Casualties of Peace
December 11th, 2005 by Scott Stadum.
If you are seriously thinking of joining the Peace Corps you need to read the seven part series titles “Casualties of Peace” published by the Dayton Daily News.
I was a volunteer serving in Guyana when the series was first published. Peace Corps Head Quarters in Washington, DC sent word of the appearance of the series and told us to brace ourselves. They apparently weren’t very pleased with the articles. At the time I didn’t get to read them but my father had saved them for me and I have recently had the chance to look through them.
As a volunteer and even up until I had the chance to read through these articles, I felt my frustrations with my post and with Peace Corps were probably unique to Guyana. They are not. Peace Corps, which I love dearly, has many many problems. These problems start at the top and make their way down to the posts in all the countries. It’s not just violence, but it’s corruption, incompetence, apathy, nepotism, cronyism…I could go on, that affect the organization.
This series is a must read if you are thinking seriously of joining. I don’t know if I would have thought twice about joining if I had read these articles, but I do know that I would have saved a lot of headaches if I had.
December 12th, 2005 at 9:00 am
Scott, thanks for posting the link to these articles. My husband and I are invited to leave in March. Our post is in the region we were hoping for most, and our assignments are in areas we are very interested in, so I think we are set at this point. However, I think it is very valuable to be exposed to these issues and go with one’s eyes wide open — and to have a sense of when or how to be your own advocate.
I am interested to hear if you have any critiques of this series, because I know you found its themes to resonate with your own experience. I have some concerns about it (example: The way the author interacted with Mr. Leveille, according to the P.C. response letter and overall language that seemed a tiny bit sensational) but I am having a hard time getting past my excitement about leaving and bias/loyalty that comes with wanting to believe what you’re committing yourself to is going to be wonderful. What did you feel was most true in the series for you? least true?
In addition, I would LOVE to hear from other current or returned volunteers on what aspects of these articles hit home for you. We may be set at this point, but I have a friend (single female) and talk to others who are considering the Peace Corps, and want to be giving helpful points (positive or negative) to consider before applying.
Thank you!
December 12th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Security is definitely an issue in all countries as Westerners, not just American’s, are targets due to our perceived wealth. The country I served in is thought to be one of the most dangerous PC countries but my thought was that it was only as dangerous as you allow it to be. If you don’t take the precautions you are warned to take and stick with them, YOU WILL have problems. In all honesty, security was the least of the issues I identified with in the article.
Most volunteers don’t realize that PC is more about diplomacy than it is about progressive activism and philanthropy. Volunteers, including myself, signed up thinking we were going to change the world and that we would have the full support of PC in doing so. This is not true. If it goes against the grain of what the agenda for the post is, you will get minimal support.
What I found the most interesting was that the APCD of other countries almost never visited or checked up on their volunteers. This was true for my post. My APCD never checked up on my projects, in fact he had no idea what I was doing. There are minimal tools in place to assist you in your projects. Minimal funding, almost zero web based tools are permitted, no organizational memory at your post. You will be repeating the same mistakes as those before you made on similar projects because there is no mandate to document projects for volunteer use.
The director that was there for half of my service had no idea what was going on and told the incoming director as he was exiting “all you have to do is sign papers.” And then went to play tennis.
You’ll find that the people that you think are supposed to be the most aware of your projects might not even know your name, or where your site is. Seriously. Of course not all posts are like this but after reading those articles I can tell you a lot are.
I have so many more thoughts and comments, feel free to email me at jstadum at gmail dot com.
December 13th, 2005 at 11:39 am
Bad things happen in America or aboard. If you are a smart PCV and work at the language and learning the culture, you will keep yourself safe. Sure, you will be a beacon for attention but that is why you spend so much time learning the culture.
If you are not willing to work at blending in you will have to deal with what comes. By learning about the culture, buidling relationships and working hard to truly become a member of my community, I have had no problems. However, I know people who have done just the opposite setting themselves off from thier community for what ever reason and they have had a very bad service.
Go in with an open heart and be willing to adopt to your surroundings. If you go “native” you will be safe.
December 23rd, 2005 at 12:24 pm
I think I can agree with all three of the comments posted. Scott, you did a great service to future volunteers by posting the Daily News article, it does help to be informed of all of the dangers of traveling abroad. What I did not find useful in the article is the overly urgent tone of the series. I could not see how the article demonstrated unique dangers towards PCV’s aside from the universal dangers of being an inexperienced American traveler.
I felt a bit of fear-mongering in the articles, especially when the series went on to discuss how “secretive” the PC security record is. A cursory glance at the website will lead you to their yearly safety and security report [http://peacecorps.gov/policies/pdf/volsafety2002.pdf] which goes in depth to explain security mechanisms, protocol for reporting events, and data on events by geography. I will be leaving for the Dominican Republic in February of 2006, and consider my own safety and security to be of the utmost importance towards a successful experience. Aside from noting the obvious dangers of “wealthy” Americans traveling to developing nations with poorly established security records and infrastructure (and the inherent safety risk women face), the paper blips over:
“The mission of the Peace Corps is to foster world peace and friendship by helping other countries, by telling the world about Americans and by sharing the experience with other Americans. Most of the more than 350 volunteers interviewed by the Daily News, even assault victims, looked favorably on their service. Many felt it was the most significant experience in their lives, giving them a new understanding of the world and leaving them with a new appreciation for the opportunities in the United States.”
A useful concession that is all but missing in the remainder of the November 2003 special. A quick read through of the titles makes it more than obvious that the stories are hinged upon sensationalism and manipulating quotes from unsuspecting interviewees. The information could have easily been synthesized into a full length article. Journalistic style aside, the story is quite useful to alert unsuspecting volunteers of the real dangers that Americans abroad face everyday.
January 15th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
I don’t mean any judgment behind this - I definitely didn’t read the whole thing - but I’m curious about when the article was written? I did see the page with the breakdown of PCVs per country and noticed that it had statistics for countries whose programs were suspended, and the numbers for the program I was last in were way off.
April 17th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Hi there,
I am currently in the process of applying to the Peace Corps. I am very excited about the possibility of serving, however, have some safety concerns. If you have the time, I would greatly appreciate any insights you provide into the issue. Do you feel safe where you serve? Do you have a support network from the program, local community members and/or other volunteers in the area? Again, any advice or concerns shared would be greatly appreciated. Please take care and I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Robyn
rtakamin@willamette.edu
July 10th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
I’ve definitely been surprised by the Dayton paper’s report. But thinking about crime, I realized that in my program, I knew one friend who was mugged and had a rib broken, and was burglarized twice more. I had another friend whose house was invaded by an armed man while she was alone in bed, I knew three others who were burglarized, and one was attacked in the middle of the day. My program was a master’s degree–in the beach town of Wilmington, North Carolina. Where they, you know, filmed Dawson’s Creek.