A Beginner's Guide to Peace Corps: Q&A

Welcome friends, family, and strangers alike! If you've found your way here, I'll assume you already know that I've joined the Peace Corps and, pending activation from the wait list, will be heading to Jamaica in March. Exciting stuff! Everyone is full of questions for me so I thought I would take a few minutes to fill ya all in with a little Q&A.

Q: What will you be doing?
A: I will be a literacy advisor at a primary school. Here's a brief excerpt from the project description provided by PC:

The Education sector works in support of national priorities in these three project areas: student achievement, building the capacity of teachers, and improving support for learning from parents and community members. This assignment focuses on teaching English literacy to elementary school-age children who speak Patois (Jamaica’s oral language). Primary Literacy Advisors use creative, student-centered strategies to ignite a love of reading, writing, and English comprehension to develop a strong foundation for each child’s future academic achievement. This type of literacy instruction is different than either teaching a child in the US literacy or teaching English as a second language. Patois is an oral language and therefore many students are not familiar with the concept of reading and writing.

Q: Where will you be living?
A: No idea. Fun, right? Actually, we know that we will be in Kingston for Pre-Service Training (PST). After that, we will be placed in different communities based on the needs of the communities and how they match up with each volunteer's skill set.

Q: How will you get around?
A: Public transportation for the win! You can read a fun post about that here on one of my favorite PC Jamaica blogs.

Q: Will you have water, electricity, etc.?
A: Again, no idea. Jamaica is one of the more developed countries in the PC so there is a good chance that I will have some modern amenities but I really won't know until I know where exactly I'll be living for my service.

Q: What happens if you get sick? What about your safety? WHAT ABOUT HURRICANES?!
A: PC's got my back, y'all! All Peace Corp Volunteers (PCVs) go through pretty serious medical clearances and vaccinations to ensure that we are in good shape when we show up in country. If I get sick, they'll take care of me. They've been doing this for a really long time and they are pros. There are excellent safety and security plans and procedures. Here is a blog post from earlier this year when Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu. It details the timeline of the PCVs evacuation. Not sure if that makes you feel better but there you go.

Q: Why Peace Corps?
A: Excellent question, reader. You can read all about it on my about me page.

Q: You said you're waiting to be activated from the wait list. What does that mean?
A: Glad you asked! That means that there were so many qualified applicants for my position that they weren't able to accept everyone. For each program, the PC selects a small group of strong applicants that didn't quite make the cut to be on the wait list. If/when any invited applicants drop out of the program (which apparently is very common), I will be activated from the wait list. Of course, this means that there is a chance that I will not be going to Jamaica after all. If that happens then PC staff will try to place me in another country that is in need of volunteers. At that point, I will be either placed somewhere else or asked to reapply. In the meantime, I am preparing for departure just like every that has been invited. So, ya know, positive vibes and stuff would be appreciated.

Have any other questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below and I will be happy to answer!

xoxo, Leah

Imagine - John Lennon