Not Beach Corps – Megan Bordi, St. Lucia 1999-2001

While some may think serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Caribbean is all white sandy beaches and coconuts, that’s not the case. On this week’s episode I talk with Megan Bordi about her service in St. Lucia. While she served 20 years ago, her memories are fresh and her fondness for her community is strong as the day she left the island.

Photos from Megan’s Service

Megan Bordi’s Peace Corps Story

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

I served in the Eastern Caribbean on the island of St. Lucia, 1999-2001. Our group, EC66, was comprised of about 50 volunteers serving on 5 different islands – St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Antigua and Dominica. St. Lucia had about 15 volunteers across the island, working mainly in health and education. St. Lucia is a beautiful, lush island with mountains on the coast and rainforest in the center. Many may know this island as a holiday destination, and within the Peace Corps it’s often referred to as ‘Beach Corps,’ which is not at all accurate. The minute you leave that resort or that beautiful beach, you become aware of the poverty on the island. As volunteers, we had to secure our own housing and while we had electricity (most of the time), many people had no hot water, sometimes no water at all, and definitely no cable, AC, had to hand wash, etc.

I lived in the northern part of the island, about 20 minutes from the capital city of Castries, and worked in Youth Development with the Ministry of Education. I was assigned to a primary school in a community called Grand Riviere, to work with students ages 12-15 who were unable to attain the necessary entry requirements to secondary school, and who continued at the same primary school following a program of study that failed to prepare them for the future. These students often had little to no self-worth and lacked belief in their ability to achieve. I worked to increase their self-esteem and self-confidence, building on their reading and writing skills, while giving them marketable skills to help prepare them for the real world. I ended up doing a lot of small group reading and writing classes with these students, as their levels were about 2nd / 3rd grade when they were in 7th / 8th grade. I worked with them on job training skills, such as how to fill out job applications, and helped them identify their interests and passions to understand what types of jobs might suit them well. I also put together two job training programs, which were on-the-job internships, for the students to gain practical job training. My work schedule was quite regular, and I was expected to be at school every day from about 8:30 until about 3:30pm. Aside from my ‘regular job,’ as is the case with most volunteers, there were other side projects I became involved in, especially during the summer when school was not in session.

What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?

Oh, how could I possibly choose?! So many wonderful memories, but I would have to say that Christmas time in St. Lucia was one of my favorites. I loved how Christmas was not at all about gifts, but was truly about enjoying the good food and spending time with friends and family. So instead of spending money on gifts, people would spend it on fixing up the house, making it look nice and buying food and drinks to share. On Christmas day, it is customary to drive (or walk) around the community (we called this ‘making a round’) to pop in on all your friends and have a drink. Everyone is expected to have enough food and drink to offer to people who stop by. You might only stay 20/30 minutes and then on to the next. It’s wonderful and truly showed me how much the St. Lucians value their family and friends. Then of course the big meal of the day would be eaten at home with family.

My other favorite memory was carnival! Carnival is not just a day, but literally weeks of festivities and soca music competitions to determine the...