The Peace Corps is a US government organization whose mission is to promote world peace and friendship. There are many different sectors of Peace Corps and many different countries Peace Corps serves. The sector in which I am working is called community economic development. It is our mission to work with community partners to stimulate local economy and empower community members. This could look like a variety of things from working with women's groups, to promoting eco-tourism in our communities. It all depends on the community and I won't know what my project is until I get to my assigned site. I've heard of everything under the sun as far as community economic development goes and it is one of the more flexible sectors, which is really nice. Stay tuned to find out what my assignment will be.
The timeline of the Peace Corps service is:
- One day of staging in a US city (where you meet all your fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and get ready to leave the country)
- One week of orientation in the country capital (where your group stays in a hotel and takes classes about culture, security, etc.)
- 3 months of Pre-Service Training near the country capital (where volunteers live with a host family and learn spanish, the culture and technical skills that will help us during service.)
- 2 years of service at site.
Our group is pictured above and I feel really lucky to be here with them all. They are a really diverse and amazing group of people. I've known them for a week and a half and it feels like I've known them much longer. They say everything in Peace Corps moves way more quickly than usual, especially when it comes to relationships and I can vouch for that already. I think its the extreme circumstances that makes the bonds so close. Whatever the cause, I'm not complaining. I know they'll have my back these 2 years and I'm extremely grateful.