Peace Corps ad at the top of this forum

[tangomonster]

Does anyone else feel a little guilty seeing the Peace Corps ads recruiting senior volunteers and not considering it?

I do give the Peace Corps credit for recognizing the value of people in their middle years and beyond. I don't think I'd adapt well to living in another country...that's my excuse. Yours?

 

[bssc]

I did 14 years overseas as a kid thanks to Uncle Sam. It is a different mindset. Several of my friends were Peace Corps volunteers and learned a lot. Personally, its not for everyone. I don't feel called myself but I am not the teacher/facilator type and I think that is the most important thing.

 

[unclemick]

It reminds me of evil - psssst dast I say it - WORK!.

heh heh heh - others may not view in that manner. I mean I even have family members who vote republican - probably dropped/bumped their head as children when no one noticed.

 

[mickeyd]

Retire so I can work as a volunteer for free? WTF....?

 

[haha]

Does anyone else feel a little guilty seeing the Peace Corps ads recruiting senior volunteers and not considering it?

I do give the Peace Corps credit for recognizing the value of people in their middle years and beyond. I don't think I'd adapt well to living in another country...that's my excuse. Yours?

Young people who feel that they can and should change the world can be kind of cute. Mature people who still feel this way seem like they must have gone through life with their eyes closed.

Ha

 

[packrat44]

Does anyone else feel a little guilty seeing the Peace Corps ads recruiting senior volunteers and not considering it?

Nope!

 

[Nords]

Does anyone else feel a little guilty seeing the Peace Corps ads recruiting senior volunteers and not considering it?
I do give the Peace Corps credit for recognizing the value of people in their middle years and beyond. I don't think I'd adapt well to living in another country...that's my excuse. Yours?

We're raising a teenager, looking forward to our empty-nester years, we just got everything organized the way we like it and we're improving the décor, and you want us to chuck it all for the Peace Corps?!!?

Would this mythical avocation include good surf and broadband Internet access?

I'll have to check back on that in a few years. We know that we could adapt to just about any climate or culture, but for now we choose not to. Meanwhile I still haven't made time for a few hours to our local Habitat for Humanity, let alone a foreign country.

Am I the only member of this board who's never ever seen an ad here?

 

[Caroline]

I've known for a couple of months that Peace Corps was looking for seniors and I actually went to one of their presentations last month (having just become a "senior" for their purposes).

I'd like to say it was from a sense of duty and brotherly love. Not entirely. My Megacorp will allow two years off for Peace Corps (or a year for Americorps, etc.), and take me back after my stint is over. I thought this would be a good way to answer several questions at once:

1. What would it be like to not work for Megacorp (but have a safety net waiting for me if I needed it?

2. Do I REALLY love my fellow man, or is that "quit my job and work for a non-profit" idea a bunch of hooey?

3. What would it be like to live in a 3rd world country for a while, learn a language, etc.? Again, there's a safety net if I decide I left the salary and benefits prematurely.

4. Could I actually leave a few folks with a good impression of Americans, in the face of the PR nightmare we've been exporting for the last so many years?

I must say that all the Peace Corps folks loved it, had gone back for more than one tour, etc. etc., even in the face of various hardships. They were all over 60, one was in her 80s.

I've filled out the application... we'll see.

 

[twaddle]

Young people who feel that they can and should change the world can be kind of cute. Mature people who still feel this way seem like they must have gone through life with their eyes closed.

I think it's possible to change the world, but I'm just not sure it's a great idea. China's govt will be causing enough change, I think. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the planet as a billion people improve their standard of living via the magic of global commerce.

 

[Puzzley]

If not for this post, I wouldn't have known it was there. I ignore all the ads. I see it's in pretty big letters, too. Hard to miss, but I did. Conditioning, I suppose....

But guilty? nooooo....

 

[bpp3]

Am I the only member of this board who's never ever seen an ad here?

