Thursday, October 23, 2008

Inflation..I'm sick of it

So reading an article sent to me by my father and a good friend, regarding the evacuation/aftermath of the PC Bolivia volunteers, I had rabies (well, that's a translation of a way of saying you were super crazy mad) to put some things into the light.  May I add the following (of course from my own point of view, but we were all going through this together in one place, and I heard a lot of talking volunteers, discussing their options, hopes and fears)...

The Peace Corps team from Washington, D.C. was extremely helpful in the decision-making process, never forcing us to take a transfer, because it is not wise to make life decisions during stressful events, or to make them in a short period of time.  Many of my compañeros weren't ready to make that decision to jump into a new culture, program, and country without our familiar surroundings and friends.  And it wasn't a rejection of Peace Corps, for anybody that I talked to.  It was a need for time and closure, whether in Bolivia or in the U.S.  Sometimes I wonder whether it's something I should have taken more time to think about, and had I done so, I would have had to close my service and re-enroll for 27 months, thus being counted among the "PC rejectors."  We had a wonderful counselor to help us with the tough stuff, and we had placement officers who helped us with knowing exactly how sure we would be about getting placed to a new, satisfactory post if we so chose, once we had sorted our thoughts out in the U.S. (or on a super-sweet South American vacation using some of the money we'd earned as volunteers...it's not much, so why not spend it somewhere less expensive and really interesting).

More than half the volunteers had LESS than a year left in service (some were a MONTH away from their full commitment of 2 years), and it wouldn't make sense for those people to add a new 1 or 2 year commitment just to keep being in Peace Corps.  To me, that makes sense that they wouldn't hurry to another country, but rather go back to Bolivia to tie up their loose ends and maybe make arrangements for almost-done projects to be completed.  Again, not a rejection of peace corps or a statement against the organization, rather a logical decision.

There is a good number of people who are planning on doing another WHOLE 27 MONTHS.  those people had to close their service, which inflates the number of "not continuing" members.

Some COS-ed people are interested in Peace Corps Response, which places returned volunteers in short-term high-involvement projects to accomplish a specific goal, often in response to a major crisis (this used to be called Crisis Corps).  to be eligible for PCR, you need to close your service, then re-apply from home.

Some people with recent injuries could not transfer, because their medical clearance would take longer than the few weeks that would remain before moving to the new country.  That's unfortunate, but those people could still do Peace Corps in the future, and I know some really fought for the chance to transfer.  Were they rejecting the organization?  This might be the only small group of "angry" volunteers, but they were angry that they couldn't continue right away, because they still wanted to be volunteers.

All the people who ended their service have "Returned Peace Corps Volunteer" status.  It's like they're veterans.  Are those who end their military tours of duty rejecting the U.S. military?  They are honored as veterans, and hold that status for life.  Though the military and Peace Corps are clearly different, I do see a comparison.  An RPCV continues as such, as a part of the organization, and can choose to be an active RPCV, visiting schools, participating in events, etc.  It's an honor for many people to say they are RPCV.  I don't think most of these people would be considered as mad at the organization.

So as you can see, when the news talks about the HUGE number who apparently ended their relationship with Peace Corps or who were angry at the organization, they aren't giving a full picture.  Why paint it in this negative light?  I'm glad the Washington Post today did add more to the story about back-to-Bolivia volunteers.  I'm so proud of the people who chose to go back to tie things up, or stay in their sites and work for a while longer.  It says a lot about those people, and (in my opinion) how important their Peace Corps experience was to them.  For us transfers, that was an unfortunate draw-back.  Many of us would have loved to have gone back to Bolivia for a week and THEN go to another country, but it was not an option because the government is still obligated to protect us as volunteers, and Bolivia isn't safe enough for them to let any current volunteer visit.  

I would encourage the Press to give a more rounded version of the story.  They probably can't find a current volunteer willing to give an interview (we're not supposed to, for our safety and privacy), unfortunately, but the least they could do is research more of the post-Close of Service options and reasons behind taking this path.  Then the numbers might not look so dramatic.  But then again, what is the Press if not Drama?  Not News...certainly not! 

