I've been talking with a friend tonight about what I'll be working on as a volunteer. Peace Corps isn't all about tangible items such as a set number of latrines or working water systems so i figured I would dedicate a quick post to what Peace Corps actually does.
The process begins with Peace Corps identifying a suitable site for a volunteer. There are then about three volunteers that will work at this site. Their responsibilities roughly fall within the description I'll give below except in the cases where events occur more quickly or slowly than expected.
The responsibility of the first volunteer is to do research within the community and develop a water committee. They will work alongside the community to identify realistic project(s) to work on. If there is enough time, they will begin working on the technical details of the project and might begin implementation.
The second volunteer will either begin with technical research or get right into construction. They will work their two years in the aims of bringing construction to completion.
The third volunteer brings closure to the project. It is their responsibility to make it sustainable so that the community will be able to carry on the work over the last six years of the project without the assistance of a volunteer.
As I touched on, there is some overlap in the responsibilities of each volunteer. The duties of each volunteer is not so clearly defined since some projects move more quickly than others. In general, the main goal is the education of the people so that they may carry on and spread knowledge to others. As the saying goes, if you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish he'll eat for several lifetimes.
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