I received another email, 3 days ago, which contained a great deal of valuable information. This email prompted quite a bit of preparation activity. I just completed the Safety and Security Orientation online an hour or so ago. All you do is create an account on the provided website and do the lessons and then take a quiz. You can take it as many times as you wish and your highest score is counted. I, being the overachiever that I am, got a 98 on the first try, but decided I MUST get 100%. :) FYI, I got those two wrong answers because I accidentally skipped some of the lessons. I then completed two different press release forms, one for the Peace Corps Headquarters (which came in my original packet with the passport papers, etc.), and one for the West Cost Division of the Peace Corps (this one came separately in an email from the West Coast Regional Office).

I also had to make several calls to the Peace Corps Operator. One of my issues is that I have not been reimbursed for my blood tests/physical and my Yellow Fever Vaccination. The lady said something about needing authorization first, which I'm quite sure is NOT the case. It'll get fixed though. I also contacted a friend about taking part in the Correspondence Match program, where I will be set up with a US class/teacher and we will correspond while I am in Namibia I am doing this with a personal friend of mine and possibly with some other classes in Ohio (You can do as many a you want. Some people have even done eight classes, which is overboard for me). Next, I called Verizon, asking if I could save my number, even when I disconnect my US service. They said no, which made me a bit sad. Oh well, it's a minor sacrifice.

The main part of my last few days has been planning and packing. I am more than two months out, but I believe in being proactive. Some items may take weeks to get to me. Also, my mom is an EXPERT coupon clipper/deal getter, and  we went to Kohl's and got most of the stuff I needed. If not for my mom, the stuff I bought would have cost around $350, instead of the $185 I paid. Thank you Mom! Most of the stuff was boring, such as slacks, socks, flip flops, toiletries, etc. The most exciting things in the bunch were my new running shoes (I've had the same running shoes for 3 or 4 years) and my portable, foot-pumped air pump. But, the real fun stuff is coming up! I am going to buy Keen Newport H2 hiking sandals (http://www.keenfootwear.com/us/en/product.aspx?sku=110230), which are more recommended than Chaco or Teva. On all the many hiking websites I found, Keen was most often mentioned. And this story was encouraging (http://www.keenfootwear.com/blog/?p=4396#.UPBqLmc1CSo).

I am also excited about getting a good Leatherman, which I have heard come in very handy. Apparently,  some of the Peace Corps Volunteers in Namibia have had to cut the head off a chicken. I wouldn't be surprised. Most of all, I am excited for the 1-2 Terabyte external hard drive I am going to get. This was widely recommended due to Volunteer's sharing a significant amount of music, TV shows, movies, an pictures. Just some advice, a 1-2 Terabyte hard drive will cost you between $90-$200. Also, make sure you get one that does NOT require you to be plugged in. http://www.toptenreviews.com/ is an amazing website to help you out! Make sure to pay attention to the warranty length as well. Make sure to check out the Peace Corps list of brands that offer Peace Corps Volunteer's discounts (http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Volunteer_discounts). Or you can ask the companies directly.

At this time, I also need to start looking a personal property insurance, which comes highly recommended. I've heard it basically comes out to an ANNUAL premium of $5 per $100 value. However, I need to get all the stuff first. I will post a complete list of stuff I am bringing in this post, when I have everything, or a later post.

One other note, I found the Namibia Peace Corps Volunteer fb page and my specific groups page (Group 37). Friend adding will commence soon. I am stoked to start seeing the people who I am going to become friends with and work with for over 2 years!!

Why am I doing Peace Corps?

It's funny, but I just realized I never said WHY I wanted to join Peace Corps! Silly me. But it's better late than never! Anyways, it all started during my master's program at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. I was thinking about what I wanted to do "when I grow up." I wasn't particular to any specific job, but I wanted it to do with community and social development (my concentration). I had heard about Peace Corps before, but to be honest, I had a very negative view. I had some pretty ridiculous ideas about what the Peace Corps is. I can say wholeheartedly that it was out of ignorance. As I asked more questions, I began to realize that all my preconceived notions were way off base. The Peace Corps is extremely diverse in every way. It has people of all degree levels, ages, ethnicity, background, etc. I was also able to read some very helpful Peace Corps material. I began to get excited. I looked at the benefits and these definitely factored in to my decision. Here are some of the tangible benefits from the Peace Corps website:

