12 Reasons to Date a RPCV

I found this in Peace Corps' WorldView magazine and I just had to post it. A good summation of the changes we go through as PCVs.

12 Reasons to Date a Returned Volunteer

By Erica Burman

1.       We can woo you in multiple languages.

Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

2.       We’re pretty good dancers.

Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa we know how to move it.

3.       We’ll eat anything.

Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking, RPCVs have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.

4.       We know all about safe sex,

Thanks to our very thorough PC health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundred of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.

5.       We’ll kill spiders for you.

Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.

6.       We have great date ideas:

Wandering a street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering… Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.

7.       We like you for “you”…

not your paycheck. Especially if we are freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!

8.       You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers”.

9.       Waiting for a late train or bus with us? Don’t worry.

Been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.

10.   Our low-maintenance fashion style.

RPCV guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip-flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.

11.   Marry us, and you won’t just get one family- you’ll get two!

When we refer to our “brother” or “mom,” you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the US and one back in our Peace Corps country.

12.   And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.

Still A Learning Process....

Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of PC service are the social/cultural differences we experience on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes these differences are overt (expectation that you greet everyone every time you see them), and sometimes they can be more subtle, even sometimes imperceptible (the unquestioned reverence for authority).

Today I realized that despite how far I may have come, boy do I still have much to learn...

We had planned a Men As Partners Program meeting with the teachers that I trained back in August on gender equity and what male leaders can do to promote it. The scheduled meeting was supposed to be a follow-up meeting to see how their work on promoting it in the community was going. We had invited one of the Regional Inspectors of Education to come to share some of his expertise and to give advice and support to the teachers.

Long story short, we had to cancel the meeting. I called the Chief Inspector and told him about the change before informing all the teachers. "OK, I'll let the other Inspectors know" he told me. I thought all was good and we had everything straightened out.

That is until I get the call today that one of the Inspectors had arrived to find no one at the school where we were supposed to have the meeting. I hopped on a motto and headed over to inform him about the change and apologize. When I arrived the school director was standing and chatting with the Inspector. The director was upset that he was not informed about the meeting in the first place.

I apologized to them both. I felt terrible at the lack of communication and that the Inspector had made the trip all the way to my village just to find out that the meeting was cancelled. He also informed me that he had to cut other work short to arrive on time.

Initially, I thought, "I can't believe the lack of communication in this country!" "It should not have been me who informed the director about the meeting at his school, that's my counterpart's responsibility! Why does he even care that we're having this meeting at his school?! He's on such a power trip!"

"I can't believe the Chief Inspector dropped the ball on this! Why does it have to be me who does everything!?"

Frustration at the lack of communication. Disappointment at yet another meeting cancelled. Ashamed that the Inspector had made the trip per my request. Confusion about why the school director was upset. Sick of all the politicking and formalities.

In general, ready to just give up this stupid follow-up altogether.

I forced myself to take a step back though.

The Chief Inspector may be one of the most busy professionals in the entire region. Period. To be in charge of the secondary school system for an entire region is no easy task, especially given the lack of resources and support he's working with. Expecting him to remember to inform the other Inspectors of the change is probably expectiting a little too much. Or a lot too much.

Expecting my counterpart, who teaches all day, does several odd jobs on the side to make ends meet, manages our Peer Educator and Girls' Science Clubs, is organizing a national camp this year, and has a family to take care of, to inform the school director that the meeting will be held at his school, especially when I hadn't even asked him to do so, is probably asking a bit too much. Or a lot too much.

It's not as if these moments aren't few and far between. Work here is hard, and these are the kinds of challenges we as Volunteers face. But, today I realized that there are still things which I don't quite understand, or don't quite agree with, and I need a bigger dose of perspective and humility to deal with them.

No matter what kinds of challenges we face, they still pale in comparison to the people with whom we live and work. And in the end, they LIVE here. I can rest at home tonight knowing that no matter how hard things may seem here, soon enough I will be back home with family and friends, where life is so much easier.

Also, I made the choice to come here. I am benefiting not only professionally, but personally as well. You cannot pay for a more exciting, enriching experience as the Peace Corps. I have at times caught myself thinking "I'm sacrificing alot just to be here and people here should be willing to sacrifice too!" The thing is, they are. Especially those teachers who had came to my Men As Partners training. They sacrificed, and are continuing to sacrifice their time and money (not to mention how they are perceived in the community when they are fighting to promote gender equity) in order to make their community a better place.

