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What's up r/peacecorps!

I am a PCV currently serving in Fiji 🇫🇯. I have a little less than a year left in my service. Many people in my village have asked me for American flags and I was wondering if there was an organization that donates American flags to volunteers.

Thanks!

Basically the title. Please provide constructive criticisms and keep in mind that I’ve never written an application essay like this before. The essay is as follows:

I’d like to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer because I want to contribute to making a lasting, meaningful impact on the world. I’ve been struggling for quite awhile now in looking for a job post-graduation, and the biggest reason for that is most jobs I see available are those in which the only reward is a paycheck. I don’t want to just work a 9-5 as a cog in the wheel; rather, I want to feel like what I’m doing matters, and working as a Peace Corps volunteer to uplift the lives of everyone I’m serving would provide a sense of fulfillment and purpose which would be lacking in most other opportunities available to me. I’ve considered getting into teaching high school social studies for some time now because that would also provide me with a sense of fulfillment in teaching kids how to better engage with information and help them to succeed both in the classroom and beyond. The specific position I selected to apply to (teaching English to people in Ecuador) wouldn’t be quite the same as that, but it would allow me to help them broaden their horizons and chances for success through speaking a second language that is widely used throughout the world. I also would like to expand my own horizons by learning about other cultures and meeting new people so as to better myself as a person, and working for the Peace Corps would be a great way to do that. Regarding overcoming the various challenges I would face as a Peace Corps volunteer (of which I’m sure that there are many), I feel equipped to deal with many of them. The most obvious challenge to me is that I will be living in a culture largely different from my own with people that I don’t know, and as such, I can imagine experiencing culture shock. To deal with that, I will attempt to view the opportunity as a learning experience in which I can learn more about the people that I’m living with as well as share my own experiences with them in a symbiotic way. I will also attempt to engage in plenty of activities with the local people. For example, I grew up playing soccer from 6th grade to 12th grade and played for a couple of seasons in an intramural league at my university, and since the Peace Corps website states that the people of Ecuador enjoy soccer, I can try to bond with them over a shared love of soccer. In essence, I will look to bond over the things which makes us similar while trying to appreciate those things that make us different. Another challenge that comes to mind is adapting to a new climate which is very different from where I live. To deal with this, I will pack a variety of clothing to be prepared for a number of weather conditions and use the tools and information provided by the Peace Corps to ensure my health and safety. This also extends to things beyond the weather, such as disease, injury, crime, etc. As far as intellectual challenges go (perhaps pertaining to teaching English, preparing lessons, etc.), I feel confident in my ability to cater to the needs of those I’m working with, as I have experience tutoring children in math as well as a philosophy degree which has bettered my critical thinking skills and ability to engage with many ideas.

Anyone else still waiting for legal clearances with a June departure? I’ve got an email saying if I don’t clear by 3:00pm 5 business days before staging I’ll be reassigned, but I’ve heard of people getting legal clearance a day or two before. I’m slated to leave June 9, so we’re under 3 weeks now. I also have an entirely clean record.

Anyone had any experience with this? I’m not making any life changes as often repeated here. I’m slated to work at my seasonal for the remainder of the summer if this doesn’t work out, but just curious if there are others who are in similar situations with getting legal clearances last minute.

Hi, I’m 21 years old and have yet to start college (should be applying to community in the next few months), I don’t have any real experience with volunteering, mostly because life at home has kept me very busy. I’ve been taking care of my mom and working odd minimum wage jobs for the last few years, and am very aware of the rut I’m in, and while joining the military was originally the plan to kickstart my life, I’ve since realized I am furthest thing from a military man. My ambition has always been to help people, that’s kinda a prerequisite for this organization but it’s truly always felt like my calling. I’m hoping to go into social work or some form of youth counceling after university, and while I doubt there’s a similar position in the peace corps I don’t really care what they have me do or where they want to send me. A smaller part of why I want to apply is to just get out of the States, partly why the military intrigued me was the idea you go in as one person, and you come out a changed man, prepared for life and with a new perspective on it, i know I’m rambling I just wanted to give some context.

^ you don’t need to read any of that really, I just like to write

Now since actually looking into the peace corps I’ve kinda got the feeling I’m underqualified to even dream about it, I was not a very good student in HS, I have no experience helping others beyond my mom and her health issues, and I don’t even have 1 credit towards a college degree. I started my application online and got stuck at the resume, as I have nothing to put on it besides some grocery store jobs and summer camp counceling. Idk I might be getting ahead of myself, but I really want to do something, in some way help people, if I’m underqualified for the peace corps can someone maybe give some alternatives? Or just tips on what they’re looking for? Again I don’t care where I go or what I do, I just want to be useful. I did win some awards in HS for english and writing though, even though I’m sure this is a grammatical nightmare (I’m really just throwing my concerns down as I think of them), if that helps in anyway.

