Beware - this is a potentially thought provoking entry!

When I tell people I'm going to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, I get several different reactions. Most are positive, some are at best skeptical. In reality, I welcome the more cynical responses as an avenue for explaining the job and why I'm doing it.


The most common "negative" question I'm faced with is one that debates foreign vs. domestic service. "There's so much good to be done in America - why don't you stay here?" This is true, and I myself have been a part of the call for service in the United States. Several programs exist to try and fit our need. It's not a matter of putting other countries before my own, as some may consider it. I believe that being a part of the American cycle of education and community service is extremely important.


There are several different ways to address this question. The American poverty rate is high and many are unemployed or homeless, and yet we are a developed country with a system designed to assist those in need. This system often fails and thus, relief agencies are put to work. It's far from perfect.


In many countries, there is little/no welfare structure. Nigeriens can ill afford to spare workers to the schools when crop season arrives, they have antiquated techniques of farming and irrigation that threaten to be insufficient to their needs, and preventative health issues and developments for economic stabilization are often put in the backseat. My intention is not to make these needs seem more or less grand than those in the United States. They are simply different, and Americans are capable of addressing both. By assisting developing countries, the United States makes a worthwhile investment in the future of our world and I'm excited to be a part of that process.


In other news, I would like to suggest a moment of reflection for Peace Corps Volunteer Stephanie Chance. 


Chance began her Peace Corps training in Niger in July 2010, and was by all accounts excited and ready for her official posting in September. In early October she was found deceased in her home in Zinder (a larger city in Niger), the cause of death unknown but likely natural according to the Peace Corps press release. 


This incident is profoundly sad, for everyone connected to either Chance or the Peace Corps. I can certainly attest to the reams of medical forms and exams required to become a Volunteer (I grumbled about them often enough). The precautions are in place to prevent tragedies such as this one, to forsee conditions that could cause unnatural early death in a new environment - but no method is without fault and many conditions are undetectable. A high school friend of mine died from a brain aneurysm; just one example of a fatal, invisible demon. I post this on my blog to raise awareness for this family and in the hopes that those considering applying for the Peace Corps won't be deterred. 


Like any death, premature or otherwise, this incident gives me a strong sense of our human mortality. I think it's important to make the most of what time we're given, which means different things to different people. If it were to all end tomorrow - would you be satisfied? 


(I said this might be thought-provoking!)