Peace Corps has definitely challenged me in many ways. It's challenged me to live and work in a different society with a different culture with different languages. It's challenged me to rethink the way we as humans (should) live and work together. And in the end, it's taught me that it helps to have a little perspective; a little humility; and to try to see things from someone else's perspective, no matter how hard that may be.

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Chhannnggeess..."

The rainy season ended a few months ago and we are now moving out of the dry, windy, dusty harmattan season. I think my body is reacting to this change as I am at home this morning with a cold. Soon the oppressive humidity will come back down here in the south. We won’t receive any rainy for about another 4 or 5 months. It will remain dusty as the ground will be dry, but fortunately the red clay that is kicked up and cakes everything around it- including vegetation, cars, buildings, and people, will no longer be as ubiquitous as the constant strong winds of harmattan are all but over.

Along with the climatic changes, other aspects of life in Togo are also changing. After my first few months at post I had the perception that life never changes here, that somehow Togo remained immune to the political, social, and economic changes that were happening all over North and West Africa at the time. It seemed that things hadn’t changed here in decades, and there was no indication that they were going to anytime soon. However, I can now see that Togo is going through its own set of (usually subtle) changes, some gradual while others quite rapid.

The wave of dissension against the government has spread here too. There were recently successful teacher strikes throughout the country. In the north, school was out for nearly a month as teachers fought for an increase in the pay given them that goes towards the provision of school materials for their children. There also have been student protests at the two Togolese universities, the University of Kara and University of Lome. Regular marches of student protesters in the streets of Kara hold up traffic, as I became aware of while coming down from a meeting in the northernmost region of Savannes. Our bus was held up for over an hour in Kara while waiting for the protesters to move off the road. In Lome, student protests have led to pepper spraying by the authorities. Moreover, there have been regular protests by opposition political parties in Lome, one such large protest actually made it onto CNN’s website, a big deal for this tiny, oft-forgotten West African nation.

The termination of the fuel subsidies in Nigeria caused an increase in transport costs in Togo since most of the independent fuel sellers (people with small stands of gas in glass bottles by the side of the road), and many of the larger gas stations too, receive their gas from Nigeria. With the subsequent backlash to the removal of the subsidies in Nigeria, the ousting of President Gbagbo in Cote d’Ivoire, strikes throughout Benin, and unrest in Burkina Faso, I am getting the feeling that something like an ‘Occupy Togo’ may be on the horizon. West Africa may be the next stop on the wave of revolutionary sentiment that brought about the Arab Spring.

Along with these larger changes nationally, I have also been able to notice huge changes in my village of Agbélouvé since I arrived here in November of 2010. There are now many more boutiques, street restaurants, and other businesses opening up. More and more families are moving to Agbélouvé to send their kids to our schools. The size of our market and the diversity of goods you can find there grow weekly. More and more fonctionnaires (I guess the equivalent would be ‘white collar’ workers in the States) can now be found living and working in Agbélouvé. There is much to be optimistic about here, as I am always finding new people to work with who are committed to girls’ education and promoting gender equity, and are just in general dynamic, motivated, awesome people. The sense of ‘staleness’, of lack of progress, of lack of any kind of perceptible change, that characterized my initial months here is all but gone.

I am excited to see what my second year has in store. I now have several weekly projects going along with a few long term projects as well. I do hour long health and Life Skills sensitizations at the CEG (read: middle-school) twice a week, have a weekly health stand at the market, Peer Educator Club once every 2 weeks, Girls in Science Club once every 2 weeks, Odyssey of the Mind Club once a week (program that includes team challenges to help students think creatively), business class once a week, computer class once a week, and another computer class once every 2 weeks. Long term projects include planning a regional Odyssey of the Mind competition, organizing a gala in Lome to raise funds for the Gender and Development Committee, assisting with the regional Take Our Daughters to Work activities, planning a village science camp, and possibly another Men As Partners (MAP) training with apprentices in Agbélouvé, along with follow-up activities of last year’s MAP training with teachers and working to ensure the sustainability of hand-washing stations that were installed at several schools in Agbelouve last year. Along with these activities, I am also positive other projects will come up to. Although I often still have a lot of free time on my hands, the days of just laying around, staring at the walls and wondering, “What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?!” are over. I have a lot going on and a lot to look forward to. The challenge now will be ensuring the sustainability of the projects and helping the transition for the Volunteer who will be replacing me (that is if they decide to replace me- which I really hope they do).

