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Omits-Bagels posted:I mean the anus/rectum check-box on the medical form. I had one of those, as did about half the PCVs in my group. My physician told me she was just checking to make sure my rear end could handle potential violent diarrhea or what-have-you (and boy did I have it for the first two months.) OP, here's a link to my blog if you want to include it: http://craigspcblog.blogspot.com/ Also, here's a site that has links to lots of PCV blogs from lots of countries that would be good in the OP. http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/?home They must periodically search for blogs because mine is up there without me putting it on. I would highly recommend this for any Invitees, as you have little time to decide if you accept your given country and the blogs are a good example of what your days will be like. Also, you could email the PCVs with questions before you decide.
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Sep 8, 2009 16:54
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CronoGamer posted:Hahaha, what? How on earth does a finger (or two?) up the butt check if you can handle violent diarrhea? At least it was a woman That was just her reasoning for the exam, I think she was just reaching for some explanation as to why the government wanted my rear end examined. She was very thorough and didn't sign off on anything she didn't do, which meant repeat visits for the tests and the aforementioned "Surprise! Finger(s)-up-the-butt!" And no, I didn't ask/look to see if it was one or two fingers. I just know the lube was very cold, and there was a lot of it, which made for an awkward afternoon (I still had to get my eye exam that day and do some shopping.) And yes, it was a woman, who happened to look and talk almost exactly like my grandmother. Oh, and whoever makes the next thread, please use the title "How on earth does a finger (or two?) up the butt check if you can handle violent diarrhea? - Ask us about the Peace Corps!" CronoGamer posted:Yeah, I think they periodically just google for it, though they don't actually check them at all. Mine is up there and I didn't update a single time in-country- my last post was at staging, which cracks me up because then it looks like my plane crashed or something. They found some of ours before we arrived for staging. One volunteer said when he first met his APCD she told him she enjoyed reading his blog. Which is yet another reason to be careful what you put in there kids. (Seriously, some PCVs were ETed because of what they wrote in their blogs.) EDIT: The ETs were under the old CD, as the story goes someone who was probably on her way out already posted something along the lines of "Man Jamaican women are so fat and disgusting!" This was all before me so I can't say for sure, but I guess the best general advice would just be don't be an idiot. v v v Dance McPants fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Sep 9, 2009 |
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Sep 8, 2009 21:57
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melaneyelia posted:I'm a current PCV serving in St. Lucia (a nation itself but the "country" as far as PC is concerned is Eastern Caribbean). My blog! Check it soon--within two days I'll update it about the fire at the hospital down the road. Hello fellow Beach Corps member! I'm actually surprised to hear St. Lucia has a high homicide rate. I guess all the Caribbean countries are facing a lot of the same issues, but hopefully you don't also have the coke trade there too. I think Jamaica is on pace to be #1 worldwide in homicide rates yet again. The differences in posts here is huge though. We have volunteers who literally walk out of their house onto beach sand. I get to walk through the concrete jungle of metropolitan Kingston, but it's growing on me. I came from working in Detroit though, so it was kind of a lateral move. Oh, do they burn trash there? The government is trying to crack down on that here, but even what they collect goes to the landfill which catches on fire once a month. The gullies and drains are choked with plastic bottles and people just pitch whatever rubbish they have out their window when they drive. My big secondary project is going to be expanding existing recycling programs and teaching environmental awareness and the dangers of burning plastic.
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Sep 12, 2009 04:59
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Stoner Boner posted:Do you know anyone who extended it to the 3rd year? From what I heard, when a volunteer extends a 3rd year they take the place of another volunteer who would have arrived in the next group. Again, it depends on the country. We take all the extensions, 3rd year transfers, and response volunteers that we can get (probably because our ET rate used to be extremely high and we wanted to keep all the committed volunteers we had.) Out of about 75 volunteers on island now, we have 4 extensions, 4 transfers, and one response volunteer. To all the other PCVs, are any of you active with the VAC or SPA in your post? I'm on both committees, and am curious as to how they work at other posts. (VAC = Volunteer Advisory Council; sort of like Peace Corps student government. SPA = Small Projects Assistance; small grants from U.S.A.I.D. coordinated through PCVs.)
