Evacuation to Ghana, then on to Kenya!

On Sunday, April 8th, all of us nearly 200 Peace Corps Mali volunteers were evacuated to nearby, English-speaking Ghana. Beginning on Monday, we participated in a four-day 'transition conference' tailored to closing out our service and determining what comes next. And I have just decided upon the latter...

Once I received word that we would be evacuated, I resolved to keep my options open. In addition to simply returning stateside to work or travel, I would consider a transfer or Peace Corps Response position, where I could work for six months to a year before potentially heading to graduate school next year (the deadlines for the upcoming school year have come and gone).

I did not expect a transfer to be a feasible option for me. There were very few posts available, and those volunteers which arrived in Mali more recently got priority. But on Wednesday morning, I had an interview with the Africa region staff, and learned that a post in Kenya was open to me.

I made a couple requests in order to make the position more compatible with my future plans of graduate school, and found out on Friday morning that these requests were accepted! To my friends and family, I would like to stress that committing to a third year in the Peace Corps was not a decision I came to lightly. I was only willing to accept a transfer position that would allow me to practice the type of work that I have enjoyed over the past almost two years in Mali, within a country that would afford me an opportunity to experience a culture and environment which greatly interests me.

Kenya meets those requirements. My job description is, for all intents and purposes, the same as it was at my post in Mali. I will again be a Water and Sanitation Engineering Volunteer in a rural village. My primary assignment will involve improving my community's access to clean water, managing storm-water, and improving irrigation techniques. But instead of actually tackling these problems on my own, my role will again be to motivate and teach leaders within the community new skills in order to allow them to improve their own community. It is this approach that I most enjoyed within Mali, and Kenya will allow me to continue.

Additionally, the upcoming stage will be the first Water and Sanitation stage in Kenya. This is a brand new program. And therefore, the country staff is anxious to admit experienced Water and Sanitation volunteers into their program. In that way, my fellow transfers and I (there are three of us from Mali) will be entrusted with assisting in the training of new volunteers within the sector.

On the other front, whenever people think of Africa, Kenya is one of the first countries that comes to mind. It offers a bewildering diversity of wildlife and geography, making it Africa's leader in safaris. Coming from Mali, which is largely void of natural treasures (although its people and culture make up for this tenfold), this is very enticing.

Kenya is also home to a host of ethnic groups with cultures certainly far different than those in West Africa. I look forward to the experience of living amongst a new group of people and the cultural exchange which goes along with it. Plus, I get to learn Swahili, which is actually a very useful language across a wide swath of East Africa. Kenya is an English-speaking country, so I will also have English to fall back on.

So in the end, I decided that this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. It affords me the chance to spend a year in a beautiful, diverse country doing work which I love.

'Alla sɔnna' (God willing), this will be as rewarding an experience as Mali was for me. But that is a hell of a standard to live up to. Mali has become a part of me, and my friends in Makili have become family. I am not making this decision with hopes of replicating that experience. This will be a completely different, unique experience in its own right. Whatever happens, I know that I will be challenged and will emerge a better, stronger person on the other side.

I am going to be here in Ghana touring the countryside until next Wednesday, at which point I will fly back to Raleigh. Our staging date for Kenya is June 4th. Up until that point, I will be in America visiting friends and family, and preparing for this next adventure.