Where I'll be going -
Sierra Leone. Right. I said that. Here's a map:
First fun fact - that little red spot, which I assume you've correctly deduced to be Sierra Leone, is about the size of South Carolina. Africa is huge.
More facts:
- Located ~8 degrees north of the equator. Thus, the climate is tropical and hot/humid pretty much all year round.
- Split into a rainy (May-December) and a dry season (December-April).
- Starting from the coast (where Sierra Leone boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in West Africa), the terrain moves from mangrove swamps inland to wooded hills, then an upland plateau, and finally to mountains in the east.
- Former British colony - gained independence in 1961
- The capitol city, Freetown, was the capitol of British West Africa during the 19th century. It served as the primary site of slave liberation before and during this time, and thus freed-slave settlement.
- Languages - (CIA World Factbook, 2011)
- English (official, however spoken by a literate minority)
- Krio - the lingua franca. Spoken by the descendents of freed Jamaican slaves who settled around Freetown - an English-based Creole
- Mende - Primary language in the south
- Temne - Primary language in the north
- Ethnic groups -
- Government recognizes at least 16 different groups, though the majority of the population is split between two:
- Temne (35%)
- Mende (31%)
- Religions - (CIA World Factbook, 2011)
- Muslim (60%)
- Christian (10%)
- indigenous beliefs (30%)
- Currently among the top 10 poorest countries in the world, despite relatively abundant and varied resources.
- Population living in poverty (below $1.25 per day) - 62.8% (UNDP HDI Index, 2011)
- Life expectancy at birth - 47.8 years (UNDP HDI Index, 2011)
- Maternal mortality rate - 1 out of 6 mothers die in child birth (worst in the world) (HDR, 2008)
- Mean years of schooling for adults - 2.9 (UNDP HDI Index, 2011)
- Adult literacy rate (over 15 years) - 35% (CIA World Factbook, 2011)
- Recovering from a civil war that lasted between 1991 and 2002
- Politically, Sierra Leone has recovered relative stability: democracy is being reestablished, and the country has seen two peaceful elections (2007 and 2012) since the end of the war.
- Economically, they're in pretty bad shape and are having a difficult time recovering after the war. Things are getting better, though.
- Heath and Education systems were also heavily impacted. Corruption is an issue, but things are improving.
Obviously, I could go on. Perhaps I'll expand here and there, but I think I've at least addressed the information I was required to provide in my high school Geography research projects. Mr. Kasun would be proud, and after half-assing Model UN for 4 years, I feel strangely satisfied to have made it up to him.
What I'll be doing -
Still a little fuzzy to me, so I'll stick to the basics. I've been assigned to teach Science to high school-aged students. The school system works a bit differently in the states than in Sierra Leone, so high school itself isn't really a thing. From what I understand, "Science" could include a number of things: General Science, Chemistry, Biology, perhaps Math, perhaps all or some of the above. Having completed my degree in Biology, I'm inclined to assume that that's what I'll be teaching, although this may not be the case. Honestly, I'd be excited to teach any of those subjects.
After three months of training (job, language, and culture), I'll move to the site I'll live and work in for the following two years. This could range from a larger, more crowded town to a remote rural village. It can be assumed that electricity and running water will range from scarce to non-existent, perhaps along the same gradient. We do get asked what kind of an environment we'd prefer to live in, but ultimately it's not up to us. Dissatisfaction with the assignment will be dismissed, and whining will not be tolerated. One of the things the PC has made a pretty big point of over the last couple months...
In addition to my teaching obligations, it will be part of my job to work with my community on any development projects I may be able to offer my skills to. I suppose this could include a number of things from building libraries to latrines, or educating the general public in health and sanitation.
