Featured Volunteer Profile
Darcy M.
“When I joined the Peace Corps I expected to return home, retire, and enjoy my family. Now I realize that I never want to stop challenging myself and never want to stop learning. As long as I can offer something to assist others I will attempt to do so.”

1. What got you interested in the Peace Corps?
I have been interested in the Peace Corps since childhood, when my cousin went to serve in Iran in 1968. I planned to go after college, but a professor convinced me to get my master’s degree first. Life went on; I got married, had children and a career. In the end, I was 62 before I started my Peace Corps application.
2. What projects are you working on?
Most of my hours are spent at the public school in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. I teach fifth to eleventh grades, work with teachers to improve their English skills, and assist in running clubs. This term we will work with Peace Corps’ Global Connections. I have contacted the middle school in my hometown of Gettysburg to connect our students for cultural exchange and friendship.
One of my favorite projects is helping individual students with their writing skills. Many students want to study abroad and need help with applications. I also facilitate several community English clubs, including for staff at a Women’s Health Center, staff at a Buddhist Center, and children who participate at the American Corner, a U.S. Department of State-sponsored program that is staffed by local Mongolians and offers English programs and other activities. I am also currently co-teaching a pronunciation class for our local Toastmaster’s club.

3. What strategies have you used to integrate into your community?
Integration into my community has not been difficult. I express interest in people around me, I smile a lot, and when I am invited to participate in an event or activity, I try to say yes.
The Mongolian people are happy and excited to have Peace Corps Volunteers living among them. They love to learn about America and are anxious to practice speaking English. I think every Volunteer would agree that integration in Mongolia is one of the easiest parts of our job!
4. What is a highlight of your time in service so far?
I was invited to spend a week with a herder family last summer, and lived with them in their ger (yurt). Most of the family spoke little or no English, and I spoke very little Mongolian, but we had a great time. I learned, not only about the lifestyle, but also about how they are able to make so much from what appears to be so little. The goat milk in the summer is used to make cream, yogurt, cheese, and milk vodka, to name just a few things. The children help with chores and herding. Everyone except the very youngest contribute to the family and the land. It was an inspiring week for me.
5. What have you enjoyed most about the community where you are serving?
I know it is the same answer that everyone gives, but certainly, my answer is the friends I have made that will stay with me forever. I have made friends with both children and the elderly, and without exception, they have accepted me into their homes and their lives. I feel that I act as a window into the world of what America is really like, instead of what Mongolia is exposed to on the internet and the movies. I hope that we are truly bridges for one another.
6. What are some of the most important things you’ve learned from your community?
The people of Mongolia work hard and have a determination to succeed in moving their country forward. I have learned from them the value of wanting the best for your country and community and pulling together to work for it. Americans tend to be more individualistic and want to know how we will personally profit from our work. Mongolians are far more family- and community-centered, and work for the good of others as much as for themselves. This a model I admire and try to emulate.
7. How do you spend time when you are not working on a project?
I am interested in the history and culture of Mongolia, so spend a fair amount of time reading and researching on these topics. Mongolian history is ancient and rich, and so the opportunity to live in this culture and to have time to truly study it is a rare and valuable opportunity for me.
I also knit and love handmade crafts. There are many shops in the capital that are owned by craftspeople. My favorites are those that hire and support the disabled, the poor, and the elderly. Although the crafts are not inexpensive, I like to support the community and artists however I can.

8. What are you looking forward to in your remaining time as a Volunteer?
I am looking forward to becoming involved with more community development and NGO projects. I really enjoy my work at the schools, but many agencies in Ulaanbaatar are requesting the involvement of Peace Corps Volunteers. I believe that our involvement in our communities raises awareness and builds goodwill.
9. Once you finish your service, what will you do differently when you return to the U.S.?
When I joined the Peace Corps I expected to return home, retire, and enjoy my family. Now I realize that I never want to stop challenging myself and never want to stop learning. As long as I can offer something to assist others I will attempt to do so.