It is now 1:30am. I am sitting in my hotel room in Philly after staging, and we're up and awake getting ready to board our bus that leaves at 2:30am for JFK airport (appropriate I think). I got about 4 hours of sleep before coming to staging and about 30 minutes today, so here's to hoping I sleep well on the bus and plane.
Just to let everyone know, I will most likely not be able to update this or even get on the internet until after training. So remember, if you don't hear from me until late August, "No News is Good News."
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
“We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” ~John F. Kennedy
Why did I decide to join the Peace Corps? That is a very common questions, and one I
don’t even know how to answer, but here’s my best attempt.
The first time I applied to the Peace Corps, I wanted to see
the world, make a difference, and spend some more time of my life living
abroad. See, that time it was easy to
answer, but I was also 21, naïve, had no job prospects, a sad excuse of a GPA,
and the thought of entering the horribly recession hit job market with a degree
that was appropriately named a B.S. scared the crap out of me. Basically, I applied that time because I
wanted to spend a couple years doing something fun and exciting while putting
off the inevitable. I happened to be at
the study abroad fair seeing what was new in the world of international
studies, and I was told Peace Corps was a real thing that people like I
actually do. See, why couldn’t people
ask me “why did you decide to join the Peace Corps that time you didn’t
actually go?” The key part of that is: I
didn’t actually go. I got a great offer
into a Master’s program with what to date is the best job I’ve ever had, I had
an exciting relationship, and it was easier to not go than tell my Dad I was
going.
So that brings us to October 2010. But to get to October 2010, we must first
rewind to August. That exciting
relationship that I just knew was the one, and we were going to be together
forever …ya…that didn’t end so well. Boo
hoo, tears cried (well, I’m assuming I would have cried tears if I had normal
human emotions, but I had the equivalent emotional movement in my own terms), and
of course no regrets (I’d do it all again if I had the choice, minus folding on
certain arguments).
So a few weeks after the break-up, I was over it. Yup, I mourn quickly. I’m in my ‘thinking room’ where a surprising
number of my major life decisions have been made, and where I tend to go when I
need to think…the shower (see, there is no way I’ll be able to ET cause I’d
need a shower to come to such a decision).
The little cartoon light-bulb popped on over my head (thank you scuba for
all my flashlights being waterproof). I
think, “Hey, that Peace Corps thing sounded cool in undergrad, and I’m single
now, I should find Amy one of these days (Amy being both my PC recruiter and
one of the most amazing awesome people ever).
Well, in the way of the busy graduate student that spends all his waking
time in class, working, or in the lab, I didn’t exactly drop everything and
find Amy. Actually, I didn’t even email
her. BUT, someone on the other-side
thought I was onto something, so a few weeks later, I’m in the lab and think “Hey,
I like food, I should go get some.” (Yes, most of my thoughts start with the
word “hey.”) Well lucky for me, this
particular moment of hunger just so happened to coincide with the Study Abroad
fair, and once again I see the booth set up in some prime real estate with that
cool looking logo. I walk up and Amy
goes “Hey Nick, come around here and give me a hug!” How she remembered my name, let alone cared
about my existence enough to give me a hug is another one of the great
mysteries of the universe and another way Amy is awesome. (Wow, I am getting way off topic here.) Anyways, I talk to her about reapplying, and
then the process began.
So, bringing it back to the original topic, why I decided to
join the Peace Corps. I decided to join
the Peace Corps because that’s what my brain said I should do while standing in
the shower. Professionally, I could get
an awesome resume builder and live in Latin America where I could perfect my
Spanish (ya…plans change and you just gotta roll with it). Personally, I’d get to see the world and
spend more time living abroad. However,
if you want to know the deeper and ultimate reason, it was because I realized
that even if only once in my life, I knew I could do something truly amazing
and make a significant impact in other people’s lives. No matter what I do in the future, I can
always know that for one brief moment, I did the right thing, even when it wasn’t
the normal or easy thing to do.
Monday, June 04, 2012
Dear Malawi Trainee: Please give this letter to your family & friends, and ask them to hold on to it for as long as you are in Malawi.
Dear Families & Friends,
Greetings from the Malawi Desk in
Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that I welcome your family member
to the Peace Corps/Malawi training program.
During the past year I have received many questions from Volunteers and
family members regarding communication, mail, and travel plans. As I am unable to involve myself in the
personal arrangements of Volunteers, I would like to offer you advice and
assistance in advance by providing specific examples of situations and how I
suggest you handle them. Peace Corps
service certainly impacts more than just the trainee and I hope that this information
will help ease some of the uncertainty which affects the families of
Volunteers.
The Peace Corps experience can be an
exciting, intimidating, and amazing experience for both the Volunteer and
family. The Volunteers will learn a lot
about Malawi during their preparation for service and throughout their service
of two years. This is also a great time
for you to learn more about Malawi, which may alleviate some of your concerns.
Below are a few links to get you
started in your discovery:
Friends of Malawi: www.friendsofmalawi.org
1. Irregular
Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in
Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi) The
mail service in Malawi is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service; thus, it
is important to be patient and understanding.
It can take three to four weeks for mail coming from Lilongwe to arrive
in the United States via the Malawi postal system. From a Volunteer's site, mail might take 1-2
months to reach the United States.
