Monday, February 11, 2008

How would you feel if this happened to you?

During the first several months of service, I found myself often longing for home (or at least the familiar) and wondering if I made the right choice. Last week I experienced something that helped to affirm my decision to join the Peace Corps. After hearing about the violence following the December elections in Kenya, I thought about those volunteers often and wondered where they were and if any were still at their sites, half expecting to hear the news of a program suspension any day. Even though I was anticipating such an announcement, hearing the news that the Kenya Peace Corps program has actually been suspended broke my heart. My eyes filled with tears when I read that email and imagined leaving my communities tomorrow and unexpectedly not being able to go back for the foreseeable future. Even given the challenges that arise, the frustrations of working in an unfamiliar culture, and the uncertainty of what impact we are actually able to make in the lives of the people we work with, I am invested in and enamored with this experience. This is a good place for me to be and I cannot imagine leaving it tomorrow or the next day.

So, my thoughts are with all the former Kenya PCVs and their supervisors, counterparts, host-families, friends and co-workers.

I’m going to go out and enjoy my community today.

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