My aspirations....

Before I head off to Namibia in February, the Peace Corps staff in the country want to learn a little something about me....my expectations, experiences, skills, education, language ability, etc. I thought I'd share it with you, but also would put it on my blog for me to return to later on.

Professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill, during your Peace Corps service. 


While in Namibia, I hope that I am able to actually apply many of the skills I learned in college. It’s one thing to learn something in the classroom, but an entirely different thing to actually use these skills in the real world. Being a social work major in college, I read many books and heard from professors about the multitude of social service organizations around the world. To actually step into one of these social service organizations though and see first hand the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a third world country was unreal when I studied abroad in India and will continue to be unreal when I’m living in Namibia. Being able to actively listen to community members in Namibia for what they may need guidance in is something that I will definitely use. To say that Namibia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates may say something about the country, but when you meet the people of Namibia and how they are working towards preventing HIV, it also says something about the country. Seeing the human rights issue and the pandemic at work with my own eyes has helped me to connect it to my own life on a personal level and has made me be a better social worker and citizen of this world. To have the chance to leave my comfort zone and experience another culture is something that I have wanted to do ever since I knew that there was another country out there besides the United States. With my Bachelor’s degree in social work and the various social work experiences I have had thus far, I want to be able to put it to use. I am able to see the possibilities of an organization, culture and community through social work and as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Through my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I would like to make that possibility a reality.

During my service in the Peace Corps, there are so many things that I know I want to accomplish and probably so many more things that I don’t even know that I want to do. While thinking about my time in Namibia, just as in other chapters of my life I will set goals for myself throughout my life. At the same time though, I know that I will need to throw my expectations out the window and just let Namibia show me what I need to learn. If anything, while in Namibia I want to throw my expectations out the window and just enjoy fully immersing myself in the culture. I hope that when I arrive in my community that I am able to fulfill their needs and expectations. While learning from them, I hope that I will be able to gain a better understanding of how they view the US and rest of the world. And maybe I’ll be able to do that just by cooking with them over a fire!

Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

I think that in order to work effectively with my host country partners, I need to be able to meet them where they’re at. By listening to them and engaging in conversations with them, then I’ll be able to advocate for them and help to understand what their needs are. If I didn’t listen to them and just assumed what their needs are, I might not be getting much accomplished. What may work in the US, may not work in Namibia and vice versa.

Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

The reason why I’m going to be living in Namibia as a Peace Corps Volunteer is not to live in my American cultural bubble. I’m here to learn from community members and work with them, with respect to my culture as well as theirs. One of the core expectations states that a Volunteer needs to “recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture”. When I went to India, I understood how the refugees that I taught in Vermont felt. I was overwhelmed as I became immersed into life in a large city with multiple cultures and languages swirling and colliding throughout it everywhere. I chose to wear kurtas and salwar kameezes (Indian clothing) as the locals did, (not as most Americans do) read the local newspaper, and conversed with many people I met, respectfully listening and asking clarifying questions so that I could learn from them.

The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

Pre-service training is just what it indicates, training. During these first few weeks, I hope to learn the local language of the area where I’ll be living, how HIV/AIDS is taught in the country, and other cultural norms of Namibia. At the pre-service training, I’ll also be able to talk with other Peace Corps Volunteers that are going to be working with HIV/AIDS, which will help to better my knowledge of the epidemic in the country.

How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

Throughout the application process of applying to the Peace Corps, I have never stopped being motivated to begin my service. My social work background has shown me over and over again that it is best for me to use my education to help people in various countries and give them the necessary tools needed to have a better life. After my Peace Corps service, I think that my insights will still apply. Whether I am a Peace Corps Volunteer or an employee of a non-profit agency in the US, I will be motivated to be a better citizen of the world. Although I have not begun my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I know that it will be the toughest job that I’ll ever love. I know that if anything, my service in Namibia will help me to better understand who I want to be and what I want to do after coming back to the US.

It's official!

This is the moment I've been waiting for! I've been officially invited to be a Peace Corps Volunteer working in the Community Health and HIV/AIDS program in Namibia (nuh-MIH-bee-uh). I'll be leaving February 16, 2011 and return April 13, 2013.

A little history about the program:
Namibia achieved independence in 1990 and remains a land of great potential. However, the extent to which this potential will be realized has become increasingly dominated by one of Africa's most devastating epidemics: HIV/AIDS. Today, Namibia has one of the highest prevalence rates in the world. It is estimated that 15.3% of adults (ages 15-49) are living with HIV/AIDS and 61% of the HIV cases occurred among women. More than one-in-five adults is HIV-positive, and AIDS is one of the leading cause of death and hospitalizations. By the end of 2007, it was estimated that 14,000 children (ages 0-15) were living with HIV/AIDS.

So it comes at a perfect time for me to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in Namibia and share with the country how important it is to prevent the further spread of HIV and AIDS.

Originally, I was nominated to be an English teacher in Eastern Europe. But after the Peace Corps saw all the various experiences I've had related to comprehensive sex ed and HIV/AIDS, they knew it was better for me and them to put me in a program related to HIV/AIDS. And so here I am!