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Dec 6, 2009 06:13
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Rush Limbaugh #1! posted:We had a SPA committee in Bulgaria and it seemed like their job was to obstruct others' projects as much as possible because there wasn't enough money to go around. China doesn't have SPA, because we're not really supposed to do much for development. Both places have VAC, which is known as the PCV Pity Party. The student government analogy is apt - they most notable thing I recall them doing in Bulgaria was organizing a PCV 'prom'. The useful volunteer organizations were ATIP (Anti-Trafficking in Persons) in Bulgaria, Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) and WID/GAD (Women in Development, Gender and Diversity) in both. I'm on WID/GAD in China, and we maintain a website with lesson plans and other resources for volunteers to do Women's Development projects, gender issues, and HIV/AIDS awareness. There's also a newsletter sent out every month with notifications about events, potential funding opportunities, etc. Yeah, with no official authority it's unfortunate how little VAC can directly impact. We do have a few IT volunteers that are helping develop our sharepoint site to make sharing resources much easier, and that's also a project I hope to be working on soon. Our health committee did a ton of work with a classroom art project for world AIDS day, working with other posts from Africa and Central America. Our SPA committee is mostly volunteer run, with 9 PCVs, the CD, and a USAID rep. I'm sure many volunteers here have the same complaint about us obstructing their projects, but there are many cases where we revisit the projects down the road and they completely misused the funds. Plus the whole so-much-money-to-go-around thing. We hear a lot that our SPA has the most PCV input out of any other post, and I was curious as to how other committees are run. The experience has so far made me very interested in aid and development, and I'm contemplating a future career in USAID. I'd like to get some more business education before (plus you need at least a masters to work for USAID,) so I'll be looking at business or international development schools soon.
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Dec 8, 2009 16:52
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Thought this should bear mentioning: http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1517 The 2010 peace corps budget has been approved, and is the largest budget in its history. The budget increased from $340 million to $400 million. According to our CD, this will affect all posts. With more money the peace corps will be expected to expand, so we're working now on finding new sites to accommodate more PCVs. Also, with the closing of Guinea and Mali (I think?) there will be an influx of transfers to other posts. Also, (again according to our CD), there are currently about 5 applicants to every 1 volunteer in peace corps (40,000 / 8,000). This is the highest ratio in its history, most likely as a result of the recession. Hopefully this increase in budget will allow for some expansion so more applicants can serve. Unfortunately the process is so long it will most likely over a year to see this expansion fully realized, but the direction is clear. In PC Jamaica news, our VAC managed negotiated with the staff to take over responsibilities for purchasing and servicing of PCV bicycles, and with some surveys we distributed and data I compiled and presented on internet connectivity, we laid the foundation for the staff to broker a deal with one of the telecommunications companies on the island to provide usb modems free to volunteers and unlimited internet for $900J (about $10 U.S.) a month.  This was very welcoming news, as I was extremely frustrated and burned out with things lately. It's nice to see something you've been working on for a long time with no foreseeable results unexpectedly bear fruit. We're also working with staff to dramatically change Pre Service Training (PST) based on results from the global PCV surveys and our own experiences in training. To some of you RPCVs, do any of you have experience working with the U.N.? I have a construction and engineering background and would love to do infrastructure/relief work in developing areas down the road. I'm also thinking about the state department or US A.I.D., but don't like the constant moving of those positions and political aspects (maybe the U.N. would be the same, I don't know.) Oh, and group 81 will be arriving on the island in 2 months. It's gonna feel weird not being the young guns anymore (relatively speaking; over half of our next group will be over 50.)
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Jan 13, 2010 21:57
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lucky garnett posted:This is a big help, thanks. Our tax sheet just said something like: There's more you have to do. Go figure it out. They just gave us our W-2s, then turned around and said "oh, we screwed up on those, the taxable allowance was too low. Go find out how much you really need to claim" or something like that. But, we got a new batch of PCTs flying in in three weeks, and I'll be at the airport to meet them. I kinda want to screw with them, just a little. I think I'll practice my patois and speak only that for a while.
