Page 16
P a u z a
2 0 0 5
Our Role as Volunteers
By Nik Sarkisian, Mak-9, Stip
So I sit here and
wonder about it,
whether I really am
a Peace Corps
volunteer or just an
overseas consultant
that doesn't get
paid much.
The question has come up in
my mind recently regarding
my life and function here. The
question of whether this is
really the Peace Corps. Where
are the wells to carry the water
from? Where are the mud huts
and swarms of flies, the guys
in grass skirts carrying spears
and the little children gathered
'round to get a piece of candy
and a few English words?
That Peace Corps, "Peace
Corps Africa." It does exist,
people still do go off and live
like that and sneer at those of
us in ECAM (Europe, CentralAsia, Mediterranean) at RPCV
parties in the U.S. as having
had it easy. So I sit here and
wonder about it, whether I
really am a Peace Corps volunteer or just an overseas consultant that doesn't get paid much.
While it's true that I don't carry
my water from a well and have
Internet access and MTV, for
myself and those volunteers
that are serving here with me,
those that came before and
those that will come after, the
Peace Corps mission is very
much alive. Yes, there are
things that look like America
here. However, as our country
director said when we arrived,
"It may look like the U.S.
sometimes; it's not." And it's
that illusion that makes it the
most difficult: expectations.
In Africa, I wouldn't expect a
tribesman to understand how to
use a computer or schedule
meetings or create budgets;
who would? But here I do. If
there is a computer in the office, I expect that someone will
know how to use it, that they
will know what the Internet is,
that if they give me an answer
they will have at least thought
about it - a little - that they
would be able to have a meeting and accomplish basic tasks,
to come to agreement on simple things and stick to them.
And most fundamentally that
they will want what I want,
understand modern concepts
and institutions, and see problems and solutions as I see
them. These are the issues.
On the surface, the people