Where to begin? This is always the hard part. I only sit down to write in my blog once a month and I have to man-handle myself to keep me seated in my chair long enough to produce something. And as those of you who have been following my blog this year can testify, that something is just about anything.
This is probably (almost certainly) the last blog I will write as a Peace Corps volunteer. Who knew when I joined Peace Corps in July of 2008 that it I’d still be serving in December of 2011, 3 ½ years later? Peace Corps has been good to me. My life in Kyrgyzstan was tough. Really, really tough. But I learned so much through my experience there that I otherwise may not have ever seen or understood. Now Peace Corps has brought me to another continent, this time in my hemisphere, to teach me more about the world and about humanity.
Everything has been different this second time around. Instead of freezing winters huddled around coal-fed stoves, the tropic sun warms my skin and bleaches my hair. Instead of visiting a public bathhouse (with all the women of my community) once every few weeks, I have a private bathroom and I shower daily. Instead of travelling 2 hours to a neighboring city to use the internet, I have wifi in my house. And instead of going months without access to fruit or vegetables, I buy the most delicious and exotic fruit from street venders and eat it wherever and whenever I like.
But there are some similarities. In both countries, divided by oceans, culture, climate, and religion, one similarity is that the education system is completely broken. Students who don’t study, still pass to the next year. The biggest lesson to be learned in school is that studying isn’t important, because no matter what everyone passes in the end. While no teenager in the world wants to study, it’s their parents’ responsibility to make sure that they do it. To make sure that they understand that one has responsibilities as well as rights. That success requires effort and determination. Without those lessons at home, the teacher’s work in the classroom multiplies 100 fold. And if that teacher doesn’t have disciplinary support from the school’s principal and vice principal, the task nearly impossible.
And just like in many places in the U.S., schools focus on preparing students for standardized tests and not for real life. The teach them to memorize facts and quickly find key information in a text, but don’t teach them to be critical of the source of those “facts” or to analyze the information contained in the text to be able to apply it to real life situations and decisions. Parents, family, friends, citizens, I appeal to you! Education is the foundation of a healthy, rational, flexible, and industrious society. An investment in education (quality based) is the best investment we can make.
Having stumbled into education, I continue in it as something I love and am passionate about. I still haven’t decided where I’ll be working or living next year, but somewhere here in Colombia (si Dios quiere). After two months of sending my resume to anyone and everyone, I received two job offers that are both very appealing for different reasons. Before I got any job offers, I was having to serious think about a border-jump to get a new visa. I was considering crossing the border into Venezuela, Panama or Ecuador so that upon re-entry I would be given a tourist visa that would give me more time to find work. Thank God it now looks like that won’t be necessary.
I have been very blessed to be able to live like I do. I hope I never take it for granted.
Goodbye Peace Corps.