I'm not getting any Peace Corps ads. A big "Learn to Trade Forex" ad at the top, then some smaller links mostly for real estate in various tropical locations.

 

[52andout]

I had been considering it but DH health is not good enough. Instead I do work for Red Cross with their blood drives and with wounded American Soldiers. It is very fullfilling after years of pushing papers working for the bean counters and it does make a difference. The wounded american soldier population is straining the VA's and they can use friendly help. Add that into gardening, reading, exercise and cooking from scratch and my days are very full of purpose and joy.

What I don't have time for is visiting here very often watching tv or talking on the phone for example.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I think I will do volunteer work, but never would consider the Peace Corps. You don't get to pick where you go and it is a very rigid system. I'd rebel, even as a senior!
I want to work in disaster relief logistics, probably Red Cross, and just for hurricanes. So the Peace Corp is way too much like a job by comparison. I'd never want to commit for that long, either. I want to go somewhere, spend 3 months getting supplies in and a place on the road to recovery, then leave.

My sister almost went in her 20s, but then they wanted her to teach English in Chad! Um, no thanks, I think I'll take that Fulbright teaching position in Denmark instead! I do remember my dad asking the Peace Corp folks if she could work in the Caribbean instead, and they told him that they typically only sent disabled volunteers to those countries. And well, you have to know my dad to really appreciate this, but he then asked just how disabled did she have to be to qualify? So they hung up imagining my dad breaking my sister's arms and legs to get the plum assignment!

 

[ronin]

Did my Peace Corps stint in the mid 70's (the decade - not my age!). Actually there was great surf, which is why I picked Savaii on which to live and work. No electricity, no running water 4-5 mo/yr, regular dysentery, flies, mosquitos and centipedes, and semi-hostile villagers... but hey, great surf. As for changing the world ... fugitaboudit. Disabuse yourself of that fantasy before you sign up. Oh, and consider going somewhere that has a language worth learning. All I remember of Samoan is the dirty words and I don't have much need for them.

 

[Fireup2020]

No visible ads here - and I like it! Not sure the Peace Corps would be happy with a military retiree! LOL (all sorts of flags go up if one was in the PC and trying to join the military - additional reviews and possible waivers, etc)

 

[Nords]

all sorts of flags go up if one was in the PC and trying to join the military - additional reviews and possible waivers, etc

I wonder how the Peace Corps feels about military veterans trying to join them...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

no guilt here. pc already in consideration. even read through the Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual US Peace Corps Alumni website.

for me, one of the wonderful things about being independently middle class is that i can now experience (without so much fear) living in third-world poverty.

 

[haha]

no guilt here. pc already in consideration. even read through the Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual US Peace Corps Alumni website.

for me, one of the wonderful things about being independently middle class is that i can now experience (without so much fear) living in third-world poverty.

Be careful. Those microbes will not know that you are a well-to-do American. They knocked the crap out of me several times.

Ha

 

[Nords]

They knocked the crap out of me several times.

You're not just waxin' metaphorical, either...

 

[ronin]

Mine continued knocking for yrs after I got home. Sometimes wonder how many yrs I shortened my life span living in the jungle.

 

[Nords]

Mine continued knocking for yrs after I got home. Sometimes wonder how many yrs I shortened my life span living in the jungle.

I think that tradeoff has to be evaluated in the context of the quality of the surfing...

 

[ronin]

Hey, I got elephantiasis (actually the microfilaria that eventually leads to it), but at least there was no malaria. Regular course of Hart's 30 day dewormer and I's good to go. And I didn't get eaten by a shark like one of the poor guys that worked in fisheries counting turtle nests on some small island. He had to swim in thru an ava in the reef. They found his headless body. Yikes! Hated that creepy, tingling feeling that would come on for no apparent reason after that. Now they have a surf camp down the road from where I lived. It was more like survivor man when I was there. Highest of highs, lowest of lows, but ahhhh the surf!