I just realized the title doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I just mean am I wasting their time with my application?

Please use this thread as a catch-all for questions about:

• Considering Peace Corps / Is PC right for me?
• General application process
• Medical/legal clearance
• Denial/appeals
• Application timelines

While some questions may be unique or complex and may merit their own posts, many application questions are repetitive and can be answered by searching the sub, checking out the Wiki/FAQ, or reading peacecorps.gov.

I received an invitation to serve as a Response volunteer in Ecuador leaving in September. Curious to see who else might be going as part of this group? From all the stories posted about medical clearance, I hope I can get everything done in time. As an older volunteer (56) I worry about additional tasks. This has been a dream for so long. I’m just grateful I’ve made it this far in the process.

I know Response is set up differently than the 2+ year program. How connected are Response volunteers? Does everyone go off and do their specific assignment independently? At least with Response it’s fairly clear what they want me to do in country…I think. :-)

So many questions, but trying to focus on medical clearance first!

So I’m sitting here today, 3 months out from departure and randomly remembered that about 7 years ago I had a car accident and was giving a reckless driving charge (I think). I literally can’t even remember if that was the actual case or not but I know for sure if it was I had it removed from my record because it’s not currently there. I didn’t report this to PC and since I just thought of it, is this something I need to inform legal about right now? Not sure if I need to tell them a head ups, can’t remember but I may or may not have had reckless driving 7 years ago.

Hi everyone! I have less than two weeks left before staging and then departure. As many of you have served or are in the process I’m sure you relate to having been preparing for months and researching your host country daily. I’ve been so excited about the prospect of serving for so long… and suddenly with days to spare the sadness and fear just hit me like a truck.

I’d definitely appreciate any advice or words of wisdom! My mom and my sister are my best friends and seeing how hard this is on them is truly devastating, despite that they’re so supportive of my decision to serve. I’m graduating in a couple of days and moving across the world so soon after makes all of the goodbyes with my friends so much sadder. Don’t get me wrong, I know PC is an incredible opportunity and I really think it’s the right move, but it’s like now that it’s so close, all of a sudden I am understanding the loss of two years away from my loved ones. I know that I’ll likely gain more than I’m giving up, but it sure as hell feels like I’m giving up a whole lot.

Does anyone have any good recommendations of any projectors? Preferably ones that can run at least 2-3 hours on battery power. My school has no electricity in classrooms and being able to use a projector with multiple classrooms would be a game changer.

So I may have shot myself in the foot. I knew PC was iffy about mental health stuff, so before I even applied I decided to only share what I *thought* I knew there was documentation of, which is a past history of anxiety, depression, and adhd.

Now I already received and submitted a task about potential non-disclosure, because I apparently answered 'no' at some point to ever having been treated for those three things (except I reported I took medication for them on my mental health history form, and there's no documentation for those questions I answered 'no' to.) I said I had not sought treatment in the past 5 years.

Except that was not entirely true, I DID see a psychiatrist for a month two summers ago because I was wondering if my adhd symptoms were interfering with my work. I was prescribed wellbutrin, but after that we both determined it wasn't that and I never re-visited the issue. I honestly completely forgot about this and forgot I ever received medication. Now it really looks like I was trying to conceal something. I have to complete a personal statement related to ADHD which I'm planning on being upfront about, but I think I may have completely fucked myself. Any advice? If I explained the situation to the nurse do you think they would understand?

Any help is appreciated.

Is there time to relax, have hobbies, have friendships and relationships, etc? Did anyone find living with a host family to be difficult/stressful?

Well, I was accepted as a Community Services Volunteer in Timor-Leste after months of anticipation. I am so very excited and proud of this accomplishment since I’ve wanted to join since I was 16 - a decade ago.

But… my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia a while back and we are starting to see a decline. It’s unlikely she will make it for 2 years due to her activity levels and other health issues. I’m really struggling on deciding if I could live with myself if I wasn’t here for her.

Any advice?

Also, would me declining this reflect poorly when applying again in the future?

Any current or former Peace Corps DPTs & DMOs out there? What did you do when you timed out? Where are you now? Would you work for PC again?

Looking for feedback on your essay? Have a newbie question you'd like to ask? Something on your mind you'd like to get out? This is the place for it.

Application turned in!

Connected with two recruiters, one who volunteered in Moldova recently...both were very helpful in the application process. I highly recommend connecting with one to guide you through it.

Thank you to all here who gave me feedback on the two versions of my Motivation Statement! Much appreciated :)

Now, waiting for the interview...

I recently interviewed for a 12 month PCRV position in Togo. If it all works out, my goal after service is to become a federal employee, and I was hoping that Peace Corps could help with that. I did some looking around and learned about NCE (Non-competitive Eligibility) that is granted to returned volunteers.

