wouldn't compare it to the PC experience. And yeah, there are tons of NGO's operating in developing countries all over the world, but 99% of the time you'll be living in the capital. Peace Corps gives you access to rural communities that are off the beaten path for tourists/development workers/diplomats etc.
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Feb 15, 2015 03:09
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Slaan posted:I haven't been because most of the job I see show up on there are well below my pay grade. With a Masters, I should be getting a GS-7 or -9 at entry, but most of those are GS-5 or private non-profit positions which pay under 40,000 a year. I have student loans to pay. Your chances of getting a job through USAJOBS is very small due to the veterans preference. Apply to the PC NCE opening through avuecentral. I cos'd one month ago and was hired as a GS9 by the first job I applied to off the PC job board. There are a ton of awesome jobs posted on there but you need to check it every single day.
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Apr 16, 2015 22:29
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N. Senada posted:My entire country, which is in the Caribbean, is getting consolidated because of some stupid hurricane. This sucks a whole, whole, whole lot. Any one have some words of wisdom to share about this bullshit? I was in the Carib and got consolidated twice. Both were for small tropical storms that didn't come close. stormcarib.com is your friend. Checked it daily during hurricane season. Good luck!
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Oct 4, 2016 00:41
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Thesaurus posted:
Thanks! Going to email my HR rep tomorrow! grenada fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 23:12
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