The holidays can be difficult for Peace Corps Volunteers. At a time when much of the celebration is centered around friends and family, many volunteers find themselves thousands of miles away from their loved ones. The traditions they grew up on are nearly impossible replicate in a new foreign land, and, for many, dreaming of a white Christmas is impracticable, to say the least.

Yet, the volunteers I talked to reflected fondly on their Peace Corps holiday memories. They reveled in the simplicity of the celebrations they had, which were stripped down from the commercial hype and pretense that tends to come with celebrating the holidays in the US.

They tell stories of celebrating with newly found family and friends in their community, sharing large meals with fellow volunteers, and crafting makeshift Christmas trees from Styrofoam packing material.

I only spent one Christmas in Burkina Faso when I served as a volunteer, but it was an unforgettable celebration filled with food, song, and dance. There were no gifts, but I could have cared less. My community of Muslims and Christians came together to celebrate with one another.

The second Christmas during my service, I was fortunate enough to travel back home. That Christmas will likely be one of my favorite Christmas’s with my family, given how much I enjoyed being with my family. I brought back simple souvenirs as gifts, which were all I could afford. Yet, my friends and family loved them. Four years later, those gifts are still proudly displayed, unlike all the other countless knickknacks I’ve given over the years.

I wish you the very best this holiday season and hope you take time to enjoy the many gifts of the season.

-Tyler

Michelle Claus didn’t go into Peace Corps expecting to have a pet, but after her house was broken into she thought getting a dog would be a good idea. You know, for security. But, she’d only have her dog during service. She wasn’t going to bring him home. Yet, Sipi had other plans…

Photo’s from Michelle’s Story

Michelle Claus’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

I served in Uganda between May 2012 and July 2014 officially as an Economic Development volunteer. I considered myself more of a Youth Development volunteer being active with the youth empowerment camps put on by Peace Corps Volunteers and teaching lifeskills at a local community church. For a few months I lead a basic fitness class with the few students who boarded at the school I was partnered with and tried promoting environment awareness through trash clean up days and sharing Planet Earth videos as rewards for cleaning up. Towards the end of my service I was awarded a USAID grant to build a playground at the school and develop a recreation field.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

After the amazing and exhausting week of co-directing one of the youth camps I traveled to the Eastern region of Uganda with a few other volunteers to unwind and visit the beautiful region. We decided to get a guide and hike to each of the three waterfalls that make up Sipi Falls. In between two of the waterfalls we were hiking on a small footpath in a rural village and were passing a woman with two puppies sticking out of a plastic bag. At this point in my service I’ve been thinking about getting a dog for home security reasons as is the common use for dogs in Uganda. To make a long story short I bargained with the woman and ended up paying 20,000 Ugandan Shillings (aprox. $8 USD) for one of the puppies… then I had to carry him for the next 4 hours while we explored the falls because he just slept the entire time and was too small to keep up.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

When the Anti-Homosexuality bill was passed at the end of 2013 despite backlash from the international community. That day I remember being at a Peace Corps training conference. During breakfast it was one of the rare occasions in Uganda where I was in a room with a television and it just happened to be broadcasting the President of Uganda announcing the passing of the bill. The only good thing about that day was being surrounded by support and with other volunteers. The law was annulled the following year in August 2014.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

I miss the simplicity and slow lifestyle pace of rural Ugandan living. The sound of the rain pounding on my tin roof during the rainy season and the unbelievable freshness of all the fruit, pineapple and bananas will never taste the same to me. Most of all I miss the sense of community with my fellow volunteers in the Southwest region knowing that we were truly in it together. It was an incredible feeling that I still carry with me today by keeping in touch with those volunteers.

What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?

I’ve learned to live more in the moment and to appreciate what we may think of in the US as ‘the little things.’ Running water (especially hot), reliable electricity, and the freedom to drive my own vehicle.

Do you have a favorite quote or local saying?

Since its been a few years and I mainly spoke English and broken Runyankore during my service,

Jedd and Michelle Chang’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

We served in Jamaica 2012-14. Michelle did literacy tutoring at a rural primary school while Jedd helped start up a brand new community center in town and taught basic computer classes to senior citizens.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

Our host sister asked us to make our cinnamon roll recipe for her wedding. She got married in our host family’s background. Although it rained heavily, the couple was still in great spirits, everyone had a good time, and our hundreds of mini cinnamon rolls were a big hit.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

There was some drama among the staff at my school and it sometimes interfered with my ability to tutor the kids. It was an exhausting environment and made me realize how complex and deeply rooted the obstacles are against progress in Jamaica.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

We miss our second family. We loved our hosts and our community members. Fortunately, with our digital nomad lifestyle, we’ve been able to visit twice since our COS.