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Feb 25, 2010 16:27
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Smeef posted:Does anyone know where the Water & Sanitation Extension operates? We currently have a WatSan sector in Jamaica which I am in, however it's being phased out. I believe there are other WatSan sectors in the Eastern Caribbean and Central and South America.
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Apr 5, 2010 14:09
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During training the PCMOs showed us a video where they said something like 90% of all PCVs have sex while in country. It certainly depends on the culture of course, in Jamaica (and the rest of the Caribbean I hear) it's very conservative christian in all regards except for sex. I've had neighbors ask me if I wanted to join them for church, and in the next sentence ask me if I'd had sex with a Jamaican yet, and when I tell them no they ask why not. If you have a long term relationship things can get stressed when you're ready to COS, and I know of more than a few volunteers dealing with that as their COS date nears. Of course any gay volunteer who wants to serve here must be closeted the entire time (not a PC rule, but highly recommended.)
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Apr 26, 2010 23:41
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Come to Jamaica! Land of medical rejects! Also, we were just on lockdown over potential riots from the government extraditing a mob boss! However we probably have the same fire ants that got you. I was standing in some bush two weeks ago and all of a sudden my foot was swarming with them and was in extreme pain (I guess the toxin waits a bit so by the time you realize you're covered in bites). My foot was swollen for days, and I still have bite marks. Sorry to hear about the med sep.
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May 18, 2010 22:12
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GregNorc posted:I have good technical skills, to put it mildly. (I'm looking at PhD program in Computer Science.) A PCV in my group here in Jamaica spent his first year teaching literacy and running a computer lab at his primary school, and is spending his second fixing the island-wide school attendance and test taking software. Previous volunteers worked in computer labs, I know of a transportation engineer who used GPS to map the Kingston bus system and develop timetables, and another CS major who developed a GIS system for watershed management. I'm sure if you play that up you'll be able to use your skills.
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Jul 13, 2010 04:55
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It's good to have something nice to wear, even if it stays mothballed for a lot of your service. I have a few long sleeve shirts, ties and slacks that I wore in staging and training, and then pull out whenever I have a meeting with some important official. I also got a decent looking pair of Keenes at REI that can almost pass for dress shoes that I'm wearing out. Just make sure that whatever you bring is comfortable, I was stupid enough to bring wool pants that did not survive. Check the Peace Corps Wiki for your region or country and they should have clothing advice, but having one or two nice outfits isn't a bad idea.
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Aug 11, 2010 02:48
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Pocket DeSade posted:So do the PC actually contact your references? I don't think any of mine were contacted. It's not a problem if they do, for me, but at what point would they actually contact them? I remember one of my professional references saying he was contacted, verified a few things, and gave me a good recommendation. I didn't hear from any others, but I had a lot of projects I included through him, so maybe they were making sure it wasn't bs. I think they contacted him after my interview and before my nomination. Dance McPants fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Aug 17, 2010 |
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Aug 17, 2010 21:14
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We have a few volunteers here with no college degree and one (the second in Peace Corps history) with no high school diploma or GED. They all have at least 10 years of work experience though, but if your volunteer experience is extensive (and if it isn't, start volunteering in your area) then you should be good.
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Aug 22, 2010 17:27
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Thanks, that was helpful to me as well. I COS next May, and am looking into international development and economics programs for next September. I plan on going home in October for a lot of reasons, but I'll be visiting old professors and co-workers asking for recommendations. I have internet access if I need it, and I took the GRE back in '06 or '07 (I can't remember when, all I know is that my scores will still be good for this app cycle), so all I need are recommendations, transcripts, and essays (and to decide on my top programs). Gotta get to work on that.
