Making Sense of Four Turbulent Years

July 4, 2010. This is the date when everything changed. Up until that point, I lived what you may call a 'normal' life; from school, to college, to steady employment as a civil engineer. I may have been generally successful, but I certainly wasn't content.

This date marked my arrival in Bamako, Mali. The start of my first endeavor on international soil. I was now officially a Peace Corps Trainee, learning a new language and preparing to live and work in a rural Malian village for two years.

Fast forward four years and 25 days later...

July 29, 2014. Departing Manila's Ninoy Aquino Airport, I found it hard to put it all into perspective. I had just completed my final international assignment before graduate school.

Between these two dates, I have served in three different capacities within the US Peace Corps. And unfortunately, only once did I successfully 'close-out' my assignment.

My two-year assignment as a Water and Sanitation Engineer in Mali was cut short when, in April 2012, political instability brought about by a coup d'état forced all 180 volunteers to evacuate. My five-month assignment as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer, serving as a Disaster Risk Reduction Program Specialist in the Philippines, came to a premature end after just one and a half months when I had to resign due to a violation of Peace Corps' motorcycle usage ban.

The one assignment that ended as expected was as a Public Health Extension Agent in Kenya. I successfully closed-out my service, abbreviated due to my prior stint in Mali, after one year.

Leaving Mali was the lowest point in these past four years. Going to bed one night confident that I still had five months remaining, only to wake up the following morning knowing that I'd be gone within a week was devastating. My close friends in village and I counted on that remaining time together, both to tie up the loose ends of our projects and to share in our remaining time together. Fortunately, I found the time to return for a one-month visit before departing for the Philippines. Although far from ideal, this trip gave me the 'closure', both personally and professionally, that I desperately longed for.

In the Philippines, I stumbled my way through a convoluted procedure at the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration and dedicated my own finances to see my assignment through to the end, regardless of the unfortunate circumstances with Peace Corps. I could not simply dismiss the commitment I made to this community I had grown to love.

Although my experience in the Peace Corps has been rather tumultuous, I can confidently state that I have made the most of it. I will cherish the friends I have made and the experiences we've shared throughout my lifetime. And although the many projects we had undertaken together have shown varying degrees of success and failure, as a whole, I believe that these communities are better today for the effort.

I know with 100% certainty that I am better today for the effort. My professional development is the easiest change to quantify. Four years ago I was nearly five years into a career which, simply put, did not engage me heart and soul. Nothing is wrong with civil engineering, it just wasn't for me.

Today, I am preparing to begin studies at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs for a Masters in Public Affairs with a concentration in Development Studies. I have a wide range of experiences in West Africa, East Africa, and the Asia-Pacific Region to draw from in the future. The projects I have designed and those I have observed from a distance have given me a better understanding of what particular elements are required to render development projects sustainable. In two years, I plan to use my experiences, specifically in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) and DRRM (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) sectors, to embark upon a career in international development to change current development strategies in order to render them more sustainable.

I have always been a rather independent person. Living in foreign countries where English gets you nowhere and local culture is, at first blush, so different from your own that relating to your neighbors appears impossible is bound to enhance this trait. But I would like to argue that, in addition to gaining confidence in my abilities to survive on my own, I have more importantly learned to better live alongside people.

I am blessed to have been assigned to three very different communities that, in spite of these differences, have shown me amazing hospitality and good will. Many of the people I now count as my closest friends reside in these three foreign countries. Living amongst these people without all of the distractions of our hyperactive society has taught me to slow down and enjoy the 'now', in the company of those around me. I have learned to listen, to take an unencumbered interest in the lives of those around me.

I learned to 'yala yala' in Mali, walking about the village with no particular purpose but to greet anyone I met, socialize, and build community. I spent all of my free time drinking tea and chatting with friends into the wee hours of the night, becoming close to the village as a whole. In Kenya, these habits at first drew curiosity from the locals. "Are you trying to run for Mayor?," one man once asked. But the community quickly rallied around me. The Philippines demanded a more rigid work schedule during the days, but I lived much like I did in Mali. Only that instead of tea, it was rum or brandy that was passed around into those wee hours. The community was different; I was part of a main group of friends, the 'Baraks', and spent much of my time at the church. 

In all three locations, my friends made life in trying circumstances anything but trying. I owe them for making these past four years the most enjoyable of my life and teaching me the true importance of community. I hope that I can bring these lessons home, even when my attention is diverted five different ways in our 'go-go' society.