When I met the large group
of 70 volunteers in DC in July 2013,I was excited and nervous to be thrown into
such a dynamic group. We came from all US time-zones, religions, skin tones,
and all other dynamics that make America so diverse. It was fun to meet all of
the other volunteers. Some friendships were made deep and fast, others remained
cordial and acquaintance-like, others took time to foster and grow.
Last weekend a friend
texted me that he would be leaving Peace Corps to head back Stateside. On
Friday he called me before flying out to say goodbye. My group is in its 17th
month of being in country and next weekend will have our 15th month
anniversary of swearing in. With him leaving, we are down to 48.
31.4% of the volunteers who
I was clustered with in those hot, non-windowed rooms in DC have boarded planes
and headed back stateside. While reasons and circumstances vary for all (some
chose to go and some had to leave for medical reasons), it can be surprising to
think about a 1/3 of the people are gone.
Why is this? For friends
who see Facebook statuses only, everything seems to be great here. We post
pictures of smiling children, fun student work, and random laughable moments.
During breaks we are able to travel to places that people in retirement go to.
We’re in the land of coffee, camels and injera. We eat strange delicious food,
while occasionally battling power outages.
There is something you need
to know about Peace Corps volunteers: we censor everything. Yes, there are
moments that are wonderful that prompt status to get 50+ likes; however, they
are not all the time. We don’t post about the guys who ask us to go home with
them, obnoxious moments of students pulling on hair, corruption of schools
encouraging us to change students’ grades, students falling asleep in class,
verbal harassment and more. But let’s be honest, who really posts everything--like
hanging laundry on Facebook?
I know I’ve posted similar
blogs to this one, but the reminder is still present as it was back then. Life
is hard, messy, and a struggle. It’s also full of joy, happiness and peace. For
22 of my friends, the struggles here were just too great for too long. The rest
of us have 8-9 months to continue to find a balance between the two. Months
that will have us missing American holidays, family, special occasions, and
lack of plumbing and electricity. However, it will be in these final months
that we solidify the end of our service through other memorable events.
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