What I’m Doing

So I have one more week left of training and have a lot that I could address in light of the fact that this is my first real post and that a lot has gone down over this time. First, I will provide a little background. I arrived in Peru for Peace Corps on September 12, 2008 with a group of 47 people from across the US. We all have undergone 10 weeks of training so far in language and culture and technical training in addition to other things like safety and security. One week more, and we will be heading out to each of our respective sites throughout the different regions of Peru. Within our group, we are broken down into disciplines of Medioambiente (environmental health), Salud (Health), and the group to which I belong (which is the first of its kind in PC Peru since the program restarted in 2002), Agua y Saneamiento (Water and Sanitation, aka WatSan). We have also picked up a former Bolivian volunteer who was recently evacuated along with the entire group of Bolivian volunteers a couple months ago.

So, as any other blog goes, here are my thoughts and the situations that I experience throughout my service here in PC.

Coming into PC, my motivations were clear. I believe firmly in the goodness of all people and their ability to manifest goodness in daily life. Stemming from this, I realized a sense of responsibility based on, what I consider, an amazingly privileged life. I have never understood the seemingly unfairness of life. What have I done to deserve such a privileged life? What have I done to deserve a life where I could be born on one side of a border to an amazing, loving, and stable family where simply by birth I am open to a wealth of opportunity, while another person endures a life that is very opposite? The answer is nothing… I am simply lucky from my perspective. I obviously do not understand the way of the world and how the greater control works, but I feel a responsibility to do at least something within my ability to share my capacities which have been based on my fortune. I would love to have a positive influence on those who will never know opportunity, who view survival as their first goal. I apologize for the seriousness of this first blog, but this is obviously something that I am passionate about. My feelings with regard to this and then coupled with an opportunity to see new places in the world and actually live with a community that lives a very different way of life made my decision to join PC very easy. Basically it came down to service, adventure, and learning. I cannot think of a better way to spend two years of my life. This is exactly what I want.

.... again applogies for the serious blog, the next one will have some more fun info!