The continuing adventures of Mark & Erin in Peace Corps in Tonga and through life
Budgets and the Home Stretch
What have we been doing here in Paradise the past couple weeks? Not much and lots at the same time. For starters, many Tonga PCVs were in town from the very remote islands where they hadn't had a boat or a plane, except for emergencies, since March. They were very happy to be back in civilisation, such that it is here.
We also got a bit caught up in the morass of the US federal budgeting process, and how a little $300 million organisation like Peace Corps can feel the pain, and how that pain is passed on to its volunteers and in-country staff to sort out. $300 million sounds like a lot to me, but in terms of the federal budget, it's chump change (although it is more than the US Navel band's budget, it is not that much more than the budget for all the military bands combined). I'd like to think that if it was up to me, I'd focus a bit more on the areas that really add value. Anyway, while Peace Corps got a bigger budget than ever before, it was also asked to double in size and spend much more money on security issues. The net result is that even with the overall increase, Tonga's budget has been cut two years running.
Tonga asked for 14 new volunteers, DC sent 22 - huh? Of course, DC keeps the budget set at the 14 volunteers level. Lots of volunteers have had to camp out on other volunteers' floors even when they're in town for PC training, which can be a little stressful for everyone. Our monthly living allowance is several years behind being adjusted for inflation, and the weak US $ has meant that the Post budget does not go as far as it used to. It's a little frustrating to be a VOLUNTEER and have to deal with budget cuts.
If you have a political bent, we'd love it if you would spread the word that Peace Corps posts all over the world are having to make cuts in volunteer training, staff, and even fixed costs like electricity and rent. It seems that while our military is out there making the world safe for our way of life, there isn't any money left to actually help people get our way of life.
