People ask me "How was Peace Corps?" and the question leaves me a little flustered. How do I give a small talk answer to such a meaningful, foreign, and life-altering experience?
I like to tell them that I survived both an ebola outbreak and an attempted coup, but that's probably perpetuating stereotypes.
What I want to share is a real a reflection of my Peace Corps service. What did I do? What did I learn? How did I grow? How did I fail?
Well, that's a pretty ambitious task. Do I talk about growth and change through a photo series of my Peace Corps hair styles?
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| Preparing for Dreadlocks, long healthy locks July 2013 |
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| Pretending to be a hippy flower child May 2014 |
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| Straight up dreads for swimming March 2014 |
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| Chopped off August 2014 |
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| Long enough again for some braids July 2015 |
Or maybe I should describe my service in terms of work because, after all, didn't the United States Federal Government send me over to do some actual good in a developing country?
I mentored 20 + teachers on student centered
methodology. I promoted behavior management and the eradication of corporal punishment by facilitating several workshops for 50+ teachers and overseeing the creation of
classroom rules, routines, and procedures in 13 classrooms. I tutored adults and children in English, math,
science and computers. I created a library and established a teaching aid competition to make treasures out of trash. I educated more than one hundred individuals on malaria prevention and treatment and hopefully motivated a few to actually take action.
You want to know how much of my typical day was actually spent working?
Maybe 1 hour.
On a busy day.
Because the pace of life, the importance of work, and the definition of progress are very different in The Gambian context. I spent about 8 hours at school every day but much of that time was spent reading a good book, sitting under a mango tree, and just shooting the breeze with the other teachers.
Maybe a few lists would be a good way to describe my service.
I read more than 100 book including the entire bible.
Here are my top five, not necessarily in order:
-Till We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis
-A Severe Mercy- Sheldon Vanauken
-The Grapes of Wrath- John Steinbeck
-The Book Theif- Markus Zusak
-Born To Run- Christopher McDougall
Or these songs which, for one reason or another, will forever take me back to West Africa
"Bugana La"-Titi
"I Lived"- One Republic
"Night and Day"- Baha Men
"Let It Go"- Idina Menzel
"That's Not My Name"- The Ting Tings
"I Lived"- One Republic
"Night and Day"- Baha Men
"Let It Go"- Idina Menzel
"That's Not My Name"- The Ting Tings
I could try to describe the adventures I went on by telling you about the sickness, strange food, and dangerous wildlife I saw.
Would you like a list of diseases, illnesses, and ailments that I thought I had?
- Bot Flies*
- Malaria*
- Measles
- Cancer
- Bed bugs*
- Scabies
- Giardia*
- Dysentery*
- Ebola
*Denotes something that other volunteers did actually get
Fortunately, I made it out ok.
Here's a list of things I actually had:
Here's a list of things I actually had:
- Mysterious skin infections
- Mysterious stomach somethings causing vomiting
- Mysterious stomach somethings causing the runs
- A nasty cold or two
- Skin burns
- An ear infection
How about weird food eaten?
- Sour milk
- Cow foot
- Warthog
- Sheep brain
- Many, many fish eye balls
- Ram testicles
Or the wildlife encounters?
- Cobras
- Scorpions
- Unidentified snake that may have been a black mamba (my greatest fear)
- Huge spiders, beetles, and other crawling things
- Monkeys
- Baboons (evidently apes and monkeys are very different things)
- Warthog
- Hippos
- Crocodiles
- Hyenas
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| This crocodile wasn't exactly wild, but I also some "wild" ones in the river |
I could try and describe all I learned through a list of new skills
- Changing a bike tire
- Pouring liquids without spilling everywhere
- Handling hot things without burning
- Cooking over a fire
- Washing laundry by hand
- Carrying buckets and other heavy things on my head
- Speaking Wolof
- Communicating without language
But these lists and accomplishments don't tell the story, and that fact leaves me feeling frustrated.
Because the story lies with the people-good people, bad people, young and old, men and women, educated and illiterate. People I greatly admire, and people who have lost all of my respect. Relationships are where I found the most fulfillment, and relationships are where I experienced my greatest failures.
And that's not Gambia-specific. That's really the way life goes, isn't it?
While making painful goodbyes to the people that were everything important in my Peace Corps service, I learned a couple aspects of Wolof culture that I want to share. The first is the left-hand shake.
Your left hand is generally used for dirty work in a land without toilet paper. Because of this, to give someone your left hand is extremely offensive. But when one is leaving on a long journey, they'll offer their left hand. That way their return is guaranteed. They must return to make up for the offense.
The second thing is that, generally, Gambians won't really offer gratitude for the work you've done unless they're saying goodbye, It's then that they'll offer you compliments and gratitude and ask for forgiveness of any wrongs they may have done.
So, let me do the same. To those whom I lived with, worked with, and sat in sweaty gelly-gellies with, thank you for your hospitality and warmth. Thank you for going out of your way daily to teach me to eat, speak, and live in a whole new manner. Thank you for being patient and forgiving. Thank you for becoming my friends. Forgive me the many moments of impatience and frustration, cultural insensitivity and anger. May God grant you the needs of the flesh and the desires of your heart.
"What was Peace Corps like?"
Peace Corps was a beautiful, challenging, dirty, sweaty, exciting, wonderful, and adventuresome opportunity to share in the lives of normal people, who talk about weather, crops, and gossip, on the other side of the world.
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| Jerejeff. Be Beneen Yoon. |
