When I say Peace Corps What Do You See?

When someone tells you they are going into the Peace Corps what do you imagine? Do you see that person living in a mud hut? Playing with children? Working in a field? I know when I applied to the Peace Corps I had a certain image in my head about what that meant. I pictured myself going out into communities of developing countries and saving the children. A lot of my images changed when I found out I was coming to the Caribbean. The image of living in a hut had vanished; the image of walking a mile to pick up my mail disappeared. All the stories I had heard from past volunteers didn’t apply here. The eastern Caribbean is far more developed then other countries. This does not mean they do not need our help or that there aren’t  children to “save”, it just means I might do the saving while living in an apartment with running water and internet access. However yesterday I experienced the true Peace Corps image. Which, up until now, I wasn’t sure I was going to.

                There have been some issues regarding my work sites so I have taken the steps to possibly change them. Yesterday we were schedule a “networking” day. This was perfect because it allowed me to spend a day at my new possible work site, The National Training Agency. The NTA is working to train unemployed youth in both life and technical skills in order to make them a more competitive candidate in their given field. There are a variety of different sectors that the NTA provide training for and when they finish their training they receive a level 1 certificate, which is suitable for an entry level job. They can reach up to level 5 which would be the equivalent to a bachelor’s degree.

Cosmotology Training Site

      I spent my day shadowing a woman named Kay. We had met hiking with the “institute hikers” group so we were already familiar with each other. She had an extensive itinerary planned so I could get a general idea of all the things that happen in the office. The morning was dedicated to getting to know the office and visiting different training sites. First we stopped at the Cosmetology training site. We walked into this small classroom where a group of women were sitting around a woman receiving a pedicure.  Off to the side I saw a collection of products used for beautification: Hair spray, foot cream, scrubs, etc. I was given the opportunity to introduce myself and ask them questions. The next site we went to was for computer skills. This group was significantly bigger and was sitting in rows. When we got there the trainers were reading aloud the students’ scores that they had received on their interview ability.    First I thought it was strange that they were reading the scores aloud. I can only imagine the anxiety it would have caused if my professors has read my paper grades in front of the class room along with their comments on what I needed to improve on.

Computer Skills Training Site

As the trainer read the scores aloud I noticed that all of their scores were based on appearance:

“Hair,10; Makeup,7; Color coordination,9;Posture;8” Not till the very end would they mention their actual interview.

“They thought you were pleasant. A little too shy, but that you would make a good candidate.” I realize that first appearances are very important, however there is so much more to an interview besides the color coordination of your outfit. On top of that the feedback on their interview was extremely limited and vague. Most of the comments were very similar to each other and overall not very helpful. I would be interested to go back and see what the training sessions are like when they are actually training.

On the itinerary, the afternoon was blocked out for “recruiting” however I did not know what that would entail. We took the company car, a man named Dax drove us. They said we were heading for the country, which is about 7 miles away but an hours drive. As we approached our destination we began to turn up a street and stopped at the corner where an old man was sitting.

“Are there youth up this road? Unemployed youth?” Kay said

“Yes continue down this road and you’ll see people,” Replied the man.

Signing my First Trainy up for the Garment Production
training course

As we continued up the road we began seeing people outside and on their porch. We parked the car and Kay handed me a clip board which had several applications on it, along with brochures. Kay began walking towards the people and calling out  to them,

                “Hi  we are with the National Training Agency and we are looking for unemployed youth in the St. Andrew’s area who are interested in getting technical training in Cosmetology or Garment Production. People began gathering around as she explained. All the girls were between 17-23 years old and more than half of them carried a baby on their hip. As the woman filled out their applications I was handed their babies. I helped answer questions as best I could, but mostly I directed them to Kay. The girls asked questions about the other training opportunities, but Kay explained that these were the only trainings offered in St. Andrews at the moment and the other ones they would have to travel to St. Georges for. This is a problem because they are only given a daily stipend of $15 for transportation. It has also posed a problem for the mothers because they are unable to find child care for long periods of time. I observed these girls and listened to their stories. They were all in ratty clothing, several had not graduated high school, and most said they had never worked before. After all the girls signed up we got back in the car and went to the next village over and did the same thing. We did this all afternoon until we finally ended at a school. I girl living in Trivoli had contacted Kay inquiring about the program. Kay offered to come out and talk to her and asked her to bring anyone else who was interested. We were expecting a maximum of 10 girls but when we walked into the classroom it was closer to 25. Kay was overjoyed with the turn out. We explained the program and began handing out applications. With only two pens everyone had to wait. Once again I was handed babies to hold as each mother looked over her application. Have you ever the show Dog Whisperer? Because I’m telling you, I’m the Baby Whisperer.

Baby number 1

Baby Number 2

Baby Number 3

By the time all of this was done it was nearly 7 oclock and we had an hour and a half drive to get home. It had been a 12 hour work day, but it didn’t feel like work at all. I got to talk to so many people, and see what life is really like here. Children playing in the streets, flying kites, men gathering outside their rum shops, woman baking in there homes. It was everything one would imagine when you hear Peace Corps.