Peace Corps questions?

Question

I am a very kind and caring person. I have this over whelming urge to help others, and i feel it is my lifes purpose to help others.
After college (where i want to major in Psychology) i wanted to join the peace corps.
1.Is there a certain time span you must serve in the peace corps?
2.What happens if you need/want to leave?
3.I've heard it is very safe with the peace corps, is that true?
4.can you give me anymore interesting information on it?

Also, Please no ignorant questions. Don't waste my time.

I plan to take Spanish in college too. Ive already had 2 years of it, and i want to speak it fluently. Im guessing that would effect where i was sent?

Answer 1

I came back from my 27 months in Peace Corps this past December. I was very much welcomed for my teaching, and I made friends that I will never forget -- both among my fellow volunteers, and among the people of Tanzania.

What Peace Corps requires is that you have a skill you can use in volunteering. What have you done with your life so far? Do you know anything about health? Anything about agriculture, carpentry, or another skill with your hands? Do you have experience in teaching, or a degree in science or math?

While the term is officially 27 months -- 2-3 months' training and about 2 years of service -- there are many people who quit. You will lose benefits of waived graduate school application fees, some scholarships, and the general reputation of it; but there are no laws or serious consequences in quitting.

It is most definitely an experience worth having! It gave me two years' experience in teaching, with ESL experience that helped me to get a job teaching at a good private school. Beyond the gain back at home, I was able to show some of my family the country (a visit from home) and I was able to make a difference in the lives of many students and a large number of friends from every country in the world. If you have the freedom to spend two years away from the States, you should definitely volunteer!

The Peace Corps is for US citizens only and is therefore more careful with its volunteers than many organizations. As a fellow volunteer stated, the organization is perfect for someone who has never left the country before. There are many weeks of training, and the volunteers are assigned "homestay families" who are also coached in the safety and teaching of their volunteer. Some of our volunteers who had experience outside the country found their extra care tiresome, but it does mean that the volunteers are safe. The most dangerous incident to happen was a group in the city who were out late at night; they were held at knife-point to take their money and then allowed to leave. Worldwide, incidents of any kind are very rare and usually related to (in my experience) incidents of carelessness.

Peace Corps does not have an active program in any country that is volitile, and if an area becomes volitile they will evacuate the volunteers. There are drills and plans to follow for each volunteer so that they know their role in such a situation.

That said, you may also want to check in the VSO or Volunteer Services Organization. If you join Peace Corps, you may choose a region of the world -- such as South America or Sub-Saharan Africa.

With the Peace Corps, there are contacts in every town and the people in your village have all necessary contact information with headquarters should they be needed. They also provide free medical care at the headquarters. If there is any danger by terrorists or civil unrest, they will bring you to headquarters and, if necessary, help you all to evacuate.

The "food allowance" is about the same as your "Host Country National" counterparts, housing is provided, and they give you language training and a "counterpart" or helpful local resident to help orient you. The "food allowance" depends on the country you are assigned to, but it is usually about $150 - $300 a month -- more than enough to buy your food in a country where basic groceries cost about $50 a month!

You really should look into it and see if you would like to join; it is most definitely an experience worth having. You can contact me also, if you have questions. You have plenty of time to research it.

And yes, the volunteers made a tangible difference in their communities and the ones nearby. There are environmental volunteers (digging wells, teaching agriculture, teaching sanitation), health volunteers (teaching both in schools and in communities, including HIV/AIDS education), and education volunteers (teaching primarily in schools, science and math subjects).

There are also NGO's (Non-Governmental Organizations) in many countries, which can give you a long-term or even a permanent position. They work with more specific issues, such as AIDS education, literacy in general, or religious education.

Try looking into things! You have Americorps, Peace Corps, VSO, Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Caretakers of the Environment, and NGO's. Most of these will give a (small) food allowance for your help.

If you have other questions, let me know! If you have experience with the Spanish language, there is a very good chance that they would accept you for the Western Hemisphere assignments, and there are many more environmental needs there. Depending on what your abilities are with other areas, fluency in Spanish alone can be a useful qualification. Fluency in French can be a benefit in gaining an assignment in Western Africa. Just FYI!

Answer 2

1.Is there a certain time span you must serve in the peace corps?
The standard tour is 3 - 4 months training and 2 years of service.

2.What happens if you need/want to leave?
They send you home. You have 3 days to get there. If you complete your term, you can take as long as you want to go home. This discourages people from joining up to get a free ticket halfway around the world. They will also fly you home and back for a major emergency - if, for instance, one of your parents dies.

3. I've heard it is very safe with the peace corps, is that true?
Generally, with some exceptions. You are safer in a small town than in a big city, just like in the USA.

4.can you give me anymore interesting information on it?
http://l.webring.com/hub?ring=rpcv
has 43 sites by PCV's and RPCV's.

As a side note, a burning desire to serve is only half of the picture. If you don't have a skill that a country has asked for, you won't get an offer. You should take a couple of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreigh Language) courses in college; they can always use that.

Answer 3

Be very careful. My friends did the Peace Corps in Bolivia. She knew of 8 girls who were raped. (Girls were pulled off of sidewalks and dragged into buildings/a group of sunbathing girls were attacked on a Guatemalan beach and raped by a group of guys). One guy disappeared and was never seen again. Even his congressman went down to try and find him. The official stats cover everything up.

Answer 4

helping people is against human nature....the weak die...the strong live