However, per the rules on the Careers page, "PCRVs who serve satisfactorily and for a total of at least 24 consecutive months with Peace Corps Response aee eligible to be granted NCE."

I don't understand - the longest Response services are 1 year. Does this mean I'd need to do 2 posts back to back? Has there ever been any exemption to this rule?

I'm excited about the prospect of volunteering but I'd be nice to know that I can keep my career going once I'm back. Thanks in advance.

My country of service, has a rule that does not allow for construction to be funded by a grant. It has been an area of contention for me, because my school needs a building for a library. There is no room in the classrooms or the office for library books. The students desperately want to read books but we literally have none because there is nowhere to store them. Does anyone have any advice for how to talk to staff about considering a grant for construction of a library?

Share with us any photo from your country of service! Please note that pictures of minors are not permitted.

What did you guys do about forwarding your mail for longer than 12 months? I dont want to permanently change my address to where my mail is being forwarded to.

I’m trying to go to Komodo national park, does anyone know if this is a restricted zone for volunteers to go to?

This last week i have received clearance, both medical and legal, to serve in Mongolia which departs June 7, 2024. I was wondering if anyone on this page has served in Mongolia. I am looking on advice for packing. I read the recommended packing list on the PC website and i have a few questions. How much business causal clothes did you actually wear in service? Do Hawaiian shits count as business causal or be accepted? How much luggage did you bring? I was thinking of having one large suitcase a 60 and 40 liter backpack. Do you think that would be enough for summer and winter clothes?

Also, i am trying best to start learning the language with the online resources available from learning space. Does anyone else have any experience with learning mongolian and are there other online resources that i can look at to aid my language acquisition?

all help and suggestions welcome. Thanks!!!

should i stop smoking weed rn for this?

I have finally gotten over the hurdle that is medical and leaving for Moldova Jun 1st. Is there anything I really need to prepare for? To be honest my major concern is the security factor given the occupation but I'm trying to stay positive. Other than clothing is there anything else I should look out for. I had the opportunity to stay in Romania for awhile a couple years back. So I'm using my stay there as a frame of reference for my time in Moldova hahaha.

Kind of asking for everybody’s experience with packing up for 2 years.

How many suitcases did you bring/ how did you pack your bags? Did you overpack? If so, what? Did you underpack? If so, what? What do you wish you brought? What do you wish you didn’t bring?

Essentially I just want to hear all about the packing process!

Thanks a lot!

Can a current or recent PCV tell me what the travel restrictions are like in Mexico? I've heard they're pretty strict. I'm mostly interested in central Mexico.

Tentatively, I am beginning my service in July. However, I'm 7-8 months into the legal clearance process and still haven't heard anything from legal. They originally suggested this process would take just 2 to 4 months. I have already been medically cleared.

I will be graduating this weekend, and people in my network will inevitably ask what my next steps are. I have no reason to believe that I wouldn't receive a legal clearance other than the fact that it's taken this long. I'd love to be able to share my Peace Corps plans alongside my graduation news on social media whether that's on LinkedIn, Facebook, etcetera, but I certainly don't want to put the cart before the horse either.

From past experience, do these legal clearances come out based on departure date cycles? And, did you wait to publicly announce your service until you had both medical and legal clearances finalized? I don't expect any issues with my background check, but I also don't want to commit a Peace Corps faux pas.

I googled it and couldn’t find anything really that helpful. I know you can pretty much put anything on a resume if you want to and just see if your interviewer/job will call your bluff, but is there a standard for adding languages tested by our LPIs to resumes?

Like am I considered “fluent” if I score advanced or higher, or does it just come down to what I personally would call fluency? Like I said, I don’t know if there is any standard way to do this, but I am curious what other folks have done.

Need some help! I have a set budget for completing medical tasks. Once I complete them, I submit my bills/receipts to get reimbursed. Typically, this has a quick turn-around which makes it possible for me to submit my medical records in a timely fashion.

Recently, IMG (International Medical Group) which processes these claims is taking a really long time. They said 20 days and now they are saying 30-45 days.

This puts me and any other Peace Corps Invitee in a pickle. Like most, I don't have tons of money to pay for everything, so I work within a budget. I rely on a reasonable time-frame for reimbursements to complete any remaining/pending medical tasks. Once this time-frame becomes longer than the time-frame permitted to submit medical tasks, it jeopardizes my ability to get medically cleared and serve. It really a race against the clock, since these tasks need to be completed at least 45 days from my departure date.

I want to see what advice the community has? Anyone else deal with this before? What did you do? Should I reach out to my country desk officer or medical team nurse? (I already reached out to IMG and they said I have to be patient, which is difficult since I don't have the luxury of time).

I just wanted to see if there was a Facebook group or page for the incoming MAK 27 cohort. Would love to connect to other invitees.