2007.08.02: August 2, 2007: Headlines: COS - Uzbekistan: COS - Romania: Weston Town Crier: Matthew Barison served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan then had to transfer to Romania

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Uzbekistan: Peace Corps Uzbekistan : Peace Corps Uzbekistan: Newest Stories: 2007.08.02: August 2, 2007: Headlines: COS - Uzbekistan: COS - Romania: Weston Town Crier: Matthew Barison served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan then had to transfer to Romania

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Matthew Barison served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan then had to transfer to Romania

Matthew Barison served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan then had to transfer to Romania

All members of the Peace Corps and other western organizations were asked to leave the country, he said. After a few months of getting to know his host family, Barison said it was terrible to have to leave. However, looking back on it now, it gave him the benefit of experiencing two different countries, he said. "You could meet a volunteer who’s served in another country and you’ll share a lot of the same stories, certain themes – family, food, bathroom facilities. There is that generality, but there are specifics that are different. By getting to go to two countries, I feel I got a little bonus," Barison said. Barison spent the next two years in Romania. He said both countries were integral to his experiences in the Peace Corps.

Matthew Barison served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan then had to transfer to Romania

Great adventures in Peace Corps

Barison

Caption: Weston native Matthew Barison, who graduated from Weston High School in 2000, with his host family in Uzbekistan, where he stayed for six months before being transferred to Romania.

By Stacey Hart

GateHouse News Service

Thu Aug 02, 2007, 10:43 AM EDT

For the last two-and-a-half years Weston native Matthew Barison traveled to places he would probably never have seen if it was not for the Peace Corps.

Barison applied for the Peace Corps after graduating from Trinity College in Connecticut in 2004. After a long process, Barison was invited to go to Uzbekistan and left in January 2005.

"I only ended up in Uzbekistan for six months and then had to transfer to Romania, not by my own choosing, but because diplomatic ties soured at a level that was above me," said Barison, a 2000 graduate of Weston High School.

All members of the Peace Corps and other western organizations were asked to leave the country, he said.

After a few months of getting to know his host family, Barison said it was terrible to have to leave. However, looking back on it now, it gave him the benefit of experiencing two different countries, he said.

"You could meet a volunteer who’s served in another country and you’ll share a lot of the same stories, certain themes – family, food, bathroom facilities. There is that generality, but there are specifics that are different. By getting to go to two countries, I feel I got a little bonus," Barison said.

Barison spent the next two years in Romania. He said both countries were integral to his experiences in the Peace Corps.

While in Uzbekistan and Romania, Barison taught English. Depending on a country’s needs, a Peace Corps teacher will teach at the primary, secondary or university level, Barison said.

In both countries, Barison was a high school teacher, although in Uzbekistan he also taught some younger students. Uzbekistan has larger schools with a wider age range, as opposed to Romania where schools are more delineated like in the U.S., he said.

"There’s a middle school, there’s a high school (in Romania). They have different names, but it was more systemized," Barison said.

In Romania, Barison worked at a school in Transylvania where Hungarian is the primary language. Prior to both World War I and World War II, the area was predominately Hungarian, but Romania gained control of it after the wars.

There is more of a mix of Romanians and Hungarians in the area now, and there is a big push for Hungarian schools so children do not have to attend a Romanian language school, Barison said. All the students and teachers at his school could speak Romanian, but chose to do so as little as possible, he said.

Barison said it was great being an English teacher, although it was never something he thought of as a career. Teaching does run in the family. Barison’s grandmother was a teacher and his aunt still is, he said.

"I don’t think I want to be a teacher as my primary job in the future, but I will say I enjoyed being a teacher in the Peace Corps tremendously."

Training

The Peace Corps chooses people to fill certain positions after an interview process. Once invited to be part of the Peace Corps, volunteers spend the first two or three months in a country being trained, Barison said.

Volunteers live with host families while they get language, technical and culture training, he said.

Barison spent time with three host families during his travels. He lived with one host family while in Uzbekistan and then spent time with two host families in Romania before finding his own apartment.

"When you’re new to a place and don’t speak the language, to have people who are somewhat sympathetic to you and will help you out a bit makes all the difference in the world," he said. "These families were great in terms of orienting one’s self to understand the larger picture."

The most memorable experiences from his time in the Peace Corps stem from the people he met, including the host families, he said.

The entire experience allowed Barison to see different parts of the world that are radically different from his hometown.

"Uzbekistan was really foreign and strange and disorienting. Romania too, and their issues and problems and legacy," he said.

Being able to do certain things, like jump in a car and drive anywhere, is a great luxury and freedom that not everyone has, Barison said.

"In Uzbekistan, you couldn’t travel from town to town without getting stopped by some random police checkpoint. They would flag you down and just hassle you," he said.

After seeing a presentation by a former Peace Corps volunteer, Barison knew he had to do it.

"It was a pretty strong commitment, so I had to think for awhile," he said. "Am I willing to commit two years to do this? Do I want to go away from my friends, my family?"

Now that he has completed two-and-a-half years in the Peace Corps and is back home, he has a lot of plans for the future. The first plan is to work with AmeriCorps in their Maine office.

He will be working on programming, training and volunteer support for Campus Compact, which promotes community service, civic engagement and service learning in colleges and universities nationwide.

"I think it’ll be fun. It’ll be a challenge," Barison said.

After working with AmeriCorps for a year, Barison plans to attend Tulane University Law School.

Stacey Hart can be reached at 508-626-4439 or shart@cnc.com



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Story Source: Weston Town Crier

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Uzbekistan; COS - Romania

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