Peace Corps

lever5 · Dec 2, 2002

Cargal, I guess peace corps people do not want to talk to us, or they do not have computers whereever they are. I was looking for some responses on this, it would have made interesting reading.

rebelwaclause, ASN, RN · Dec 2, 2002

Ooooo...Always threatened to do it - But never have. I'd LOVE to hear the stories!

Hidi74 · Dec 2, 2002

My brother and his new wife are wanting to do it. I went on the web site not to long ago and it is pretty cool. There are many stories and people who share all of thier experiences. I will try and find the address!

sjoe · Dec 2, 2002

I looked into the PC years ago, but the application process was stunningly complex and lengthy, requiring very detailed personal and professional references and information, etc. Worse than applying at any university.

Irishcreme · Dec 2, 2002

http://peacecorps.gov

If you go to yahoo groups I'm sure you'll find a few there.

Jenny P · Dec 2, 2002

DH and I once applied to join when we first married; only problem was they wanted me in South America and him in Africa because that's where they needed our specialties at the time. Needless to say, that was not what we wanted to do after just getting married; so we didn't join.

cargal · Dec 2, 2002

I would think the PC has a difficult time getting volunteers. There is a 2 year obligation. I would still be interested in hearing from any nurses who have done this in the past!

Are there any nursees who have done volunteer trips with their churches to Haiti or Romania, etc?

emily_mom · Dec 2, 2002

My friend is a nurse and did this in Africa. Something happened while she was over there, and she came home early. She is not the same person she used to be. From being fiercely independent, she is now living with her parents. She won't talk about it, though. She looks haunted and is definitely not the same fun-loving, vivacious person she was. She never goes out and spends all of her time with her parents. Hasn't been on a date since she got home (over 2 years ago). There is lots of speculation, but no one seems to know what happened. Kinda freaky...

Kristy

cargal · Dec 2, 2002

Oh Kristy,

That is so awful. Thank you for sharing. The world is such a tumultuous place and I would be afraid to go to Africa.

I would think the PC would have a really hard time recruiting volunteers in this day and age.

RN2B2005 · Dec 2, 2002

My sister-in-law returned in September from a two-year stint in Bulgaria. The application process is rigorous for a reason--about half of Sonja's 'classmates' dropped out of the program and went home before finishing their commitment. Since the PC spends quite a lot of money and time preparing the volunteer (language classes, tickets, etc.), it makes sense to weed out anyone who is not 100% committed.

She's not a nurse--she did environmental and wastewater treatment planning--but if anyone wants to talk with her, PM me and I will get her in touch. I also work with a radiologist who volunteered with the PC in West Africa in the late 1980's. Sonja encountered graft and corruption in Bulgaria, but generally felt safe; Tom said he wouldn't recommend female volunteers go to certain countries, and is fairly ambivalent about the whole experience of being a PC volunteer. If anyone wants to ask about that, please PM me.

Enright · Dec 2, 2002

2 of my best friends in college (the 70's) went into the Peace Corps. The application process at the time was extremely lengthy and took at least a year to get accepted. Both of them were sent home shy of the 2 year mark...from what I understand there were problems at the time with getting the right person to the right place...one spent time at a resort for 6 months waiting for placement and never actually got to an assignment. The other smoked dope for a year and a half in Africa, then had his assignment terminated...they didn't bother trying another placement.

When I went to nursing school 10 years later, many of my classmates were just getting out of the Peace Corps. They were all very positive about it. It seemed to me that by the 80's a lot of the problems I'd heard about earlier had been ironed out. All of my nursing friends had gone in at mid 20's rather than just out of college and that might have made a difference.