Why the Peace Corps?

I’ve spent the past three years of my life getting paid nothing to do one of the best jobs in the world—education development work in Ghana, West Africa. In many ways, Ghana saved me. Developing curricula, traveling, and building strong relationships with the Ghanaians I worked with gave me a sense of satisfaction and a challenge that I desperately needed. I love teaching, and I’m confident that I will always be a teacher in one way or another. I just needed a new, creative outlet in which to teach. I had also had a life-long dream to go to Africa. Along came World Joy, and everything fell into place.

With my amazing friend, colleague &
photographer, Heather Leeflang

 

     

International development work is hard. Really hard. Crying buckets of tears and feeling like giving up hard. But I L-O-V-E it! There’s something about this work that brings out the true essence of me. I feel more alive and more like myself. My first few trips over, I would cry on the plane ride home because I knew that some important part of me didn’t know how to BE anywhere else. I would put it in the closet and anxiously await the next time I could take it out and feel complete again. I’ve since figured some things out and I’m out of the closet (so to speak), but I know that this work is good for me, and, I think, I’m good for it.

One of my Ghanaian training teams

As far as the Peace Corps itself, I guess it started with a dream. A literal dream. I’ll keep the specifics to myself, but suffice it to say that Peace Corps gave my heart a little tug. Soon afterward, my life changed in a way that allowed me the opportunity to apply. When I got my invitation to serve in Uganda, I was sooooooo excited! It felt right. 

 The biggest hurdle came when I spoke to World Joy about my decision to join the Peace Corps (and therefore leave them). They offered me the amazing chance to live in Ghana for two years and do development work with them. It seemed perfect and perfectly logical. But, for reasons I do not completely understand, it didn’t feel quite right. It was extremely difficult, but I decided to stick with my original decision to join the Peace Corps.

 Now I’m on the verge of leaving (less than two weeks!) and I have days that I feel confident in my decision and very peaceful, and days when I wonder what in the world I was thinking. I cry about leaving the people I love. I feel homesick for Ghana. I miss the classroom. I guess I’ll just keep putting one foot in front of the other, holding on to that dream with a Gollum grip.