What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?

We learned how to travel with vigilance. Peace Corps Jamaica has a very thorough safety and security training. After that training and traveling around the island, most places we visit are much easier and more relaxing to travel through!

Do you have a favorite quote or local saying?

Our host mother would always say, “People are people.” She had a great attitude about respecting the inherent dignity in everyone, even if they seem strange, we all share similar fears and hopes.

 

Intentional Travelers

If you want to learn more about Jedd and Michelle’s digital nomad life, check out www.intentionaltravelers.com.

 

 

 

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Chris Norris’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

Costa Rica, 2009-2011, Youth and Economic Development – taught business classes to teens and adults, taught English, did multi-use court infrastructure project, soccer tournament, wrote grant to build computer lab and get computers in high school.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

My community partnered with Courts for Kids to get a multi-use court built in the high school. It took 9 months and 50 local volunteers and 20 volunteers from the U.S. to build. A few months after we built it the school hosted their first ever home 5v5 soccer game on it. Another volunteer I served with put on a Survivor Camp on an uninhabited island and I helped with that. We played hide and seek in the untouched jungle with the adults/volunteers hiding from the kids and they had an hour to find us. It’s kind of insane that we did that and didn’t all get fired.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

One of my first nights in site I woke up with a snake in my bed. Snakes are my super least favorite thing in the world.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

I miss the high school where I did most of my work and the people I worked with there. I also miss my fellow volunteers.

What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?

Just… figure it out. And don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.

Do you have a favorite quote or local saying?

“Provecho” it’s like bon appetit; my wife and I still say it to each other before every meal (we met in PC Costa Rica); most volunteers from Costa Rica would probably say, “Pura Vida, Mae” which directly translates to pure life, dude and is kind of no worries or all good.

 

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Stephen McBay and Kevin Ryterski served as Community Economic Development volunteers in Paraguay. After their service, they found a way to continue to serve. Through their company Artezanz, they are working with the Artisan Community, both established and up and coming, to create an online marketplace where global goods can be made available to anyone. Kevin and Stephan give the artisan direct access to the site, so they can remove the need for a middleman and sell their products directly to you!

Photos from Stephen’s Service

Photos from Kevin’s Service

Stephen McBay and Kevin Ryterski’s Peace Corps Stories

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

Stephen: I served as a Community Economic Development volunteer in Paraguay, South America from March 2015 to May 2018. My site was a large urban center where I lived and worked in an orphanage with close to 100 children of all ages. I primarily created and facilitated an IT course for the organization I worked with. We created a youth group to monitor the computer lab, organized countless IT workshops, and extended past our community to include people from the greater city.

Kevin: I served with my wife Clare in San Juan Bautista, Paraguay from 2015 to 2017. I was a Community Economic Development Volunteer and my wife was a Community Health Volunteer. I worked primarily in the areas of youth entrepreneurship, small business consulting, and literacy education.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

S: My favorite Peace Corps memory was about 2 months into living in site. I was still not yet confident in my Spanish and was feeling anxious about living with so many kids for 2 years. One day, it started pouring rain and the older kids stayed outside to play. I decided to just get wet, so I ran out and started playing with the kids. We got incredibly muddy but had so much fun. After that day, I felt more connected to the kids, my projects started gaining more interest, and my confidence in Spanish miraculously increased. Sometimes you just have to jump in and get wet.

K: My fondest Peace Corps memory was when my wife gave birth to our first son Leo during our service.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

S: My least favorite moment in Peace Corps was when my college computer finally decided it had had enough. I surveyed my options and decided buying one from the U.S and shipping it down was the best move…it wasn’t. My computer was stuck in customs for nearly a month. The officials wanted me to pay a tax that was literally more expensive than the computer. I eventually folded, and paid half of the tax. It all ended up ok, but the month was very aggravating. This had nothing to do with Peace Corps as an organization; it is just a reality of living in a developing country.

K: My least favorite memories were the long bumpy bus trips with no bathrooms.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

S: The things I miss most about the Peace Corps are the unique moments with fellow PCVs and community members that will never happen again. I was incredibly lucky to come into the country with a lot of like-minded and ambitious fellow volunteers that challenged me to be better. My community humbled me in ways I never expected and in many ways improved me as a person. I still have those things…but the specific moments that caused the transition, I’ll miss.