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Para su placer de vista

some images from my first weeks here in Panama...which have taken me from former army barrack-hotel living to tropical suburban panama city to malls on re-purposed and re-painted school buses to a volunteer's site on the edge of the cordillera and back again

3 birds: if you look close at the center of this one you can see the third bird's tail; they call it sangre de toro (bull's blood) because it's bright red and black, like nothing you've seen before


nice dusk picture that doesn't at all capture the amazing view of the jutting hills


diablo rojo: public transport, not usually red, but always devilish



random city view:  either Panama City or a Latin neighborhood in NYC on a way too sunny day...you decide



mini-super:  oxymoron?  I'd just call it a mini

mail call

I have an address!

Rachel Schell-Lambert
Entrega General -- Santiago
Provincia de Veraguas
República de Panamá

Some mail tricks:

small packages (padded envelopes), no valuables (monetarily...since anything sent with love is definitely of value to me), value of zero, write Materiales Religiosos on it, address it to Hermana Rachel Schell-Lambert (so people think I'm a nun/religious figure), tape religious pictures or affix stickers of like Mary and Jesus over the seam--if you feel comfortable doing so (people are adverse to cutting those), keep the packages neat and inconspicuous (no triple-reused envelopes that need to be taped up everywhere)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

That was fast

I'm hot.  I drank real coffee twice today.  I'm happy to be here.

Well, I landed at 11pm last night, got to my hotel at about midnight, and we started our day at 7am this morning, so I'm tired.  But so so glad to be here.  Today was mostly an intro to the way PC Panama works (very organized and professional, with high but realistic expectations of its volunteers).  I got my site assignment already!  It's in an area that's south of the mountains, so it's "Pacific" and thus drier (not really dry) and still hot like the rest of Panama.  Yup, it's hot here.  Seems like everything indoors in Panama City is air conditioned though, yuck; I'd rather feel the heat a bit more--a fan would suffice for me.  I did get to prance in the warm tropical rain today!  That probably made some people stare.  Tomorrow we move in with host families, which is always awkward, but I'm convinced I can do it more easily this time, without the extreme language barrier I had before.  Never fear, I'm sure there will be plenty of culture shock to write about--and it's soon festival season!!!  So far it seems that Panamanians love to dance and there are some really sweet costumes and headdresses, hopefully I can stick around long enough to participate this time around.

So more about my site.  It's in the Veraguas province, pretty darn close to the Pan-American highway.  Did you know you actually can't go the whole way from Alaska to Argentina on that?  There is a 150km gap in eastern Panama where there is no road, just dense jungle.  I will be working with some highly motivated farmers, one of whom has goats and would maybe want to make yogurt and cheese.  SCORE!  And there is significant interest in fish and rice tanks.  DOUBLE SCORE (though I need to be trained first in that)!  The area supposedly is a huge deforestation site, due to cattle raising, so I may be working in re-proliferation of good grasses and plants/re-forestation, though it will continue to be cattle grazing land forever more.  People also have chickens and farm other things (beans, some veggies though I think there is room for expansion on that end).  I don't go to site for 2 more weeks, at which point I'll obviously to give some more insight on what it's like.  

My boss (director of the agriculture program) is really energetic and seems to be really in touch with volunteers.  She asked me how much I wanted to be in touch, we decided to talk every 2 weeks, which I know will keep me motivated and be helpful--I like feeling like I have a consistent support system.  Panama City has all the comforts of say...Miami, due to all the U.S. and military influence in recent history, but honestly I'm ok with that--I'm totally charmed by the friendly people.  Maybe it's just the brewed coffee and chocolate.  I'll try to post some pictures soon.

And una cosa mas...

GOBAMA!!!!!

Monday, October 6, 2008

What's up next...

Added a new weather link--looks like I'm about to enter the rainiest month of the year in Panama City.  And my raincoat is somewhere in Bolivia.  Good thing I love tropical rain (I think).

A lot of people want to know if I know where in Panama I'll be.  I want to know too!  I don't know yet, but judging from the given schedule of 2-ish weeks of orientation (a lot shorter than 3 months), and the fact that we visit our sites only after a few days, I should know very shortly.  Some volunteers are out on islands, some are in the rain forest, all seem to have pretty awesome work assignments.  

Flight leaves Wednesday, stay tuned.