Arosah A.

1. What got you interested in the Peace Corps?

I always dreamed of working internationally in underserved communities due to my immigrant background being half Korean and half Pakistani. I knew that had my parents not ventured to the United States, I would be no different from any child living in rural communities around the globe. I recognized the privileges I had and desired to exchange knowledge and experiences with others. During my senior year of college, I came across the Peace Corps website while researching international opportunities and immediately realized that my lifelong dream could become a reality through serving in the Peace Corps: to meet people where they are.

2. What projects are you working on?

As a career guidance teacher, I teach life skills at the community high school. I empower students by letting them know how smart, capable, brilliant, and resilient they are. I teach youth entrepreneurship and assist them in starting their own income-generating projects. I have been assisting a group of youth to flesh out their business ideas and write their business plan and constitution in order to become a cooperative. Currently I am monitoring the progress of their objectives and ensuring sustainability as I transition out of the community.

3. What strategies have you used to integrate into your community?

Learning the local language, Siswati, has been a vital part in my integration into the community as it shows my desire to learn their culture. Moreover, it is a great way to break the ice as an outsider and make myself more relatable. Sometimes, the local people and I will laugh at my broken Siswati, or they’ll be pleasantly surprised at my knowledge of expressions and slang. I also spend time around small community shops where I can meet different people and youth passing by. Even just sitting with people for a few hours over several days helps them become more familiar and comfortable in opening up to me.

4. What is a highlight of your time in service so far?

One of the biggest highlights in service has been spending time with my host family. My host siblings have truly become my own brothers and sisters. We accept each other’s differences, give grace with our mistakes, cheer each other on in our aspirations, stand by one another in moments of discomfort, and laugh together like there’s no tomorrow. They have given and shown me so much unconditional love and I could not be more grateful.

5. What have you enjoyed most about the community where you are serving?

I have enjoyed meeting different people in the community and learning about their passions. I love to encourage them to recognize their strengths and pursue their dreams. While circumstances can be discouraging, they do not take away from how brilliant, unique, and capable each person truly is.

6. What are some of the most important things you’ve learned from your community?

Change can be scary because there is a risk of the unknown and fear that all the hard work may amount to nothing. Hence, building the confidence and self-esteem of youth is essential when introducing change. It is also important to change people’s perspective on failure. Rather than evidence of not being good enough, failure is the First Attempt In Learning. It is an opportunity to learn something new to apply the next time around, a step towards redirection.

7. How do you spend time when you are not working on a project?

I enjoy reading books, journaling, and hanging out with my host family. I also like meeting up with the other Volunteers in person or catching up with them over the phone. Additionally, I may spend time with friends in the community.

8. What are you looking forward to in your remaining time as a Volunteer?

I am looking forward to finishing my service strong by wrapping up my projects and beginning to say my goodbyes to people in the community. My hope is that together we can make lasting memories to look back with joy.

9. Once you finish service, what will you do differently when you return to the U.S.?

When I return to the States, I will take moments to slow down. In a culture of hustle and hurry, it is easy to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to not feel behind. However, I learned that it’s okay to live a little and it is not the end of the world if something is not completed right away. While it is so much easier to be understanding of others, it is a lot harder to give ourselves grace with our own self-imposed expectations. Moving forward, I want to live a little bit more intentionally to create spaces where I can soak in the moments and create beautiful memories with others.

Learn more about serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eswatini.