The Peace Corps is a great organization, truly. I'm convinced of that and my mind won't change. The 3 goals are:
Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
When it gets down to the "nitty gritty" it is about helping people. The volunteers work their hardest to learn about the people and their culture, language, and all else....with that knowledge, they then work as hard as they can to work FOR the people, make sustainable changes/projects, and possibly, most importantly, get to know the people and become friends/family. As important as the work is, the relationships made are just as important--you will remember them, and they will remember you, possibly more than the work. Even if they can't remember what exactly the project what that allowed their community to gain running water, they will remember the face of the person they came to love. And that goes for the volunteer too.
That said, I know the Peace Corps doesn't really have a choice in some things going on right now. Budget Cuts are out of their control, and they have to find a way to do their best during the time, find ways to make the Peace Corps succeed in its best possible way. And I commend their efforts. I don't blame them by any means, I know they want to see people serve, make a difference....get us through the application process.
It is just sad that they have to turn people away or ask them to reapply due to various factors (reactivating, not qualified enough--which often just months ago would have been qualified, or other unknown reasons). While I know they'd love to see these people through, they just don't have a choice. But its sad that people committed to helping, learning, and working as hard as they can in an entirely new place are being turned away. I'm sure the PC realizes that too.
People everywhere are scrambling to get more experience, or even get more experience while reapplying, just to ensure that they will be qualified enough to receive an invitation--they hope.
We all hope the situation improves, and I'm sure it will, we all just wonder when!
That said, any recruiters, APOs, POs reading this and want to help me out trying to figure out when I'm allowed to reapply? I'm just dying to, but was told I have to wait a year. *sigh* Frustrating, but hey, more experience right? That's the positive thing, more experience.
P.S. I was so proud to see the PC in the inauguration parade--really so amazing
Labels: budget, goals, pc, peace corps, reactivating, reapply