K: We greatly miss the friendships we made in our community. We met some incredible people and their impact will stay with us forever.

What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?

S: I have learned that every problem has a creative solution.

Before Bob Vila begin his life in broadcasting, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer, building houses and communities in Panama. Mr. Vila even built the very house he lived in during his service! We talk about his service, being bitten by a snake, and much more.

Nia Chauvin served as an English teacher in small northern town in Mozambique from 2007-2009. While serving, she fell in love with her now husband and fell deeper in love with traveling. Now, Nia continues to travel the world with her husband and their young son. Through her website Born a Backpacker, she wants to show other parents that they can continue to travel with children, especially to countries where Peace Corps Volunteers call home.

Photos from Nia’s Story

Nia Chauvin’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

I served as an English teacher in Mozambique from 2007-2009. I lived in the Northern Region in a small town.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

There are far too many and they range from the times when I felt like I was making an impact on my students lives, and the times when I would get together with other Peace Corps volunteers, or when I would walk way out to the bush to meet and stay with friends’ families. But oddly, what’s sticking out right now for some reason is my daily routine of waking up at 4:30am (when all the other women would get up), fetch water with them, sweep my front dirt, hand wash my laundry, clean the floors with a rag like I watched all the Mozambican women do, and then be ready for the day at 7am. I guess it’s the little things sometimes.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

In the first few months of being at my new home in Mozambique, I found a female friend, my first real friend. How I met her was unfortunate, but nevertheless it brought us together. One day her husband came to my home asking for money for milk for his child. Being new and not jaded at that point, I talked to him a little bit and decided I would give him money for milk on loan if he paid me back by the end of the week. He never came back. I don’t remember how, but I found his home that next week to ask for the money. When I arrived to his home, he ran. His wife, a 22 year old who was pregnant with their 4th child started talking to me. She was so confused why he ran, and I played it off like I had no idea. We started talking about our lives and who we were. As we were talking, she had mentioned that her husband went out the other day to try to get some money to get milk for their youngest child, but he wasn’t able to (which means he spent my money on something else which means he’s scum). Over the next few weeks, we became closer. I was the only person she was allowed to hang out with (per her husband’s rules), so she would stop by often, as her pregnant belly got bigger and bigger, and we would walk through the market and just chat. I realized she was who I would be if I were born in Mozambique in her situation, and it was my first dose of understanding my privilege. One day I was in the marketing buying some bread. Her husband walked up to me and in the most casual, nonchalant voice he said, “Tu amiga ja faleceu” (You’re friend is dead). Thinking that I misunderstood, I asked him to repeat himself. In the same casual voice he said, “Tu amiga já faleceu”. I made him repeat it 3 more times in disbelief, and every time he said it with a smirk and without the reverence that that statement deserves. He told me that she died during childbirth and the baby was in a town a few hours away with her mother, then he walked away as I stood there frozen. I never saw him again. I never got more to the story, I couldn’t find where the funeral was, I couldn’t find her mother to offer her help. That happened early on in my service and I had a hard time bouncing back from that. It was an introduction to the reality of Mozambique and the developing which I was not prepared for.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

Peace Corps Volunteers come away form their service with amazing stories, like the time when Olivia DiNucci broke her fast for Ramadan with Meryl Streep and later met Michelle Obama. Yet, the things that mean the most to volunteers aren’t usually the stories of adventure or meeting the First Lady. Rather, they are the friends we make with the citizens of the countries with serve in and the relationships we forge when sharing food and drink. While these are the harder stories to tell, they are the ones that leave the biggest impact.

Photos from Olivia’s Story

Olivia DiNucci’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

2013-2017 Morocco; Youth and Community Development Volunteer. I spent my first two years in the beautiful coastal town of Essaouira and extended for a third year where I lived in Douar Ladaam, a semi-rural village on the outskirts of Marrakech. I was involved with many different projects and initiatives thanks to active associations in my community and on the national level. Together, my host mom and I started Khadija’s Kuzina, a cross-cultural cooking class business that her and her husband continue to grow. I worked with a core group of high school students doing advanced English courses around current events and social justice. Together, we planned projects around gender equality, tolerance, and volunteerisms. I worked with community based associations and leaders on women and girls empowerment initiatives, trainings and camps around healthy lifestyles, leadership and anti-sexual harassment. I was fortunate to see many parts of Morocco through work projects including co-leading a Health Peace Hike on the western coast and  coaching basketball camps and a national basketball/life skills school caravan tour in 15 towns around Morocco with TIBU Maroc.

