One Reason Why I Love Peace Corps Service

I have learned over the months that being in PC makes one’s life rather unpredictable. One day you are incredibly swamped at work, the next you sit staring the computer with nothing to do. One month, I’m teaching people how to organize debate competitions, and the next, I’m scanning the computer for images of shit (literally) for materials on oral-fecal diseases. When traveling somewhere, I generally have no idea how I’m going to get to my next destination or when I will arrive, I just know that somehow, I will get there. Even though I might find the uncertainties of life stressful at times, I also find the unpredictability to be both amusing and refreshing.

One of my favorite things about being here is the randomness of the projects that my fellow volunteers and I find ourselves engaged in. Health volunteers in Namibia work on a vast range of projects; a random sample of some PCV projects – starting up fish farms, teaching preschool, running classes on culturally appropriate cooking methods, organizing support groups for HIV positive people, assisting jewelry groups to improve their products and expand their sales, planting gardens, leading workshops on a gamut of topics, and training people computer literacy.

In the beginning of my service, I found the unpredictability rather daunting. I was used to working in a structured environment where I at least had an inkling of what the next day’s work would bring. I was accustomed to having a job with a somewhat specified purview – if I was working at a childcare center, I knew I wouldn’t suddenly be expected to start teaching adult literacy or figure out to start a trust fund. But here, anything is possible. It doesn’t matter what organization you work for or what your job title is – here, you could be asked to work on just about anything. Back in January, I found that rather scary. I mean, I’d never visited child offenders in prison, I didn’t have much experience writing grants, and I certainly didn’t know how to build coffins. But over the months, I have discovered that my inexperience doesn’t matter, what counts is my willingness to learn and I’ve grown to love the unpredictability of my assignments. I mean honestly, at what other time in my life will I ever have the opportunity to start a library or organize a campaign for building pit latrines? Even if I don’t know how to do those things now, I know that if those are things this community needs, I can figure out how to do it. And that’s all that matters, right?