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Sep 5, 2010 04:22
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Tomato Soup posted:I plan on applying to the peace corps after I graduate, but I just realized that most deaf education placements (I'm deaf so that's the only assignment that I can do I think) are in countries with malaria risk and I'm allergic to doxycycline and the only anti-malarial I can take is Malarone and maybe chloroquine unless there's another medicine that I can take long-term that I don't know about. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but this will almost certainly be an issue. When I was nominated for Central/South America, I was told I'll be leaving in August of 2009. My medical came back and said I have a slight G6PD deficiency. My doctor said I could manage myself in malaria risk countries if I was careful, but Peace Corps just said they can't place me anywhere with a risk. Eight months later they called and said Jamaica wasn't a malaria risk, and that basically it is the only country I could do engineering work in, so I took it. Good luck. Talk to your recruiter and be honest about the medical, and they might be able to work with you. Maybe they're developing deaf education assignments in Eastern Europe, or they might be willing to work with you on the malaria medication if they know far enough in advance.
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Nov 2, 2010 16:29
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Saint Celestine posted:Well that was fast, my recruiter called the next day and said she was moving my application forward. Looks like ill be doing youth development somewhere in Asia and asked if I could start getting relevant skills. In college I tutored math at a community center, and they seemed to love this. In practical terms just directing youths of different ages really helped me build confidence so I was less nervous when I got to my site. Just ask around for volunteer opportunities, http://www.serve.gov may be a good option but I haven't had that much time to play around with it yet.
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Nov 5, 2010 04:54
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Rush Limbaugh #1! posted:Don't give up hope, countries that only do English education still sometimes work with schools that have other needs. I knew a guy in Bulgaria whose degree was in Special Education and worked at a school for the disabled, but he fell under the administrative umbrella of primary English education. I think once you know your country and can talk to the program managers you might have a clearer idea of what you could wind up doing. Just want to echo this; I was placed under "Water and sanitation", and the program said I would be mainly doing things like teaching hand washing and safe drinking habits, but after talking with my APCD before I left she worked out something for me more engineering related.
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Nov 10, 2010 02:16
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Another PCV in my group sent me this: So You Want to Join Peace Corps I gotta say, I had a lot of these negative stereotypes myself my first year. My second year I decided not to rely on Peace Corps or my agency to find meaningful work for me, or fixing situations with my host family, or whatever. I realized complaining about my situation or just accepting it and spending each day miserable isn't any kind of service I was interested in having, and at the end of the day it's up to me to make things better for myself. I know it's an obvious lesson but it's one that took me quite a while to learn. I had some great community members supporting me, and now anytime I go to the office or see another PCV they'll say "Wow, you seem really happy." So, sorry for my previous posts, I see now that I probably came off as a little pissy. I went from seriously considering an ET to seriously considering an extension now. You know, a raise of readjustment allowance to $375 a month does sound tempting.
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Jan 9, 2011 18:48
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RagnarokAngel posted:Ugh those Xtranormal things are awful if you're going to use it you might as well just write it out as a blog. It's still good advice though, if a little belligerent. It's not a bad thing to go into Peace Corps with altruistic and even lofty goals and ideals. You're devoting two years of your life away from family and friends to serve a purpose. There's a middle ground between delusional and total cynical bastard where most volunteers I know fall, some more to one side or the other, but we all have our moments of elation and of despair. For me, it's cliche as hell but the little things make it worth it. The other day I was bullshitting with a friend. We were helping at a charity dinner event, talking about the cute girls there and just having a good time, when he says "you know, you're the first white man I really know." I say "poo poo, we should've gotten you a better one!" So much of the culture here is American influenced, and the upper classes all have close ties to and probably spent a good deal of time in America, but for the rest it's usually a combination of what they perceive from media or the tourists who mostly stay cloistered in the resorts. In my community, I have students who see me in town and shout of "Hey, Teach!" It's really nice to being treated for who you are instead of where you're from. Another specific example would be when my host father asked me if I could help him trim the top of his hedges since I'm a bit taller than him. Afterwords he gave me the biggest mango I've ever seen in my life (seriously, fucker was bigger than a softball). And to prove I'm not forgetting the negatives, after another volunteer and I were held up at gunpoint, my community members all said they'd keep an eye out for me and my place. At first it annoyed me a bit (I felt I was fine and could take care of myself), but then I thought it was sweet that they care. Really, any little thing that reminds me that I'm a part of a community, and have people to look out for me, and people that I look out for, helps on those really unproductive days. There are more concrete benefits as well. To me, the experience has been a crucible for my career choice and made me really reevaluate what I'll be doing after COS. There's the grad school benefits and non-competitive government eligability (has anyone here taken advantage of this?) that I may take advantage of, and constantly being forced into situations where I'm the minority with experiences and views against the mainstream of my community at first terrified me but now gives me a great confidence whenever I am speaking to people I don't know. I think this is a great question and I'm really interested to hear from other volunteers what specific stories they have.
