Saturday, February 26, 2011

A Niger-shaped hole


Distance and time are strange things. Seeming to exist more in one's mind than in stark reality. We have been receiving periodic emails from Peace Corps Niger staff, updating all the volunteers about what is happening in country, and allowing us to send in our updates to be sent out to others. Yet the news is strangely absent of stories about even the 'higher up' Nigerien staff, such as Tondi, our training manager, or Souleyman, Ash's supervisor. Even more absent are the updates from our host families in Hamdallaye, or of our villagers in the rural reaches of the Sahel. I suppose its too much to hope for to hear of them again, to hear tidbits of their lives which are so meaningful. Even if we did get some morsel of news, its superficiality would never slake our hunger to hear Tondi's laugh again, or to sip the over-sweetened tea that our host dad, Isoufou would give us, or to hear Maimousa say "dommi!!??". 

Instead we're left chewing on the memories we have of them, the prayers we can offer up toward them, and the distant hope of one-day returning to see them. I'm realizing now how much Niger has left its mark on me. A mark so deep and so pervasive that I can't place my finger on it, let alone articulate it. Somehow our short experience of that vast country has altered the course of our lives. At some point between leaving Philadelphia and now, sitting at my computer back in Denver, there was a slight curve in the road of our lives; the new course imperceptible at first is now obvious as we wind our way towards the horizon of clarity. But that horizon itself, clarity itself, is perhaps a misnomer. In order for clarity to come, there has to be understanding of what would have been. And yet in life there is never a clear picture of what would have been, only an admittedly fuzzy image of what is. And so clarity will remain forever a horizon. Forever around the next curve in life. 

So here is to the people of Niger. To Zali with her beautiful laugh and the way she would say Ash's name; Mariama. I hope you are enjoying your very own chair. To Isoufou and his toothless smile and rough, calloused hands so strong and true. To Tondi, with the most life-giving laugh and the kindest heart, may you reach your goals and attain your dreams. To Isa in Fadama with his no-nonsense helping hand, hopefully Charlie isn't bothering you too much and I'm sorry we didn't come back. To Garba, thank you for always greeting us with a smile, for the ride on your ox-cart, and we're sorry we didn't recognize you after you shaved your head, hopefully we'll have a chance to recognize you again. To the women street vendors with their full-face smiles and light-hearted but helping conversations. 

Allah kiyaye. Allah shi bada lahiya. 

Friday, February 18, 2011

The next placement...

We're on the cusp. At the edge. Once again the next 2 and a half years stretch out before us, with two very different paths to choose from. Our journey through this decision has been revealing on so many levels that I feel like it needs to be shared. We've had to re-examine everything in our lives over the course of the last few months - from our material possessions to our commitment to overseas service to why we want to serve with the Peace Corps specifically.


Our new placement options arrived from Peace Corps (PC) with a heavy dose of frustration and disappointment, dripping with the rigidity and bureaucracy we had been assured weeks earlier in Morocco would not be present this time around. The option (singular) at first was 'Eastern Europe' leaving in 'early June', offering both Ash and I jobs which were not unappealing. After pressing for the promised options (plural), we were told the it was Eastern Europe in June, Southeast Asia in July, or 'Africa' in mid-September. Each with different jobs in different focus areas. We were also given a 48 hour window in which to make a decision which would affect the coming 27 months.


And so began the brain wracking, the internet searching (blogs, PC site, wiki sites, etc), the heart searching, and the weighing of pros and cons. We pretty quickly nixed Africa, mainly due to the fact we would have to wait so long, and that the jobs there were ones neither of us were excited about. Down to Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe (could there be two more different places to choose from?). We deduced that the Eastern Europe country was probably Moldova, and the Asian country; Cambodia (thanks to PC Wiki site!). 


In Moldova we were both excited about our 'jobs' - PC's very vague description of the kind of work you could sort of expect to be doing: Ash would be a Health Education for Schools and Communities Specialist; and I would be a Community and Organizational Development Advisor. The jobs were a huge pro, the place, neither of us were ecstatic about. 


Cambodia held less appealing jobs, however we were definitely interested in the region more. Other factors to consider included the fact that Cambodia is far lower on the Human Development Index, which to us, spoke to the kind of lifestyle and work culture we could expect there (which would probably be closer to Niger than Moldova); Eastern Europe as a whole faces far different challenges than a place like Cambodia; the climates of the two countries couldn't be more different. 


After exhaustively talking through and mulling over these and countless other thoughts, feelings, and inclinations, we were both at an impasse. We both were equally pretty excited about both opportunities, but couldn't bring ourselves to resort to a coin toss to determine the next two years of our lives, which left us frustrated and seeing no real way to garner more information that would give us a strong leading one way or the other. 


So Moldova it is. We made the decision I think based on reasons that we can't fully articulate. But confirmation that it was the decision we were supposed to make came ten minutes after Ash had emailed our Placement Officer in the form of a phone call from him. He said that a new 'job' had just opened for me (everything else, including Ash's job would stay the same) if I wanted it: the opportunity to work in agricultural and small business development. I was blown away and instantly knew that this was exactly what we were supposed to be doing. 