I worked on Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn launch in Morocco with the Moroccan participants for the We Will Rise film and traveled with them for the Let Girls Learn Leadership Exchange Program in Washington DC. For my third year of service, I was the Field Manager for Project Soar Morocco, a girls education and empowerment NGO, where I worked with a local team on developing a training of trainers for female facilitators for a multi-month girls empowerment program scaled across Morocco.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

My relationship with my host parents. Not only did we start Khadija’s Kuzina together (cooking class business), but we grew incredibly close during my time in Morocco. After nominated Khadija for a State Department exchange that she was accepted for, I got to spend time with her in the US and it was surreal to experience her first time abroad together. Also, spending time with Meryl Streep during the We Will Rise filming for Let Girls Learn was pretty incredible. I got to break fast with her and some of the girls involved and that was a Ramadan moment I will never forget!

Do you have any regrets from your Peace Corps service?

I am so grateful the Peace Corps model allows Volunteers to learn the local language for those in the community in which you live a. However, wish I would have dedicated time to learning to speak and read Modern Standard Arabic. After Morocco, I want to explore so much more of the Middle East North African region and being able to read and speak MSA would be helpful in connecting more with the people and places.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

Meal times and the unrelenting Moroccan hospitality. The warmth of host families, neighbors, friends and strangers was a constant. “Mrhaba,” or “welcome” was used not just as a greeting, but as an authentic, genuine invitation to enjoy a glass of tea, loaf of bread, and so on.

Michaela Sanchez served in a village in Nicaragua where she taught English in a community center started by a former volunteer and worked with Nicaraguan English teachers to improve their teaching abilities. Hear her story on this week’s episode of the podcast.

Photos from Michaela’s Story

Michaela Sanchez’s Peace Corps Story

Where and when did you serve? What did you do?

I served with my husband in Nicaragua as an education volunteer from 2014-2016. My main role was working with Nicaraguan English teachers in creating more dynamic activities in the classroom and improving their English fluency level. I also worked at one of the only Community English Centers in Nicaragua, that happened to be in my community, Nueva Guinea. I taught English classes but I also helped create a Board of Directors, a robust network of volunteers, and after-school activities for students that attended school in Nueva Guinea.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

It’s hard to choose just one. I think it was reading “I am Malala” in Spanish with a group of girls from the English Center and the rural community where I taught English, about 10 minutes outside of Nueva Guinea. Listening to the girls share their thoughts, goals, and experiences was something I will never forget.

What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?

Probably when we were awakened by a crash in the middle of the night, to find some type of large rodent running around our house knocking over empty bottles we had saved for recycling. We are still not clear as to what it was. Also contracting Chikengunya was not something I would want to experience again.

What do you miss about Peace Corps?

Besides missing my community and my friends almost daily, I miss being able to connect with people simply by walking by their home and greeting them, starting conversations with strangers, and living and learning about a culture that was so different then my own.

What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?

Flexibility and remembering that you can only have so much control. I try to remind myself constantly of these lessons, especially upon returning to the US, as they applied to every situation in Peace Corps and when applied to life and experiences in the US as well, they work just as well.

Do you have a favorite quote or local saying?

It’s not so much of a quote, but a word. The word is Fachento, and it means stuck-up but Nicaraguans use it to tease each other about everything. Like, wow you got a new phone? Fachento. Oh, you’re traveling for work? Fachento. It is one of the first Nicaraguan slang words I learned. When my husband and I finally adopt a dog, we already know his name will be Fachento.

 

 

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It all started in the mid 60’s when Ron Tschetter saw a Peace Corps ad and said to his wife, “We’re going to do this work stuff the rest of our lives. Let’s go out and see if we can do some good.” Little did he know he would go on to sit on the National Peace Corps Association board and eventually serve as as the 17th Director of the Peace Corps.

On this episode, we talk about:

* Ron Tschetter’s service as Peace Corps volunteer with his wife in Maharashtra, India from 1966 to 1968

* Traveling through the jungle to supply medication to a remote village suffering from a smallpox epidemic

* Ron’s career after Peace Corps and how he fell in love with learning about the stock market

* How Mr. Tschetter found himself being asked to serve as the Director of the Peace Corps

 

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Photo Credit: Michael Downey