Happy Half Century

For most, March 1st passed fairly uneventfully marking one day to the next, though within this certain community, it represented a milestone. For 50 years, Peace Corps has been sending its willing volunteers to all parts of the world to help as best they can. To many on the outside, it means saving the world, one country and two years at a time. An all-out do gooder who is crazy enough to volunteer their own life in the service of others. In some ways, yeah, that is what I have been working at. The chance to make some smidgen of a difference. Looking at this from the inside however, it's more than just a good theoretical idea. Like any government bureaucracy, Peace Corps deals with its rules and regulations, sometimes sacrificing the appeasement of its volunteers to be able to function in a country completely unlike any other, even from its own neighbors. Personalities, discrepancies, necessities, and niceties must cooperate together to produce a working system of volunteers able to serve their villages. There will always be lapses in organization and maybe a slight oversight to the humanness of its volunteers but what other organization so large will give you this experience. We live as Rwandans in their towns, in their jobs. (Yes, I have checked and I actually do have the same monthly salary as my co-workers) We are given an opportunity to stretch our own boundaries and claim this service for ourselves. Though is it aggravating, Peace Corps somehow manages to be the laid-back hippie parent as well as the overbearing one, letting us decide where to focus but keeping us within their guidelines. We learn as we go, we grow, we serve others, but mainly we just live. Happy Birthday Peace Corps; though sometimes I hate you and sometimes I love you, I am glad to be a part of this.