Now, a few hours after the final decision, I'm reflecting on the whole thing and realizing just how much we've learned over the last few days. I feel so blessed to be able to go through this process, this life-planning, huge-decision-making process, with my best friend and soulmate. To be able to come through it, not easily, but better off, excited, and together, is wonderful beyond words. Everything about our new assignment (details will be coming next week) is 100% different than everything we had imagined we would be doing in PC. And yet, we're excited, humbled, and moving forward with the knowledge that it will be exactly what we make it to be. 


Thank you wifey. Thank you family and friends for your perspectives, your thoughts, your prayers, and your support. And cheers to the next chapter!!


Moldova, here we come!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

An overdue story of an evacuation...


***  parts of this have been written at various points over the last 2 1/2 weeks... ***

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And so it goes... We are currently on our way to Morocco.  No, not for vacation, but rather for a 'transition conference' no one saw coming. 
We received "the call" (as I have now dubbed it) on Wednesday, Jan 13th, mid-morning. Just around the time we were trying to decide whether or not we should make our way to the Mai gari's (mayor's) house to talk to him about the fact that no one had turned up to finish building the walls of our latrine as promised. 

I sat next to jos as he answered his phone thinking it might be his family calling or another volunteer.. Soon enough I heard him say something along the lines of 'yes, my wife, Ashley, and I are in ******.' and I realized it obviously couldn't have been anyone we knew. Then came the long silences on Jos' end of the conversation with intermittent 'what??!'(s) and looks of complete bewilderment. Not knowing what to say, Jos handed me the phone... Then I heard it, "Peace Corps Niger has decided to evacuate all volunteers ... " 

Peace Corps Niger began in 1962, just one year after the founding of Peace Corps, and had been close to celebrating a full 50 years of uninterrupted service in one of the poorest countries on Earth.  I don’t know about you, but that’s not the kind of irony in life I look for.  

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That was a week ago, the last 7 days have passed by in an unforeseen blur beginning with our attempts to explain to our village, in Hausa, we had to leave and didn't know if or when we would be returning. How exactly do you explain (in Hausa) that you probably won’t be returning, not because you don’t want to, not because you don’t feel safe there, but because an extremist group 4 hours away, in the nation’s capitol, made some horrible decisions that we now, all, have to pay for?  Next came the mind-numbing (thankfully) task of  repacking all of our things that we had literally just started unpacking just a few days prior.  This also meant trying to find a new home for our kitten, Charlie, the 20+ trees we had just planted in a small plastic bags, and the slew of random things we had just purchased from the market to make our house a home.  Thankfully, one of the villagers we had given several household items to saw both Charlie and the planted trees and without hesitation said, “I will take care of them for you until you return”. 

The next morning, Seyni, the Program Assistant/Driver for Dosso region and go-to guy for getting things done, arrived at our house around 7:30 having begun his day at 5:00am.  Within minutes of his arrival, after prayers of safe travels and return from some of the villagers, we were on the road and headed to the next village.  Seyni has worked for Peace Corps Niger for 25 years…  

Soon enough all of Team Dosso found themselves in Niamey closing out our bank accounts and exchanging our CFA for $. How surreal...  We spent the rest of the evening at the Niamey hostel getting ready for our departure to Morocco.  The hostel looked like a tornado had ripped apart bags and left the belongings in its wake.  There were bags, suitcases, tables full of food, piles of unwanted clothes everywhere… and approximately 40 volunteers looking slightly bewildered, but willing to make the best of any situation – possibly because that’s all we could do.  We spent the evening cooking, laughing, packing, and repacking before our 4am departure to the airport.

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Morocco - what bitter-sweetness... To be able to visit a place so beautiful and culturally rewarding, but to have so many unknowns looming overhead and to have left our hearts in Africa, in the many villages of Niger. What do we do with that?

It is now a couple of weeks after the evacuation, and Jos and I have found ourselves back in the mountains of Colorado wondering if the last 4 months really happened.  They must have - we have incredible, vivid memories of amazingly welcoming people, of highs and lows that could only have come as a result of pouring ourselves into an entirely different culture.  A culture that captured our hearts and had us looking forward to the next two years of life in service to its people.
  
Now, we wait, we wait again to find out what’s next - where and when?  Some of the 98 volunteers evacuated out of Niger were able to get “direct transfers” into other countries, some were given an “expedited return to service” in which they were able to find out both where and when (within the next 2 months) they would return to service, and some were given the option to re-enroll.  Jos and I fell into the latter category, being a couple makes it twice as difficult to be placed somewhere…  we mailed in our re-enrollment packets the day after returning from Morocco and now all we can do is have patience and wait for the phone to ring.

Thank you Peace Corps Niger for an amazing 3 and a half months.  Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to us and for giving us something more to live for beyond our selves.  
And thank you to the CHARM stage for making it a memorable PST ... blessings to you all where ever you are and know that you will, all, always be in our thoughts and prayers.
     