Sometimes mail is hand carried to the United States by a traveler and
mailed through the U.S. postal system (Volunteers should bring some US
stamps). This leg of the trip can take
another several weeks as it is also dependent on the frequency of travelers to
the U.S. There is a truism that you may
wish to embrace as uncomfortable as it is, “No news, is good news!”
On average, it takes approximately four
weeks for letters mailed from the United States to reach Lilongwe, and may take
an additional six weeks to reach the Volunteer’s site. I suggest that in your first letters, you ask
your Volunteer family member to give an estimate of how long it takes to
receive your letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how
often you will write to each other.
Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if they
have missed one. Postcards should be
sent in envelopes – otherwise they may be found on the wall of the local post
office! By the end of the Volunteer’s
Pre-Service Training they will be able to send you their specific site
address.
For the first 8 weeks in country, your
family member will be living in a village near the training site (about one
hour drive south of Lilongwe) and participating in an intensive, immersion
style training program where they will begin to learn language, cultural and
technical skills necessary to be a safe and productive Peace Corps Volunteer. During this time, they will NOT have much access
to email/Internet but can certainly receive and send letters. Receiving mail during this intense period is most
welcome and appreciated. Once they are
sworn-in as Volunteers, they will have access to the Peace Corps computers in
the office and can reestablish email communication. However, you must remember that NO Peace
Corps Volunteer in Malawi has daily or even weekly access to email so you
should have limited expectations as to immediate replies to any emails you will
be sending.
Volunteers often enjoy telling their
“war” stories when they write home.
Letters might describe recent illnesses, lack of good food, isolation,
etc. While the subject matter is good
reading material, it is often misinterpreted on the home front. Further, given the lag time in communication
by the time you receive certain news, weeks if not months have passed and the
Volunteer has moved past a particularly sad moment when they miss you, or that
specific illness, and don’t understand why it is that you are so concerned
anymore! There are two extremely
competent Peace Corps medical doctors at the Peace Corps office in
Lilongwe. In the event of a serious
illness, the Volunteer is sent to Lilongwe and cared for by our medical
staff. If the Volunteer requires medical
care that is not available in Malawi s/he will be medically evacuated to
Pretoria, South Africa or the United States.
Fortunately, these are rare circumstances.
If for some reason your normal
communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member for
an abnormal amount of time, you may want to contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Washington at 1-800-692-1470.
The Office of Special Services will
then contact the Peace Corps Director in Lilongwe and ask him to check up on
the Volunteer. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family,
critical illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so
that I can inform the Volunteer. Tell the operator your name, telephone number,
and the nature of the emergency and the Duty Officer will call you back.
2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system
in Malawi is relatively good and service in and out of Lilongwe to the United
States is fairly reliable. In the
interior of the country, where most of the Volunteers are located, there are
fewer phones and service is more sporadic.
Your Volunteer family member, however, will undoubtedly buy or bring a
GSM cell phone for use while they are here in Malawi. Cell service is quite good, reliable, and
available in most parts of the country.
Some Volunteers may have to climb a small hill or walk a distance from
their home, but it is a far cry from having to travel several hours or days to
get to a working phone as it once did.
Volunteers will mostly use text messaging in country, and you may be
able to send and receive messages with them.
Please
be aware that the Peace Corps staff in Lilongwe and Washington are not able to
assist in arranging calls. Your family member will be able to inform you of the
actual telephone numbers once they arrive in-country and to their site. The Malawi Desk is in regular communication
with the Peace Corps office in Lilongwe. However, this communication is reserved
for business only and I cannot relay personal messages. All communication between family members and
the Volunteer should be done via international mail, e-mail, or phone calls.
3. Sending packages. Family members and
Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Please be advised that packages can often
take 1-2 months, but sometimes as long as 4-6 months. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a
frustrating experience for all involved due to the high incidence of theft and
heavy customs taxes. You may want to try
sending inexpensive items through the mail, though there is no guarantee that
these items will arrive. I do not
recommend sending costly items through the mail. It is recommended that packages be sent in
padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more heavily. Even though many Volunteers choose to get
local post office boxes, you may always use the following address to send
letters and/or packages to your family member:
“John Doe”, PCV
PEACE
CORPS/MALAWI
BOX 208
LILONGWE
MALAWI
For
lightweight, but important, or time sensitive items (e.g. airline tickets), I recommend
using an express mail service. DHL is
one possibility and other courier services may operate in Lilongwe. For more information about DHL, please call
their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com.
I advise you to shop around to find the best prices and service options.
If you choose to send items through
DHL, you must address the package to:
“John Doe”, PCV
c/o U. S. Peace Corps Malawi
AREA 4 PLOT 70
LILONGWE
MALAWI
(You’ll also need to include the Peace
Corps/Malawi phone number: 265-1-757-157).
Trying to send cash or checks is very
risky and is discouraged. If your
Volunteer family member requests money from you, it is his/her responsibility
to arrange receipt of it.
I hope this information is helpful to
you during the time your family member is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in
Malawi. I understand how frustrating it can be to communicate with your family
member overseas and I appreciate your using this information as a
guideline.
Sincerely,
Patrick Koster
Malawi Desk Officer
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