Lastly, it will be my job to conduct myself as a decent person and American citizen. To me, this means making my best effort to understand existing cultural similarities and differences, and integrating myself accordingly. I am what I am as a general result of genetics and the cultural/political/economic/geographic environment I grew up in - I'm an American. The point of this experience isn't to ignore that for two years, but develop a better understanding of what, as an American, I can offer to the world and what the world can offer to me, an American.
Why I'll be doing it -
Still a little fuzzy to me, so I'll stick to the basics. I'll begin by picking up where I left off. I find the idea of viewing myself from a global, rather than individual perspective intensely alluring at this point in my life. I just finished undergrad, and, despite all of the worthwhile distractions and overwhelming access to knowledge these four+ years provide to the i'm-not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman mind and soul, I felt entirely trapped by the expectation that I'd have this all channeled into a better idea of who I was and what I wanted to do with my life by the time I graduated. The expectation that I was working toward some tangible goal I'd eventually make a career out of. Whose expectation? I don't know. Society's. My parents'. My own. Not sure it matters. Point is, I didn't have a goal for myself going into college and I didn't develop one while I was there, and now I'm just plain sick of thinking about it. It's exhausting. Grad school is something I see myself doing, it just isn't an option right now. Basically, I'm having a post-graduate first-world crisis; to which the only logical remedy is instead giving myself third-world problems, obviously.
Don't get me wrong, I have a personality, passions, and what many can relate to as an insatiable thirst for knowledge. I'm intense, driven, and perseverant (which this text editor is telling me is not a word?), I just need an outlet other than myself for awhile. I'm probably also insecure and a coward for that very reason. But, whatever. I'm also 23. For all I know, I'm not all those things I just said I was.
Okay, so what am I trying to say here? I joined the Peace Corps to give myself a break from myself, which conveniently seems to be the antagonist muscle to helping others, joined by the bones and tendons of using my education (which I should probably mention I am VERY grateful for) to accomplish both. That was a stupid metaphor and while I hope it serves its purpose, I genuinely hope you don't find it clever. I hope there will be no more of where that came from. Anyway, I feel very lucky that, regardless of what else comes from my education, I have at least one way of using it to make a positive impact on the world and those who may never have the opportunity to relate to my first-world problems.
Blah, blah, blah. I have my moments, but I'm not an entirely selfless person (as many of you probably know) and I hope you're not under the assumption that because I joined the Peace Corps, I am (in case the previous three guilt-driven paragraphs haven't convinced you already). I'm not sure I fit that prototypical "Peace Corps" type, but that's good, because there isn't one. Anybody could do this. And they probably should. And if I'm going to share this experience, I think it's important to share it from the very beginning. If I am embarrassed to read this two years from now, I hope it means I will have changed for the...well, for the sake of changing.
How I feel about all of this -
The past few months have come as close to, what I imagine people mean when they say, an "emotional roller coaster" as possible. The transition between the idea of moving to Africa for two years and the reality of moving to Africa for two years has been humbling. To be honest, I prided myself to a certain extent in not being "nervous" after receiving my invitation to serve. I was slightly apprehensive that I wasn't nervous to some degree, but figured that was because I was hesitant to accept that I knew what I was getting myself into and would never have committed myself otherwise. Well, somewhere between then an now the idea transitioned into reality, I got scared, and I felt stupid. Reality hit me on May 18th - the day after the one month mark 'til my departure date. Months were barriers to reality, and the minute that last barrier was gone, you guessed it - reality seeped in. I liked my life here; I love my family and my friends, my pets and my things, the grass, the birds, the trees, the roads, the cars, the movies, the food, etc., and the accessibility of it all. Perhaps had I been more realistic about leaving it for a hut in the middle of nowhere, I would have had more than a short month to appreciate it. That lasted for about a week, at which point my oscillation between extremes seemed to stabilize to my current reality: I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm ready. There. It's really that simple. [Something about the unknown and how we're incapable of actually preparing ourselves for it.]
Okay. Enough of this. Next post will be from Sierra Leone, and I promise I'll actually have something interesting to say.
