Volunteers wrangle with culture at Illinois State University
Read and comment on this story from the Pantagraph on Sierra Leone RPCV Mike Kelleher who works with volunteers as director of Illinois State University's Stevenson Center for Community & Economic Development. He said every volunteer has to get a job done in an unfamiliar world. Read the story at:
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Volunteers wrangle with culture
Oct 6, 2002 - Pantagraph
Author(s): Kelly Josephsen
NORMAL - The Peace Corps has seen a lot of changes in its 41 years, but the toughest challenge volunteers face will always take some getting used to.
Mike Kelleher works with volunteers as director of Illinois State University's Stevenson Center for Community & Economic Development. He said every volunteer has to get a job done in an unfamiliar world.
Janet Deutsch, who served in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan from 1998-2000, called that her biggest test. "It's hard to be in a different system and actually be working. They have a different sense of time, a different sense of personal space. ... it requires flexibility," she said.
Dan Duffy, an ISU gradudate who went to the Solomon Islands from 1999-2000, agreed. He said attitudes about time are more relaxed, there is no electricity, and bugs and disease are plentiful.
Duffy conquered the barriers by refusing to romanticize his experience.
"I knew I wouldn't have electricity, but it was still hard to get used to. But after two months, you don't miss it. You miss hot water and a trip to McDonald's, but those are things you don't need."
The same thing happened to Deutsch.
"The things people think would be the hardest - no hot water, not taking a shower every day - those are the things that fall away fastest. After a month, you don't care about those any more."
Instead, she realized what really matters is family and friends, who were 12 time zones away.
Jessica Bergstrom, an ISU student who hopes to serve in West Africa, is preparing for all that. She has experience overseas - she lived in Sweden - so she thinks she can adapt to a new culture. But she is concerned that language barriers will make that harder.
It could, Kelleher acknowledged. Even students who are fluent in another language have trouble, he said.
If they go to rural villages, he explained, they meet people who don't have access to education and don't speak official national languages like French or Spanish. For example, there are more than 2,000 local dialects in Africa. Volunteers learn to add some to their repertoire.
"Learning a language is one thing, but you need to know meanings behind words. What makes the Peace Corps effective is we work really hard in training people on those things," Kelleher said.
Duffy added, "You try to learn the traditional language so you can speak to them on more of a personal level. It helps you forge a bond, and they appreciate the effort."
In the end, Kelleher said it also leads to a sense of accomplishment for volunteers.
"Volunteers still struggle with - and are very proud of - learning the local culture. You ride local transportation, you eat with everyone else. You feel like you know the culture and the people."
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