So I write a post about how we are getting ready for the long dry, hot season and what happens the very next day? We get a heavy rain. Since then however, we have not any type of precipitation at all…Togo never ceases to surprise me.

Speaking of surprises, I had several today….

Fulanis are the most fly, bad-ass, and mysterious people I have come across in my time here Togo. Fulani can normally only be found wandering with their cattle, which rolls dozens deep, for miles upon miles today. However, today seemed to be such an anomaly. I saw 2 Fulanis at the health center, one of whom was getting a shot. I saw others hanging out at the bar (granted not drinking- since they are Muslim, but nonetheless they were there). Then I saw the ones that I had seen at the dispensary bargaining prices to take a bush taxi.

And perhaps the one thing that caught me the most off guard was one actually asked me to help him with his phone. I found it incredible that were all the options on the phone were in his native language. Perhaps even more surprising was that he came up to me to ask for help with turning off the phone alarm.

Here was a young man whose French level barely went beyond “Bonjour, comment ca va?” and whose Ewe probably didn’t even go that far. He was a man, who like me, was living outside of his element. He didn’t speak the language, wasn’t a part of the culture, was very misunderstood by the locals, was not a part of the community. In many ways I identify with these cattle-herding roamers, who are like phantoms just passing through the village. Here for a week or two, and then gone.

Granted, I’m here for 2 years, but no matter how much we talk about being “integrated” into the community, you never quite feel like you have reached the ultimate goal of "going local". You will never completely shed your old self, as much you may feel like a part of the community, the fact is you are an outsider and you are always cognizant of it. Perhaps this is why he felt comfortable asking me to help him, or maybe he just thought I would know how to fix the phone. Regardless, despite the language barrier, I felt inexplicably at ease while ‘communicating’ with him. It seemed he felt the same, as his lack of apprehension approaching me indicated. This was coming from a young man whose people are, almost without fail, silent, mysterious, rough yet shy, seemingly emotionless nomads. There was definitely something going on in this abnormal ephemeral moment.

Or, it’s very possible that I’m just overanalyzing it; as often happens when I often have nothing but my own thoughts to occupy me…

Dear Congress

Although things are going well in village, and I feel like work is really moving along well and am excited for the projects I will be starting soon, of course bureaucracy in Washington has to hold things up. So I have written the following message just to vent my frustrations,

"Dear Congress (or perhaps I should specify the OMB), please stop withholding apportionment of PC project funding for FY2012. The teachers in my village just want their Men As Partners manuals. I don't think that's too much to ask. Why don't we consider withholding the military budget, or better yet, actually reducing it, and get out of these unneccesary wars?

Thank you for your continued support of the Peace Corps in this historic 50th year of the program."

Sincerely,

Tyler Curtis

PCV Togo

Why I’m Going to Be So Messed Up When I Get Back to the States

-Togo, in comparison to the US, is a considerably lawless society. I once mentioned that you can get arrested for public drunkenness and that there is a legal drinking age in the States and my host brothers were amazed. A funny anecdote on that: my nearest PCV neighbor has a girlfriend who is currently in Togo doing research with a Fulbright Scholarship. She was asked to participate in cross-cultural panel discussion for Togolese who will be soon leaving for America. There were Togolese participating in the discussion who had just recently come back from the States. When asked about certain laws and regulations in the States one individual raised his hand and said, “They say that America is the ‘land of the free’. But let me tell you something; America is a POLICE STATE! They have laws against everything! They even tell you what side of the road to drive on!”

It is incredible how loose the law is and how little enforcement there really is but yet Togo is still a very peaceful and safe country. The only real “security” concern is theft. It really is a testament to the way in which justice and order is kept internally in the village. Considering this, when I come back, it may be difficult to become accustomed to the American perception of “orderly” and “polite” behavior. I apologize in advance if my behavior seems to be less than polite, prudent, or even lawful.

-I will return to America not having driven a car in over 2 years. Moreover, traffic laws exist here virtually only in theory. Truthfully, with the dilapidated state of the roads it’s difficult to fault anyone for letting the rules of the road slide sometimes. Not only will I be returning without having put my hands on the wheel in 2 years, but I’ve also been living in a country without traffic laws, traffic signs, traffic cops, or much traffic itself to speak of (except in bigger towns).

