Advice For A Future Ed PCV

“The idea of training was essentially futile. College graduates without a word of French or a day’s teaching experience had ten weeks to learn French, something of Ewe or another local language, and English instruction within the French West African educational system before being packed off alone to teach in a village school. This while suffering from heat and dysentery, pining for letters from home, and wondering if we hadn’t been flown to the wrong planet.”

“You just have to expect things not to work out, and you won’t get frustrated.”

“The Peace Corps is now in its fourtieth year, and the world’s inequalities remain as stark and unforgiving as ever. But whether or not Peace Corps volunteers have made a difference to the development of others, there can be no question that their contact with these others has had an abiding effect on their own development. That is certainly true of George Packer. Sent to Togo as an educator, he found an education”

All of the above quotes are from “The Village of Waiting” a book written by a Peace Corps Volunteer George Packer who served as a teacher in Togo in the 80’s. Although he served in a different country and a few decades ago, many of his experiences and insights are very similar to my own.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is difficult and being a high school teacher is difficult as well. When you put those together, you end up with a hard but very rewarding 2 years of service. PST is full of sessions about grammar, classroom management, and test design. It’s also full of sessions about how to be culturally sensitive, health and safety, and reporting to Peace Corps. Peace Corps designed these trainings to cover as much as possible in a short amount of time. They try to give as much help as possible and give you a chance to learn about others experiences. What they don’t tell you is that these trainings can only prepare you so much. Your experience is uniquely your own. Your site, compound, school, students, and people in your community are so incredibly different than even your friend in the next town. What situations you will find yourself in and how you will handle those vary drastically from person to person, and that’s part of the experience of Peace Corps.

My friends in the South, Amhara, and Oromia have had VERY different experiences with their schools, politics, and life in general than myself and my fellow volunteers in Tigray. Even in Tigray we have many things that vary, although less so. When I was going through training I realized that the things I learned the most were not from staff, but from older PCV’s in the groups above me. American staff tries to help, but they served in different countries. Their experiences are even more dramatically different than those of us in Ethiopia, and many times they did not serve in the same sector. That makes things difficult sometimes. The Ethiopian staff tries to help as well, but growing up and working in this system and country is much different than coming in and trying to adapt, especially in education, but also in the social and cultural aspects.

I know I just wrote about how everyone’s experiences are unique, but advice is still good to have. Some things seem to be applicable no matter where in Ethiopia you are serving, and a lot of times can be applicable even in different countries and sectors. Coming into a new country, culture, and community can be a lot to handle. You might be lost, but you will figure out a way to handle it. Peace Corps is a lot like the sink or swim approach of teaching. You either learn how to handle yourself and your life here, or you leave (although I will say that even if you find a way to handle it, you are still going to be lost most of the time). I hope that you are able to take the advice and experiences of those older than you and apply it to your own service. It might not always be easy, but I promise it will be worth it. I am not finished with my own service (I still have about 2.5 months left), however I am done teaching after 2 school years, and I figure as I am starting to say my good byes and do my lasts that my fellow volunteers and I are able to soundly give advice to new PCV’s.

I asked fellow Education Peace Corps Volunteers in Ethiopia to give their advice on teaching and here is what they said:

-       Seat kids in T groups

-       Record kids number in groups and take attendance that way

-       Plan out blackboard space so you don’t have to erase

-       Bring markers

-       For clubs, have everyone write down their phone numbers if they have one as well as their name, that way if you change the time or day or something you can contact them

-       Use your library

-       Make an extra effort with the kids in the back

-       Play games

-       Expect your plan to not go as planned and enjoy that

-       Don’t get too caught up in following your lesson plan or explaining something as quickly or slowly as you thought

-       Be open and ready to know NO class will go as planned and that’s the fun of it!

