ya basta with the bad press...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11corps.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

This article was recently brought to my attention by a good friend of mine, curious to hear the two cents of a current volunteer. Shortly thereafter, my parents brought it up- concerned, naturally, about my safety. After reading the article, I read each one of the two hundred something comments that followed at the time, the vast majority of which were posted by either current or Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Here are my thoughts…

The issue of sexual assault within our institution and Honduras has been a recurrent talking point for many of us, especially following ABC's 20/20 piece ran in January about several female volunteers who were sexually assaulted during their services (if you haven’t seen it, I recommend watching it… all three parts can be found on YouTube). The piece abruptly and, in my opinion, unfairly ends with one of those women asserting that she has young daughters herself, and that she would absolutely never allow them to apply to Peace Corps. While I recognize that what these women went through is inconceivably difficult, and even more so if you don’t have a receptive support system to go back to, I feel like the program showed an extremely biased, one-sided vision of how Peace Corps is. The fine folks over at ABC did absolutely nothing in the way of expressing admiration for the organization, its volunteers, and the experience they walk away with, which, according to countless individuals, is one of the most positive and enriching of their entire lives. They failed to mention the powerful relationships volunteers forge with their neighbors and community members, which undoubtedly do more to fortify the good name of Americans than other foreign ventures of The United States, and at a fraction of the price. This seems like an appropriate moment to mention that in its entire 50-year history, we have spent less money on the Peace Corps than one percent of the defense budget for just this year. How reassuring to see that our nation’s priorities are in the right place.

Several of those who left comments as well as the author herself mention a “blame the victim” culture that exists within Peace Corps as an institution. Countless fellow PCVs have informed me that our former Country Director, whom I had very minimal contact with as she was replaced only two months into my service, was no exception to this rule. When female volunteers came to her to report sexual assaults, she would inquire into and criticize what they were wearing at the time, or condemn them for being at that particular place in that moment. Obviously, this is deeply flawed not only due to the profound effects it will have on volunteers’ psyches, but also because they will inevitably feel dissuaded from reporting incidents in the future (not only sexual assaults but any security incidents). Peace Corps currently supports some 8,600 volunteers in 76 countries, and after seeing how much one volunteer’s life and work differs from another’s within the same country, I cannot begin to imagine the disparities, administrative ones included, that exist from country to country. Clearly, I can only speak from what has been my own experience. I feel like the staff here in Honduras- I speak primarily of our Safety and Security Coordinator and our new Country Director- are extremely approachable, receptive to our feedback and genuinely care about us as Volunteers. I am confident that they have done everything in their power to inform us and keep us informed of possible risks and how to avoid them (someone left a comment criticizing how our training places too much emphasis on preventive measures such as this, but what other option is there… tell us what we could have done after the fact??), place us in safe communities, and apprise us of the support systems that exist both within country and in Washington were something to happen to us. And the few people I know who, for whatever reasons, have had to turn to such networks have felt extremely supported. All I know is that I feel very safe here. And I support any legislation that is going to fortify the organization by making us safer and better seeing to the needs of those who have been subjected to such unimaginable acts. I just sincerely hope that all this bad press doesn’t eat away at and lead to (even more) funding cuts because Peace Corps is by leaps and bounds The United State's smartest investment in soft power, and we really are accomplishing wonderful things in our respective corners of the world.

That post was a little on the heavy side, I promise something más leve next time around. Over and out…