The 'WHY'

Ever since I accepted my invitation and began sharing the news with others that I was actually going to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) (finally), I have been getting a pretty similar reaction from most individuals. "Oh wow, what an incredible opportunity! So...why are you doing this?". The skepticism in this statement is almost blatantly obvious, despite the well-intentioned attempt to cover it up with well-wishes. Glad it's you and not me!

To be fair, I had asked myself this same question a few dozen or so times since selecting 'accept' to my invitation. What exactly was I thinking?

At sixteen I had envisioned myself happily smiling and walking down a dirt path in a foreign country, sunshine and singing birds, host country natives waving, and enthusiastic children running to greet me...I was going to change the world. I was going to do something big. I WAS GOING TO CHANGE LIVES, Y’ALL.

This of course was just a fantasy, and one that I had conjured without any real understanding of the core work of a Peace Corps volunteer. Peace Corps isn't about saving the world, or acting as some kind of savior for your local community. Peace Corps is about bridging relationships and helping a community become sustainable. It is about providing education and skills to enhance the well-being of individuals. Or at least trying really hard to achieve this.

PCVs often discuss the feelings of failure, and the need to feel like they should always be doing something ‘more’. Minor achievements can often be lost in the 'bigger picture', leaving the volunteer feeling unfulfilled and overwhelmed. Going into service with the mindset that you will improve X, X, and X, will ultimately fail you. 

Okay, so why serve with the Peace Corps if we aren't here to make life-altering changes? 

PCVs help to provide the stepping stones that are essential for these changes to take place. This is our 'why'. Our job is not to hold the weight of a community's success on our shoulders, but rather to contribute to sharing the load, in collaboration with community members, government officials, and other valuable resources. 

Go big, but celebrate the minor achievements. Celebrate starting the informal soccer club that was created to enhance social interactions, giving the language lessons that increased self-motivation and self-esteem, inspiring openness to new cultures when you shared your holidays and traditions with your students, host family, or other community members, and the relationships formed just by sitting and having a cup of coffee or tea with neighbors. All these small achievements are exactly the purpose of Peace Corps.

I may not ‘save the world’, but I do hope to challenge, grow, explore, inspire, and cultivate passion. This is my ‘why’.