• Student loan assistance
• A "readjustment" allowance of $7,425 (pre-tax) upon completion of service
• Language, cross-cultural, and technical training
• Travel to and from country of service
• A monthly living and housing allowance
• Full medical and dental coverage
• 48 paid vacation days
• Unique graduate school opportunities
• Leave for family emergencies
• Transition and job support and social networking after service
• Advantages in federal employment
• Opportunities for short-term assignments through Peace Corps Response
• No fee to participate

Some personal factors are:

• I am young and single and this is my time to have a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. 
• I have a desire to travel.
• I am a really outgoing person and I want to make friends from all over the world.
• I want to build a valuable pool of international connections and resources.
• Peace Corps looks awesome on a resume.
• I want to be able to tell my kids stories of "When I was working in Namibia..."

These factors, coupled with my motivation, convinced me that the Peace Corps was worth the effort to apply for. Here are some of my overall motivations by the way:

• My desire to help others.
• My desire to learn.
• My desire to interact with another culture.
• My desire to get out of my comfort zone to force myself to grow personally and professionally.
• My desire to make others feel loved and unique by being intentional about my actions.

 The Peace Corps fits perfectly into my career dreams (the word "plans", sounds too inflexible for me). Although I, originally, wanted to be placed in Jordan or Tunisia, I was just happy to be accepted. After 2 years in Namibia, I would like to make my way up to Egypt or another Middle Eastern country. There, I would like to either perform research or work in a humanitarian aid related field, for three years. After that, I would like to attend the University of London (or another university) to get a doctorate in some international studies related field, such as Middle Eastern Studies or International Relations. Then, I would like to obtain employment with the United Nations or some other similar, reputable international organization. I would like to build a career and then, towards the end of my career, I would like to teach at a university. These dreams are very lofty, but the most exciting part is that they are entirely possible with God's help.



 

Just wanted to pop on the blog for a second to let all those future Peace Corps Volunteers out there know that, if you have student loans, you are almost certainly eligible for loan deferment. It's classified under the Economic Hardship part of loan deferment. You'll see it when you take the Federal Loan Exit Counseling.

Passport/Visa Applications

So I sent the Visa and Passport Applications off and they should be at Peace Corps today! I went to the Post Office where the passport photos were $15 for two. I was so thankful that the photographer told me to go to Costco where I could get 4 for $5! Saved me $35 because I needed a total of six. Anyways, not much else to tell!

There is so much to do!

Since I accepted, I began a flurry of research, planning, filling out paperwork, doing other related work, and, most of all, dreaming. I got into the mood and ended up taking most of the day meticulously wording my aspirational statement, which I may post on this blog later, after my Dad is done proofreading it. It took a long time because the aspirational statement and your resume are the first documents the in-country staff will get from and about you. The resume is proving trickier because it is in a VERY simplified version of a format. I haven't heard from the Peace Corps about the email I sent asking some clarifying questions. I need to remember that I don't have to be the volunteer that got his stuff in by the next day, although my overachiever side is dying to. Anyways, I may post my resume to help any of you future volunteers with formatting yours.

I read both of the Peace Corps recommended/required books. The books are PDF files, which you can only get from the Peace Corps or one of its websites (google them) and are quite short, but full of information. The one that was most helpful was A Few Minor Adjustments, which talks about six different phases in the Peace Corps and the adjustments and strategies to address them. I loved this book, and took a few pages of notes as a quick reference on concrete strategies to mitigate difficulties. The other book On the Home Front, is really just for family members. It was a repeat of a lot of the information from the other book. I wouldn't have read it if I had known it was redundant info, but being an overachiever causes one to do certain things. By the way, I wanted to give you a little info about the some of the main parts of the process after you get into the Peace Corps. The first part is called staging. This is where you travel to in the US for pre-service orientation. It lasts 2-3 days. You then travel to your country for anywhere from two to three months of INTENSE training. After that you are given specific assignments, and you begin your service.

