Kayla K.

1. What got you interested in the Peace Corps?

I had been working in a corporate setting for about 3 years and was feeling unfulfilled. I wanted to do something that had a more meaningful impact and after researching online the Peace Corps caught my eye. I began my pre-service training as a Youth in Development Volunteer in Thailand in January 2020 and barely made it to swearing-in before all Volunteers were evacuated due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

I knew my work wasn’t done with the Peace Corps, I had barely begun my service. Before boarding the plane back to America I made a promise to my training manager that I would return to service in Thailand no matter what. Three years later, I joined the first full group of Trainees back in Thailand following the pandemic. What started as curiosity into a career change has evolved into so much more. Now I’m extending for a third year and feel that I’ve truly fulfilled the promise I made five years ago.

2. What projects are you working on?

In my first two years in northern Thailand, I worked with seven local schools, co-facilitating positive youth development and environmental education activities in the classroom alongside Thai teachers. I also worked closely with the local municipality office on environmental initiatives. Together, we hosted a DIY air purifier training to educate community members about air pollution prevalent in northern Thailand. Representatives, including students, from the community learned how to read the air quality index, protect themselves when the air quality is bad, and make their own air purifiers for use in local schools and clinics. I also co-hosted an environmental camp for primary school students alongside municipality staff and local youth council members.

In my current role as Peace Corps Volunteer leader, I’m working with the Department of Local Administration in the Thai Ministry of the Interior in Bangkok. My office works on education policy, curriculum and programming that affects municipal schools and youth councils across the country. It’s so gratifying to be able to use the experience I gained at the local level to work with my colleagues at the national level.

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

It sounds so simple but just showing up has never failed me. Showing up to the weekly market even though I didn’t need any food but just to greet my neighbors. Showing up to the school planning meeting even though I only understood a fraction of what was going on. Showing up, especially to the places I wanted to be in, helped me to be included more.

Also, Thai people love snacks. I try to never arrive somewhere empty-handed as it’s the easiest way to get a smile and break the ice.

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

Programmatically, it was so rewarding to see multiple youth development initiatives come together at our environmental camp. Members of our Youth Council utilized the leadership, public speaking and facilitation skills we’d worked on together in the classroom by facilitating stations geared towards waste collection, soil health, and trash separation. They gave each station their own special touch and it was incredible to see them shine with the confidence we’d been building together.

A personal highlight was being invited by my supervisor to speak to local forest fire volunteers about the air quality monitors that my counterpart and I requested from both American and Thai organizations. I was humbled that she trusted me to present at the meeting and it felt like a validation of all the hard work I’d done to learn how to speak about a project very important to me and my community in their language.

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

I was so fortunate during my service to be welcomed into countless homes, fed hundreds of meals, and greeted by my students every time I came to school as enthusiastically as if it were the first time. Being the local celebrity can feel limiting at times but that level of connection to my community is something that will be hard to recreate.

While I enjoy the freedom of being more anonymous in the city, I miss my neighbor bringing me cucumbers and bananas from his farm every time he’d pass by my house, and the excited shouts of “Pii (older sister) Kayla is here!” around town.

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

Some community members were really tough on me in the beginning. The workload was heavy and my community speaks a northern dialect I wasn’t familiar with. The expectations of me were high, and I struggled to find balance between proving myself and setting healthy boundaries, but the payoff for sticking with it was astronomical. I leaned into my resilience and persistence and gave myself grace often. I gained a lot of respect from my community members (and myself) for it.

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

I spent a lot of time biking in my first community. Being surrounded by the beautiful mountains of northern Thailand I had views wherever I went and riding through the rice fields never failed to pull me out of a tough day. When it was too hot to bike I read, lay in front of my fan, and napped with my cat, Popcorn.

Now that I’m in the city, I expect I’ll be spending more time with my Thai friends and visiting my pre-service training host mom who lives about an hour away and is taking care of Popcorn for me. I’m also eager to get back into city running!

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

I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity to serve in Thailand as the Peace Corps Volunteer leader (PCVL) for the next year. Working at the policy level in Thai is a completely new challenge and there’s so much for me to learn from my colleagues here. I’m also thrilled to get to work with Peace Corps Thailand staff, helping to design and implement Volunteer training programs and conferences as well as serving as a resource for current Volunteers. PCVL was a dream job for me and I’m eternally grateful for my program manager, especially, and all the other Peace Corps Thailand staff who gave me the opportunity.

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

Peace Corps Thailand has been a huge factor in my personal growth over the last almost 6 years since I started the application process. I’ve become a more flexible, understanding, patient, and resilient person because of this experience, including the evacuation. I’m grateful for every step in the process because it’s what led me to the place where I am now. I hope to work in Thailand a little bit longer before going back to the States and pursuing a master’s degree. I’ll be bringing a greater appreciation for rest and guavas with me.