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Jan 12, 2011 23:35
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Private Label posted:I once saw a horse's head being chewed on by a dog. I didn't really think anything of it, until I got home and realized a dog was chewing on a loving dead horse's head. I thought it was cool, anyway. People back home don't see that everyday! Haha, those moments are indeed awesome. Once I was in a taxi and the driver got a text message and said "Oh, I need to respond. Hold the wheel." I laughed for a second, and then the car started drifting right, and a truck was coming the other way. I grabbed the wheel and straightened us out, and the driver calmly finished her text message and then said "ok, thanks." A good 10 minutes after I got home I thought to myself "Wait, what the poo poo just happened?" I also remember at my old site, I was waiting to meet with someone when I see a group of 10-15 young men all crowded around something, shouting and jumping around. I work my way to the circle and see two goats bashing heads, and for only the briefest moment did I think "this is stupid," and then I joined in and watched those goats fight for like 20 minutes. It was pretty entertaining.
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Jan 13, 2011 23:17
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There's the Voluntary Services Overseas which started in 1958, and supposedly Peace Corps was modeled after. Then right after Peace Corps started the Canadian University Services Overseas was founded. But VSO and CUSO are both non-profits. It was a lot harder to start a service corps through the government, and Shriver was had to work hard as hell to push it through all the roadblocks. At the end of the day, no matter how frustrated I am with Peace Corps, I can say that I'm living abroad in service of the poor with the backing of my government, and all that's required of me is to fill out a VRF three times a year. It's an exciting thought that for two years, you're essentially on your own, for better or worse.
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Jan 20, 2011 14:56
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Fuschia tude posted:Speaking of staging, the email mentioned we should wear business casual. What exactly does that mean in the Peace Corps context? Polo shirts and khakis? That should work. Find some comfortable slacks and polos or collared shirts, and some comfortable shoes. You can probably find some lightweight slacks and shirts at REI. Try to find something that you can wear at site to conserve suitcase space. Good luck!
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Apr 22, 2011 16:00
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TreFitty posted:I've been considering this for about 2 years now and would like to do it maybe 2 years out from now. How expensive is it to get the medical check and everything like that? Do you have insurance? I had barebones private insurance and only paid a co-pay for the physical, and then Peace Corps reimburses you up to $50 I think for the physical, something like $20 for the eye exam (cheapest I found was $50), and if you don't have any dental plan there is a list of dentists that will give you a free examination for Peace Corps. But you'll still have to pay to get any fillings done or wisdom teeth extracted.
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May 4, 2011 15:21
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Yay, successful COS! Yay, FECA paperwork to look forward to! Seriously though, I feel great. A little sad to say goodbye, but most of my projects are going to be sustained. After all the exit interviews and packing and goodbyes my brain is fried, and I'm just looking forward to a bowl of chili and a beer.
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May 16, 2011 18:12
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Are they resolved? Depression isn't a dealbreaker if it's controlled, but you'd need a letter from any councilor or psychiatrist that you saw in the past. You might make the argument that it was an honest mistake and that since it was resolved you marked "no". I can't say what the best move would be, but I would recommend fessing up since there's no avoiding it.
