Happy Birthday Peace Corps!

On March 1st, Peace Corps celebrated its 50^th anniversary with PCV’s and friends all over the world holding celebrations, Peru not being the exception. It was a special month to reflect on the many accomplishments of volunteers worldwide and also how far Peace Corps has come in the past 50 years. I got to see just how much has changed in the past 50 years talking to a fellow Peruvian RCPV this month as well. 

I recently met up with fellow RPCV Robert Watada (’64-’66) and his family in Lima, Peru while they were on vacation. Both Robert and I served and are currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Peru with almost 45 years between us.  Peru was one of the first countries to invite Peace Corps volunteers to serve starting in 1962. Since then, 3,250 volunteers have served in Peru in 21 of the 24 departments. Peace Corps left in 1975, but was invited to return back in 2001, and that is where we are today. It was very interesting to talk to a Robert about his Peace Corps experience, as so much has changed in the past few years.  

For starters, volunteers back in the beginning of Peace Corps had training in the states before coming to their host countries whereas I had a 2-month intensive training full of language, technical learning, and safety and medical talks. In addition, volunteers back in the 60’s had less contact with Peace Corps in general. They were dropped off in site, never to be heard of again for the next two years. PCV’s now a days have continuous contact with Peace Corps in the terms of additional trainings, letting them know about our whereabouts, and tri-annual reports that have to be written. Likewise, Robert and volunteers alike had little or no contact with family and friends apart from letters through the mail. But with the invention of facebook, skype, and email, I stay constantly connected to my friends and family back home. Not to mention the fact that I have a cell phone in Peru and all the candy-filled packages I receive from my mother every month.  

While some things have changed, other things stay the same. Even though I get packages filled with delicious candy and chocolate, I also get a plate full of rice and potatoes every day at lunch and the occasional fried guinea pig. Although the latest Justin Bieber song might be playing on my ipod, I’m dancing huayno with the best of them at my town’s party. Let’s not forget the hours I have spent on overcrowded combis with men, women, children, and even small animals shoved on board. 

So even though technology has changed the Peace Corps volunteer’s experience, the original goals of Peace Corps have stayed the same: bringing technical assistance to developing countries and building relationships while sharing each other’s cultures.

Having talked to other PCV’s and RPCV’s from around the world, what is a constant no matter when or where you have served, is the passion we have to make a change in our communities and the frustration that comes with that. There is the constant drive to motivate others in the community to improve their lives while also the disappointment of not doing enough. And while I think every PCV has at least once dreamt about making big changes in their communities, in the end, we are just happy to have made even a little change in one person’s life. 

For me personally, I have stopped caring so much about how many cocinas mejoradas I have built or how many English classes I have taught. What I’m now working more towards is building strong relationships with my community. I have now realized that I won’t be remembered for what I did, but how I was. Whether I took the time to have tea with my neighbor, or play soccer with the kids, these will be my lasting impressions on my community and from that I can only hope that I have left my community a little bit better than when I came.

So happy birthday Peace Corps. Thank you for giving me, Robert Watada, and thousand other volunteers a chance to do something with our lives and in the process, teaching us what really matters in this world.