I'm absolutely certain that this answer is going to vary country-by-country (and even within countries), but I can offer some perspective on how things were in Namibia, where I served from 2009-2012. During my first two years (09-11) I taught at a rural elementary school and was the only PCV at my site (nearest Volunteer to me was about 110km/2 hours away). When I extended (2012), I lived in my regional center and had two sitemates plus another PCV in a satellite town about 35 minutes away
( ... )
Thank you! That is very helpful. I am trying to figure out how I will deal with the possibility of isolation when I go, and I want to make sure I am prepared.
I guess I am just worried that living in an area with few PCV means that I will be very isolated from people in general (not necessarily other volunteers). Sorry to ask another question, but did you find it this way? Even though there weren't other PCV nearby, you still interacted with other people (locals about your age) and did not find it lonely?
It could definitely be lonely, don't get me wrong. Being in the village environment really forced me to form different types of relationships than I did in the U.S. The people I spent the most time with were my neighbor kids (ages 5, 10 and 11), a few teachers who were somewhat close to my age (I was in my mid-20s, they were all in their mid-to-late 30s, most were married and all had multiple children), and my host family (which consisted of my host brother, 14, host father, 47, and grandmother, 75). The reason I had no friends my own age is because the people my age who were in the village were there because they had nowhere else to go, limited education, no jobs, and probable alcohol abuse issues. (Or if they were women, they faced some or all of these issues with a handful of kids in tow.) I don't mean to suggest that they were/are inherently bad people, but for the most part the village 20-somethings weren't they types of people who I wished to count among my close friends. I wish that hadn't been the case, but it was
( ... )
While I was close to other volunteers, there were certainly volunteers where I served (Benin) who were quite far from everyone. The downside is that it can be isolating. The upside is that you really get to become more part of your community. Also, there is the assumption here that you aren't going to feel isolated with the other volunteers. I am mainly a tech geek and don't drink. I felt isolated around volunteers too. There was one volunteer in my country who served quite far away from other volunteers. She was invited to weddings and all kinds of other cultural events. When she traveled, people from her village would send her to meet their relatives, sometimes these were women in purdah, so they were people who no volunteer would have gotten to meet without some contact person. Being isolated at your post (and for that matter all of the Peace Corps) is what you make of it. I can almost guarantee that you will feel isolated and lonely at some point, even if you have another volunteer next door. In addition to coming up
( ... )
Comments 7
Reply
I guess I am just worried that living in an area with few PCV means that I will be very isolated from people in general (not necessarily other volunteers). Sorry to ask another question, but did you find it this way? Even though there weren't other PCV nearby, you still interacted with other people (locals about your age) and did not find it lonely?
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdk-wc4Rk6w
33 minutes long.
Reply
Leave a comment