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Aug 6, 2011 01:34
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Out of curiosity, why does it list previous depression issues on your labwork? My labwork was just the blood and urine tests, and then the medical form that just has whatever I put on it and the signoff by the physician.
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Aug 6, 2011 07:03
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As long as you can make payments on the loans you'll be fine. Some private loans will let you defer for Peace Corps. If you can't, then you can either arrange for it to be paid some other way, like having it taken out of your readjustment allowance that you earn each month (I believe it's $375/month now). I knew several volunteers with credit card debt and student loans and as long as you can keep up the payments or get them deferred you'll be fine.
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Dec 5, 2011 09:07
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You'll always be able to cobble something together. I know some people would fill old detergent bottles with gravel and use them, and you'll be sure to find somebody that knows how to weld. Maybe you could piece a barbell together from an old axle.
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Mar 9, 2012 00:03
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Haha, sorry dude. I remember all the guys in our training group asking each other the question, whether they had the finger exam. I think it was only like me and maybe a few other guys out of 18. Luck of the draw.
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Apr 12, 2012 23:41
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There was a push for more literacy teaching in Jamaica when I was there. I think "Eastern Caribbean" rotates between a few islands where most people speak patoi, could be there too. Good luck!
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Jun 12, 2012 23:49
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I can't speak for mechanical engineering, but I can say that I really shot myself in the foot in civil engineering. I had similar experience (a few internships and a year working as a field engineer) before Peace Corps and when I came back I spent 6 months looking for another job in construction before moving states and changing fields. And this is even with me working as an engineer for half my service (I taught in a vocational school the other half). I did hit the perfect storm of unemployment - trying to find work in construction during a recession in Detroit in a field where experience is worth more than anything else including grad school (all of my old contacts said their companies haven't hired in years). You would probably fare better, the economy should be stronger when you leave. From your interests Peace Corps would probably look really good on your resume. If you decide to do it I highly recommend being very aggressive in trying to find work you want to do. For example, you could start a science club with some high school students, or demonstrate building solar ovens, or work with farmers to develop drip-irrigation systems to use less water, or work with local government to get experience in international development, or whatever. Not only that, you need to document your work well so you can "prove" to employers that you weren't just jerking around for two years. PM me if you have any questions. We had a lot of young tech and engineering volunteers in my group.
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Jul 4, 2012 16:05
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i see things posted:Does anyone have any clue what GD P6 is on the medical? Says I'm missing that and I have 60 days from Oct. 22 to get it turned in. Eek. It's a kind of enzyme. if you have a deficiency in it you're not supposed to take several anti-malarial drugs. They should have tested for that when they did your bloodwork, if they didn't you'll have to get that done. I think it takes a few days to get the results so try to get that done quick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose-6-phosphate_dehydrogenase_deficiency
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Nov 2, 2012 17:56
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I would suggest an ereader and a usb solar charger. You'll be bored a lot waiting for meetings to start, waiting for the bus, etc, and books are heavy. Ex-officio underwear is great for hot climates. Since you're in the Caribbean i'd also recommend a hammock. When the power goes out and your fan stops your mattress will get very, very hot and a hammock at least gives you some air under your rear end. Here's the peace corps wiki packing list guide by country: http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Packing_lists_by_country
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Dec 31, 2012 18:13
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You'll most likely have fairly reliable electricity, I just used my solar charger if the power was out for a few days from a storm and honestly could have easy gotten by without it. I'm sure you can find a hammock down there although I really liked mine. Wrapped up it was really small and lightweight: http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/DOUBLENEST.html For everything else remember there's a high chance of stuff breaking / getting stolen. Definitely get the insurance (it was Clements when I was down there, they sent me a check when my laptop died and I had the money within a few weeks) and keep everything backed up. One other thing is shirts with pockets. When you're crammed in a bus it's a lot easier to keep a few bills in your shirt than trying to get to your wallet.
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Jan 2, 2013 22:42
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 19:12 |
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Peace Corps to allow same-sex couples to serve together So...how many countries will this be an option in?
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May 21, 2013 22:11
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