Yesterday I decided to see if there were any blogs or online journals by Peace Corps Volunteers on the internet. To my delight, and surprise, Peace Corps Namibia was a common search on Google!! There are tons of blogs and resources for people going specifically to Namibia! They have thousands of photos, videos, sound recording, helpful advice, etc. I spent most of the day perusing and dreaming about my future. I listened to Namibian music and choirs, and read advice on renting a car on one guys website. This guy was an audio engineer or something and he had recordings of snippets of him interviewing other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) about the different languages. He also recorded the daily morning songs that PCVs learned as part of language training in Pre-Service Training. I was even more stoked when I saw that were a bunch of Youtube videos done by Peace Corps Namibia Volunteers themselves. I have to say that my expectations of what I thought Namibia was like were blown away by the videos. Even as a social worker, stereotypes still abound because of ignorance. I had no knowledge of Namibia before I started reading books and watching videos. I'm hoping to get rid of more of these stereotypes as time goes by and I learn more.

On another note, I got my yellow fever shot yesterday at the Department of Public Health, along with some information on HIV/AIDS (because that's the sector I will be working with). I'm glad that the Peace Corps is covering all of the cost of the vaccination, except for one measly dollar! It's expensive. It's pretty exciting to start doing concrete and productive things for my future work, since I haven't been doing as much as I would have liked in the past few months. By the way, I found a blog from a guy who did the same thing in the Peace Corps as I am going to do. It was extremely encouraging that he said he had zero previous experience and was mainly a community and social development person. What an awesome help! His blog gave me several ideas about how to get some experience with the HIV/AIDS field. Hopefully, I'll be able to volunteer somewhere. The lady at the Department of Public Health said I could volunteer to do a community outreach program, which I would LOVE to do! However, I don't think if I will be able to do it because my family is in the midst of trying to find new jobs, and it will require quite a significant move distance. I do not want to start and stop a project. Whatever the case, I think I am very fortunate to be able to devote three whole months to preparing for Namibia!

I got accepted!!!!

This is my first post on my path to being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Namibia, Africa! I accepted my invite on December 4, 2012, and the flurry of preparing has now begun! I really wanted to do a blog that will help future Volunteers in the time in between invitation and staging.  First, my reaction to getting into the Peace Corps. Woohooooooooo!!!!! Thank you, Lord! it's been 8 and half months of waiting and holding off on starting a career. I applied March 15; was nominated on May 2; medically and dentally cleared on October 20; and was invited on November 29. Ever since I applied it seemed getting a decision one way or another was the day that would always be off in the distance. But it finally came and is one of the most affirming moments of my life so far! I am definitely proud of getting invited. I  need to email my professors who helped me get to where I am now for sure! One note, I was originally supposed to go to Eastern Europe, but I am so much more excited to go to Africa!!!

As soon as I got the invite, I read EVERYTHING they said to read, such as the Welcome Book, Job Description, Volunteer Handbook, etc. I did that all within a day and a half! After letting it sit for a few days, I decided to accept. However, it was a whole different ball game from dreaming about getting accepted to Peace Corps, and actually getting invited. The info they gave me to read was awesome to read, but also very sobering in the descriptions of what Peace Corp life was like. I had to be sure that I was ready to give up 27 months of my life and overcome many challenges. I asked God to give me feelings of doubt if He didn't want me to go, and I have received none. Several times I thought how easy it would be to stay in the United States and just deal with the normal issues of being a recent graduate from grad school. At least they would be familiar, in a way. But I knew I would look back at my choice with regret for not taking the opportunity of a life time. I know that I desire to be pushed and challenged, and to grow by putting myself in situations where I have no choice but to adapt and mature. I have always lived within the box, but on the edge; meaning I have never wanted to become a stagnant person and have constantly pushed the edges out. Examples include going to Ohio for grad school, getting good grades no matter the class, going out of my way to meet new people all the time, and striving to work outside the United States.

Oh, it would probably be helpful to say what I am specifically doing in the Peace Corps. It's kind of funny, but I would like to know that too! I have a job description that is so broad that it encompasses, seemingly, everything. From what I have read, most Volunteers still aren't sure about this, even when they are in their job in the actual country! However, I know I will be working with the government, a faith-based organization,  or a community-based organization in the area of HIV/AIDS. Namibia has a 15% prevalence rate, which is one of the highest in the world. I was surprised they wanted me in this area because I have no knowledge about the subject. I think the reason they want me is for my knowledge on community and social development, which is more about learning the different processes than about specific issues. It's great because I can go into an area and work on whatever issues are present. I just need to acquire some foundations in HIV/AIDS.