Can anyone tell me about Americorp/PeaceCorp?

Question

You know.. past expiriances, what they do, what they stand for, requirements for them, anything.
Act like I've never heard of it.

Answer 1

Americorps is service in the United States-- you get paid a small stipend to sustain you and you work for an organization or entity on any range of projects. From what I've heard, some assignments are very interesting and interactive with other people, and others are boring and administrative in nature. You don't need a college degree, but you have a better chance of getting a better choice of assignment if you have particular skills you can contribute.

The Peace Corps is similar except that it involves work in a foreign country and a 2-year commmitment. You also don't need a college degree if you have some other useful skill, but most volunteers do have a degree and are generalists looking to do something useful somewhere. The more specialized you are, the more valuable you would be and the more choice you might have for your assignment (e.g., a civil engineer or a nurse might be able to choose an assignment from any region in the world). The stipend is small by U.S. standards, but often fairly ample for the host country. YOu also get an additional transition sum at the end of the term. It's not a money-making experience, but you get an expense-paid opportunity to live in another country for two years, which is pretty cool. PEace Corps service can be lonely and challenging, and an assignment can be great or terrible depending on the people in teh community where the volunteer is assigned. It can be very difficult to accomplish anything, especially (and I'm speaking from experience here) as a generalist who doesn't really offer specialized skills. You have to pick up some skills and seem to have some authority on a subject before people will accord you much respect. Many many volunteers have a difficult time accomplishing their goals, although they contribute in other ways (teaching English, sharing information about cultures, etc.) The goal is partly this cultural exchange-- volunteers are supposed to represent America to their host country and are supposed to represent their host country to some extent upon their return to America. It's about bridging cultural gaps while contributing something tangible to another community. FOr better and for worse, at the end of our stints as volunteers, and most volunteers I know felt that we gained much more than we gave from teh communities that hosted us. Even now, I am not the cultural ambassador I should be, but I am very glad I had the opportunity to do it.

ONe other note on how people are selected for the Peace Corps-- in addition to preferring people with skills and with college degrees, they prefer people with a demonstrated interest and experience in public service/public interest work. If you are interested in either Americorps or Peace Corps, I would suggest really getting involved in some way with the community -- as a tutor, in a soup kitchen, whatever (and making sure you like working with people less fortunate). They also like people who are reasonably well-spoken and seem well-adjusted. The Peace Corps tries to screen out people who seem more interested in the travel or "escape" aspect of the experience than the work/community involvement aspect of it.

Finally, I was in the Peace Corps a fairly long time ago -- it may have changed some since I was there. I had understood that the current administration may have tried to politicize it a bit more. The whole program will be a failure and dangerous for the volunteers if the volunteers become political pawns or if they become an arm of the "Voice of America". Many many volunteers are initially suspected to be "spies" of some sort when they first arrive, and it takes a long time to earn people's trust and to get them to work with you. If they appear to be spokespeople for the U.S> government rather than the U.S. people, then things will go much worse for them....

Answer 2

Americorp is service in the U.S. and I think the contract is for one year.

Peace Corps is service abroad, and the contract is for two years. You can request an area, but there is no promise you will end up there. You will receive language training after you arrive in country and have support from the Peace Corps office in the capital, but that could be several days walk from where you live.

I don't think a college degree is required, though most PCV's seem to be fresh out of college, although some are older. You receive a small living stipend that allows you to travel on your break at the one year mark, or to have some savings when you are finished.

It is a life changing experience, the hardest job you will ever love, and the best thing a person can do to improve the image of the U.S. abroad. However, it can be very lonely.

Answer 3

Our niece was in the Peace Corps. She had a degree in civil engineering and spoke fluent Spanish. She was assigned to a water project in the Dominican Republic. The experience was both good and bad.

She was terribly lonely, even during the period when she boarded with a local family. She found that a good heart and a second-grade education did not make for friendships, since she had so little in common with the locals. Living alone, she had a real problem with rats and insects, even though she kept all food in sealed containers. She never had hot running water. When she was ill, there was no medical care nearby and no car to take her to a doctor. She found that like people everywhere, many of the locals talked the talk, but when it came time for everyone to pitch in and build a water line, few walked the walk. This frustrated her terribly.

She did ultimately complete the project, bringing potable water to three villages which had never had running water before. This meant that there would be water for crops, clean water for drinking and bathing, and less illness (and fewer deaths among the very young and the elderly) from drinking contaminated water.

Would she do it again? No. Did she value the experience? Yes--and it helped her land a good job, since she had experience in project design and management.

Answer 4

It's amazing experience. Yes, there are good and bad to it like anything. But the life experience is priceless. I would do it in a heartbeat if I could.

It has its roots with JFK who challenged students to serve their country for peace volunteering in developing countries.

Since that time, more than 190,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have been worked on everything from from AIDS education to IT and environmental preservation.

Answer 5

They are both great organizations. It is really tough to get a good paying job without a lot of experience or volunteer work first, but its well worth it. I say go for it.

Answer 6

American Peace Corps is an intelligence arm of the US to monitor activities in other countries.

Answer 7

It's mostly volunteer work, you get experience but they get free labor. If your mate is rich enough to support you it's a good thing, but don't think it's a living.