-I have become accustomed to speaking French to anyone who is not white, even in Ghana…an English speaking country.

-I have eaten insects, the innards of bush rats, and other oddly shaped, oddly textured, oddly smelling and tasting; and all in all potentially disgusting foods in the eyes of Americans. This includes dog. Yes, I have eaten dog (only once, just to have the experience. Dog is not eaten by the Ewe people so it's not a normal thing in my village).

-And finally; I regularly urinate in public.

My Book List

As PCVs we often have alot of free time. Many of us choose to spend a good deal of that time reading, and I happen to be one of those Volunteers. Here is my current list of books read (if you have any recommendations let me know!)

1. The Village of Waiting- George Packer

2. The J-Curve- Ian Bremmer

3. Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini

4. What is the What- Dave Eggers

5. 48 Days to the Work You Love- Dan Miller

6. Secret Son- Laila Lalami

7. The Red Convertible- Louise Erdrich

8. A Monk Swimming- Malachy McCourt

9. Say You're One of Them- Uwem Akpan

10. The Reluctant Fundamentalist- Mohsin Hamid

11. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

12. Waiting for Snow in Havana- Carlos Eire

13. Collapse- Jared Diamond

14. The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway

15. Green Hills of Africa- Ernest Hemingway

16. Islands in the Stream- Ernest Hemingway

17. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong- James Loewen

18. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years- Donald Miller

19. The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac- Freedarko High Council

20. The Art of a Beautiful Game- Chris Ballard

21. Life of Pi- Yann Martel

22. A People's History of the United States- Howard Zinn

23. The Mezzanine- Nicholson Baker

24. Out of Africa- Isak Dinesen

25. Under the Banner of Heaven- John Kraukauer

26. The Chalice and the Blade- Riane Eisler

27. We The Living- Ayn Rand

28. The Motorcycle Diaries- Che Guevera

29. The Reader- Bernhard Schlink

Northern Ghana Itinerary Recap (will be further updated soon)

1. Lome----Kara

Our journey from Lome to northern Ghana and back began at the Post Office (“La Poste”) in Lome. Myself and my two friends Brandon and Ben boarded the bus at 6:30AM. I was apprehensive to be getting back on this bus again after the incident last time I was on this very bus. I saw my life flash before my eyes as the bus began to roll backwards, without functioning brakes to stop us. Luckily, we didn’t roll over and everything was okay. However, that incident and the incident another Volunteer experienced, where the bus did flip over (luckily she was not seriously hurt) were in the back of my mind the entire time. But then again, we take greater risks every time we load into decrepit, barely-functioning, far too overloaded bush taxis with inexperienced drivers and lack of routine maintenance. At least that’s what I kept telling myself, even after the bus broke down after several hours in the city of Sokode in the Centrale Region. Yet, fortunately the repairs did not take long and we were back on the road and experienced no other issues for the rest of the trip. My faith in the Poste Bus had been somewhat restored and I still believe it is a much better option than a bush taxi. Or at least it’s much more comfortable.

2. Kara---Tamale

We arrived in the city of Kara, in the region of the same name, at about 4:00PM that evening and checked into the guesthouse run by the Affaires Sociales (the Togoles equivalent of Social Services). The Togo side of the border was just a rinky-dink shack. Across the street was a gorgeous white office building that was still in construction, and therefore still unused. It was on this trip from Kara to Tamale that we met two Belgian guys who were also on their way to Tamale, and eventually Mole.

3. Tamale---Mole

After reaching Tamale, a growing city in the north of Ghana with paved roads, sidewalks, stop signs, nice restaurants, and a thriving commercial district (unimagineable in the north of Togo), we spent the night at the Peace Corps transit house and hung out with a few Volunteers. It was amazing to hear that the Volunteers have some of the same challenges regarding their work as we have in Togo. The education system is underdeveloped, stuck in the system of rote memorization imposed by the colonists, the same sanitation problems exist, getting people to change their mentalities and behaviors is just as difficult, and bureaucracy is just as annoying, nonsensical and counterproductive. Yet, after the trip I was left with the feeling that things were moving in the right direction for Ghana. It is country with a commitment to democracy, with a commitment to improving the lives of its citizens. Although it may be true that Ghana receives much more aid than Togo, considering its continued history of democratic rule and the fact that is it is an English-speaking country, there still seems to be a disconnect regarding the disparity in the level of development and general quality of life between Togo and its neighbor.