A different perspective on the Peace Corps


As Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, my wife and I's ears perked up when we heard that ABC's 20/20 was running a story entitled "Scandal Inside the Peace Corps". Actually, the first we heard of it was in Morocco, after just having been evacuated from Niger (see below), from family members who had watched it and were now concerned for our safety. So, now that we are home safe and sound, I wanted to look into the story a little more, the ensuing sensationalism, and perhaps offer our perspective on the issue.

For those of you who haven't seen the 20/20 episode, it is indeed dramatic and tells some very sad stories while painting a very one-sided picture of Peace Corps (PC) and its commitment to volunteer safety around the world. As PC's Director Aaron Williams conveys in his response (linked here), my issue is absolutely not with the validity of the stories told by the rape and sexual assault victims on 20/20. My issue - and the issue I hope strikes some chords of truth with you as well - is how the 'journalism' of 20/20 is indicative and in no way abnormal from, the tendency of mainstream media to tell one side of any given story while doing so with sensationalist, extreme, and polarizing rhetoric. This tendency is real, and many times results in equally sensationalist, extreme, polarizing, and often unneeded public responses based not on rational or evidence-based thinking, but instead on fear. 

Using the 20/20 episode as a mini case-study, I hope this blog will help put not only the PC's safety record in perspective, but also lend another voice to the many calling for a return to meaningful, reasoned, journalism.

The episode opens with a preview of the stories to come, including the tragic murder of a PC Volunteer (PCV) in Benin in 2008, and the stories of six female PCVs who had been raped or sexually assaulted during their service. As if these events in themselves aren't alarming enough, the episode opens with the question of "was the PC involved in covering up" these incidents? Whether or not this question is warranted, it sets the tone for the entire episode as one of distrust in the PC. On and on the statistics roll, all centered on the PC with no context given to help the viewer come to his/her own conclusions about the severity or not of the PC's approach to safety and security. Statistics such as the Benin murder was the "23rd since PC's founding", and, "over 1,000 female PCVs have been raped or sexually assaulted in the last decade". The way in which these and other stats on the PC were presented made it sound as if 20/20 should receive an award for investigative journalism, when in all reality, the PC publishes an annual report on Volunteer Safety and Security (2008 and 2009 linked here) for anyone who wishes to read it. Yet 20/20 doesn't mention this fact, nor do they provide answers to any other questions which might help the viewer make a reasoned, educated, assessment of PC's record and current efforts towards volunteer safety and security. 

These questions hit me immediately, as I hope they would to any person who thinks critically about what is presented in the media: How many volunteers have served in the last decade? What therefore is the rate of rape or sexual assault victims? Is that rate higher or lower than the rate for the US? Or the rate for major US cities? The PC Deputy Director mentioned there are plenty of women who speak highly of how PC supported them as victims, why weren't any of them interviewed? Nowhere in the episode was there context given for what PC's mission is (linked here), and how the fulfillment of that mission necessarily sends volunteers to unstable and developing countries.

Instead of a truly two-sided news story (one which, I do think would be worth telling) which does its best to present an un-biased set of facts to let the viewer draw his/her own conclusions, the episode was chalk full of cinematic effects and rhetoric designed to tell the viewer that 20/20's views are fact and truth and that the PC is out to intentionally hurt its volunteers. And sadly, it seems this approach worked, and not only with the average citizen, but also in our highest levels of elected officials. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) decided, evidently solely based on the 20/20 episode, to call for a congressional investigation into the PC. In this daily address on the floor of the House, Poe, without apparently fact-checking or investigating on his own any further, cited the 20/20 episode as reason enough to mobilize a congressional investigation. 

While I don't disagree that PC needs to be held accountable to volunteer safety and security, why can't we have a reasoned, fact-based, conversation or discussion about it, instead of using such polarizing and extreme rhetoric which only furthers distrust and strengthens the divides between people? Perhaps such a conversation on the House floor would have acknowledged that the Office of the Inspector General has as its full-time job keeping the PC accountable to claims of fraud, mismanagement, and internal negligence (their recent assessment of PCV's Safety and Security is linked here). Or perhaps Congress would invite PC Director in to show concretely, what PC has been doing over the past few years to improve its Safety and Security training and to explain why, in fact, the numbers of rape and sexual assault have actually be declining drastically in recent years.

Let me be clear, I absolutely believe our media should highlight stories of those who feel they have not been heard or who are being oppressed. I absolutely believe that PC should be held accountable for its past and present actions or inactions. However, I also absolutely believe that the divisive and one-sided rhetoric used in the majority of media today is leading us further from peace, further from unity, further from the truth, and further from true freedom of speech. As PCVs, my wife and I also absolutely believe in the approach PC is using to the safety and security of its volunteers and the steps it takes to minimize the risks volunteers face everyday (as do all of us living anywhere in the world).

In the spirit of getting the full story and helping each of us draw our own, educated, conclusions, here are some more resources which help frame this important issue.


"Reconsidering the Peace Corps" - A Brookings Institute Brief which is a perfect example of quality journalism which provides a solid foundation of information. Its slightly old (2003), but every single point it brings up is just as relevant today as it was then.

US Uniform Crime Report - a national compilation of crime statistics in the US.
Inspector General report of PC - a recent overall assessment of the PC by the Office of the Inspector General