-       Get to know your students on a more personal level

-       Everything will be so much easier and fun if you have a positive relationship with them

-       Expect that the schedule the school gives you will change, and be prepared to change your teaching pace according to that

-       You will have random days off or days with almost no students, so have “fun” lessons as a reward for the students that actually come

-       Figure out a way to record participation and attendance and stick to that system- practice makes perfect (or at least keeps you organized)

-       Work with other teachers as much as possible, they can be great resources to help connect to students and understand the system

-       Use visual aids and interactive activities often- they might not be used to them at first, but they will come to appreciate them

-       Don’t just use chalk and talk, always try to include as many students as possible

-       Count on your “gobez kids” to help you with class control, translation, and keeping yourself sane—you’re going to need help with all of that at some point

-       Come to school on time, prepared, and stick to your schedule and calendar- teachers and students will take notice and hopefully will begin to change their own behavior

Teaching is difficult, but living in a new place might be even harder. I could sit and give advice forever on adapting and enjoying your service, but I will just give some advice from my fellow volunteers. Again, it won’t always be easy, in fact it will be really hard most of the time. It’s up to you about how you will handle those hardships and turn them into teaching moments. You will change as a person and you won’t always like that, but you will grow and develop.

-       Always say yes

-       Don’t let PST scare you into believing certain things about Ethiopia/Ethiopians (ie: that Ethiopian men are pigs, that you will get robbed, that you can’t eat/drink anything without getting sick)- they aren’t, you probably won’t, you may never get sick

-       Be direct, clear and persistent in telling people about/implementing programs/intentions

-       Cultivate relationships most with Ethiopians- these relationships are what will be most memorable and special and will make your life at site infinitely better, Peace Corps Volunteers will always be your friends

-       Participate, share, actively listen and be humble (you’re not saving the world)

-       Never let a chance to learn something escape you, despite your role as a teacher, embrace being a student (of language, culture, history, food, etc)

-       Accept being clueless (you always will be), but never stop asking questions

-       Learn as much language as you can and perfect what it is you do know (aka, speak often in your local language, even if you suck)

-       Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself and push yourself out of your comfort zone- you won’t regret it

-       Find something good and/or beautiful in every day

-       Patience, humor, and cookies

-       “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”

-       Step out of your comfort zone, take those invitations, and talk to new people, however- trust your gut and if your instincts are telling you to not trust someone or something, listen to that

-       Smile even when you are feeling down, because sometimes pretending you are ok and trying to find the good in the day will force you to actually find the good

-       It is ok to just hang out by yourself, watch a movie or read a book with a cup of tea, and not talk to anyone- that doesn’t make you a bad volunteer, it means you are coping with differences

-       It’s ok to have bad days and complain, just don’t make that a regular thing and habit

-       Don’t compare your service to others. Everyone has different ways to living and serving. Just because you don’t have 10 programs running or just because you don’t hang out with people every day for coffee doesn’t make you a bad volunteer, so don’t measure your service against others

-       There are great things around you, don’t get caught up in the small bad things and miss them

-       Often times it’s the smallest things that can make the biggest difference, so whether it’s one kid answering a question, one kid calling your name on the street, or a good plate of fresh injira, take the victories and smiles where you can and save them up for when you are having a bad day

Hopefully you didn’t join Peace Corps to save the world, and if you did you will be disappointed. You aren’t here to change the world. You might change one person’s life, and that’s enough. You probably won’t even see that change. You did come here to get an education, to learn and to change. That will definitely happen. The things you experience, the situations you find yourself in, and the people you meet along your journey- they will change you. So take this advice for the classroom and your service. You will find that some will help you and that you will develop your own along the way. Your own experience will be different than mine, but in many ways will be similar. So good luck on your journey/adventure/service/life (whatever you want to call it). It’s a roller coaster ride that you hopefully will enjoy, even on the low parts, but it’s one that will affect the rest of your life, no matter what.

[Special thanks to Jessie Sexton, Katie Leis, Austin May, Natalie Cooke, Natanya Dauster, and Ally Walker for sending in their advice for teaching and serving in Peace Corps Ethiopia!]