What's It Like to Volunteer?

hese day-long journals offer a chance to spend one unique day with a Peace Corps Volunteer.
			Part of my day is spent counseling students about their lives—giving me something new to think about every day. I may discuss Tyrone's problems with anger and his gang involvement one minute, make a referral to family services, or chat with Mikal about his latest soccer triumph the next…
			Breakfast can be many things: fried spaghetti, boiled plantains, an egg and bread—today I find it is bread, coffee, and mamba, Haitian peanut butter with a few peppers in it to put some kick in my stride…
			I wake up at 7 a.m. to the noise of buses and marshrutka taxi vans honking and backfiring on the street below, but also to something different: a lone bird singing. After an unusually cold, snowy winter, it's a warm sound.
			Sunday is my "girls' club" day in a nearby village. I arrive at my friend's house around 8:30 a.m. Then, magically, four to five other girls appear. Every Sunday the girls devour the little bits of English I teach them.
			After my bucket bath, I head to school. Though it's incredibly hot during the summers, I enjoy my half-hour walk. The children walk beside me, laughing and screaming, "Wa lala po, Meme Julia!" I negotiate herds of goats, cattle, sometimes deep mud and large oscines (shallow pools of water), depending on the season…

Last updated Aug 28 2008