Would you do it?

          On April 10^th our English 353 class was visited by Travis Axton who is a Peace Corps Representative for the West Coast. He served in Zamba from 2002-2004 and was a Health Educator/Volunteer. Throughout the class Travis told us about his work as a facilitator and how his 27 month commitment changed his life. He was also there to answer any questions that we had about the Peace Corps and Volunteering.

            Travis started out by telling us the facts of the Peace Corps. It’s a cultural exchange program where the countries request service. The 27 month commitment has about 8,000 volunteers in 74 countries, 40% end up serving in Africa because of the need there. There are a variety of things that volunteers do and depending on their past experiences, depend on the job they will have. These jobs can range from teaching English, promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, to launching a computer center. According to the website “Volunteers bring their skills and life experiences to where they are needed most”.  There are also many benefits that go along with joining. Some of which are full medical/dental coverage, a housing allowance, tickets to and from the country, monthly living allowance that is that of your villages average, an average of 48 days of vacation throughout your 2 year service and a $6,000 re-adjustment allowance when returning.

            Besides the facts about the Peace Corps Travis told us that one of the most important things is bringing what you’ve learned back home. He said that this experience changed his life and he recommends it to everyone. After listening to Travis I took some time to look at the Peace Corps website: http://www.peacecorps.gov/. This website was very informative and a lot of the information was very familiar because Travis had done an excellent job of describing the Peace Corps and his experience. On the website one part that I found very interesting was where you could read about people’s experience after serving. They ranged from a day in the life to what they got out of the whole experience. These volunteer stories were very interesting and informative. One of my favorites was by Kimberly Ross who was in Guinea from 1999-2002. Her story was titled “A Typical Day”, http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/stories/stories.cfm?psid=23&gid=3. I really liked the simplicity of her story. Perhaps it was her simplistic life style in Guinea or they way she wrote, but it was very interesting to see her experience. Overall, the website was very informative and I could navigate it easily.

            Before this event I had heard of the Peace Corps but did not really know that much about it. After this informational and informative experience I have to say that at some point I would consider applying to the Peace Corps. It would be an incredible, life changing experience… who knows maybe that’s what I’ll do after graduation.