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Published: November 15th 2006
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One of Peace Corps’ most important philosophies is that volunteers are happiest when their support network is primarily made up of Host Country Nationals (HCN’s). I have certainly found this to be true. If I didn’t have a lot of friends and great people to work with in my town, where I spend the majority of my time, then I doubt I’d being enjoying my service nearly as much as I am. Human beings, even those of us who enjoy large amounts of privacy and solitude, are naturally social beings. We need person-to-person interaction in our daily lives to keep us energized and busy or else we become reclusive and morose, missing out on the best parts of life. Peace Corps Volunteers in particular need to reach out to the people in our communities, not only to keep our own morale up, but also so that we can learn to understand those people and to finds ways to help them do the things they want to do to improve their lives.
With all that being said, there’s a secondary support network here that is absolutely vital to the mental health of nearly every volunteer. This network is, of course, made
up of other volunteers. Our group has an incredibly diverse background and under normal circumstances most of us would have very little in common. There are, however, at least four unifying constants that have brought us and bound us together in a way that, I believe, few groups ever experience. First, each us has a burning desire for adventure, and not just any adventure, but one which will, for a long period time, take us far from our families, our friends, our cultures, and everything we have ever known. Second, we all have yet another burning desire within us, which is to not only get out and see the world, but to do something of value to help it. We want to spread peace, friendship, and understanding across the globe in the hopes of fulfilling the dream of harmony between all peoples. These first two are the easy ones. All they require is that you want something deep in your heart. The third constant, which is much harder, is that we all have the capacity to actually make these hopes become a reality. This is not meant as a slight against anyone who has never done something like this. On
the contrary, I think that every single one of us, if we only make the time and the effort, can find within us the ability to put ourselves through this kind of experience. There is, however, a certain sense of connection between those of us who are doing it now, or who have done it in the past, that in our minds puts our fellow volunteers in a separate category from the rest of the people in our lives. This leads to the fourth constant, which is that we all understand what our fellow volunteers are experiencing because we ourselves are experiencing it concurrently. No matter how many weird, crazy, unbelievable things happen to me in here in Morocco, there’s always someone just a text message or an email away that can understand it, help me analyze it, laugh with me about it, and match it with a story of his or her own.
For the first six months of service, with the exception of the small group of people we got to see at spring camp, and a few others we live near and can visit easily, our contact with each other was largely limited to phone calls
and the magic of the internet. At last, however, we reached that time in our service when we could all come back together as one large group: In-Service Training (IST). Finally, except for the few who had dropped out along the way, the whole group that took the plane ride over here, nearly 50 people in all, was back together again for the first time since we were sworn in as volunteers. Peace Corps rented out rooms for us in a high rise hotel in the gorgeous southern seaside city of Agadir, the home of argon oil, known for its many wondrous qualities. The oil comes from the nuts of the argon tree and Moroccans use it not only for cooking, making Agadir tagines some of the most delicious in the country, but also as a skin moisturizer. They say it softens the skin and actually reduces acne, not something you’d expect from an oil product, but it actually does work, making it one of the most expensive and sought-after goods in this part of the world.
Of course the most fun part of IST was getting to see so many old friends and spend some time American style,
but we did actually get some work done too. We had sessions where we learned more about grant writing, how to expand our work beyond the Dar Chebab, and we all got the chance to sit around and tell each other what we’d actually been doing and brainstorm ideas about how we could do even more. We also made posters and short videos to show to the new volunteers who would be coming to Morocco in September and we underwent language testing to see how we had improved. Happily everyone is making good progress in nearly all aspects of our work and our integration into Moroccan life. We’ve settled into regular patterns, found work in our communities, and gotten a good start on the business of actually being Peace Corps Volunteers.
To be perfectly honest there’s not a whole lot to else to tell about the week that you can’t learn from looking at my pictures, except to say how proud I am of all my fellow volunteers. Everyone here is amazing in their own individual ways. They all have strength, creativity, and incredible skills and knowledge. I have learned more about how to be effective in my work
from other volunteers than from any other group of people I have ever encountered. I remember one of the things that my good friend Andrew said in his speech at our swearing in. It was the one part of his speech that was in English and he said it with tears in both his eyes and his voice. It was so simple and he said it with such passion and conviction that it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard anyone say: “We are Peace Corps Volunteers.” And we always we be.
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Juliette
non-member comment
Rich- it sounds like a truly life changing experience and I'm so impressed! I have some friends who have been in the Peace corps and completely agree with the ideas you just stated... you all do have a connection, something that the rest of us may not experience. Remember we're proud of you and can't wait to have you back in the US!