After our brief stopover in Tamale we departed for Mole, en route to Mole National Park. Mole Park, the great tourist destination of Ghana, where tourists from all over the globe come to see the wildlife of West Africa. This is one of the few protected areas in the region; one of the few areas where one can see monkeys, elephants, antelope, warthogs, and even the occasional lion (so we were told) in their natural habit.

When we arrived in Mole, after nearly an entire day on an over-packed, stuffy bus from Tamale, we arrived in Mole in the night darkness. As Ghanaians filtered off the bus, getting off in small villages between Tamale and Mole, I began to get a feel for what kind of place Mole National Park would be. By the time we arrived the crowd on the bus was remarkably non-Ghanian. Aside from two Togolese women and two black British women, the bus was full of Europeans and us Americans. We were all foreign tourists, about to spend several days at a swank hotel by African standards, complete with a pool, great meals, large comfy beds, air conditioning, and a refrigerator. On the bus was an amazing mélange of people from all over the world- Belgians, Spanish, Mexicans, Austrians, French, Togolese, Italian, and British were all represented. While this was on the one hand a great experience to see such diversity, it was rather awkward as well. As an American Peace Corps Volunteer I had become accustomed to being among one of the few white persons in a group, clearly standing out in the crowd, while at the same time trying to fit in, or as Peace Corps likes to say, “integrating into the community.” At Mole, we were not standing out, yet at the same time, after spending a year in Togo, living and working “au village,” we somehow felt out of place, as if here we also did not really belong.

Yet, with that said, Mole was perhaps one of the greatest places I have ever visited. We woke up the first morning to elephants right outside our hotel room. We went on a walking safari where we saw more elephants playing in a watering hole, antelope running through the savannah, monkeys swinging from trees. Baboons walked freely along the grounds of the park and even dug through trash, jumped on tables, and stole peoples’ food. We relaxed by the pool, met new people with interesting stories and could relax without all of the usual concerns we have in village. Everything was comfortable and taken care of and we had not a care in the world…besides those monkeys squawking at night and jumping on our roof.

4. Mole---Larabanga

This stop on the trip, in my opinion, was perhaps the most memorable of all on the trip. Here, with the assistance of a former PCV, two brothers, the Salia Brothers, had opened their home up to tourists visiting Mole National Park, naming it the “Salia Brothers Guesthouse.” What was interesting about the Salia Brothers was that they had achieved the dream of most Africans I have met and had lived in America off and on for several years. However, as they said, “We always chose to come back.” I had heard so many times from Togolese and Ghanaians alike that life was so difficult here, there is so much poverty, and that given the opportunity they would get out of the country, move to somewhere in the West- preferably America, France, or England, to never return. Yet the Salia Brothers, devout Muslims from a small village in northern Ghana, felt a strong affinity to their faith, their village, and their way of life, which they could not see sacrificing indefinitely.

-Most extended amount of time in a predominantly Muslim village

-90% of villagers don’t support Mole Park

-Taking away prime cropland

-None of benefit going to Larabanga

-Instrusion by white foreigners

5. Larabanga----Wa

-Wa- large city, highly developed (only a secondary northern city)

-Unofficial transit house

6. Wa----Wechaiau

-Hippo sanctuary- collaboration between different organizations (Calgary Zoo, PC)

-High level of community support

-90% of benefit goes back to community

-Guide makes 1 cedi per visitor

-Legit but not overdone- great use of community resources

7. Wechaiau----Tumu

-3 hour wait to fill up the taxi

-Stifling hot, cracked windows, terrible, dusty road

-No way to get to Bolga same day, found awesome guesthouse run by German missionary who had been in Ghana for 40 years. Had translated the entire Bible into local language. Nicer than most places I’ve stayed in in the States. Said that at one point Lome was the place to be in West Africa and was a thriving, bustling, city ("The Paris of West Africa"). Now Accra, with its history of commitment to democracy, its commitment to sustainable growth, and its investment by nations in the West (namely Britain and the US-considering it is an English-speaking country) is a city that should see substantial growth in the next few decades.

-Electricity, cold drinks (Gulder, Heineken, mixed drinks), restaurants, etc. all the way up in the north in a random city.

8. Tumu----Bolgatanga

-Bolga- large Muslim city. Calm and tranquil except at the taxi station (of course)

“It seems like there a chance that the projects you do here might actually stick.”