PCVs rock the box

Nothing too large has happened lately. However, I’d just like to write about how cool Peace Corps Volunteers are. This really isn’t too brag about myself, but more or less to dish out some praise to fellow PCVs.

Many people I’ve spoken to joke about how Peace Corps is not a job or not something serious. While PC is not a job in the traditional aspect, it’s a job and much more. Everyone in the PC and specifically in PC Peru has sacrificed a lot to come down to Peru. There are people who have been working for many years and have come, people who have just graduated from college and sacrificed a normal good paying life, people who have children, people who have tightly knit families, the list goes on and on. The bottom line is that PCVs give up a lot to come to a country that they know little about. In addition to that, PCVs agree to not gross any money for 2 years. That is a huge commitment in itself. Many people cannot fathom not making money for 2 years. Next, they not only move to an unknown country for 2 years but also to a country in which the living conditions are far from the best. There is no warm water here, rice and potatoes for every meal, a different language is spoken, the culture is different, etc etc. On top of this, PCVs will be living in a most likely very rural community by themselves for 2 whole years. While other PCVs will be within maybe 3 or 4 hours, a PCV is pretty much out on their own left to their own devices to fit in and complete projects. Finally, the reason PCVs do all this is not for their own good but for the good of impoverished people who lack the same opportunities all the PCVs have had in their life.

This definitely may not seem like the normal job everyone is used to seeing. However, when you put all of these factors together, Peace Corps ends up being a hard working job if not even harder than most jobs in the US.