We've been evacuated to Armenia for about 3 weeks now. It's a beautiful country with a fascinating culture but hopefully our hosts will understand when I say I wish it was under different circumstances and that I was hoping for my stay to be a little shorter. We've known for about a week now that we're not going back to Georgia, Russia has been slow to withdraw and the conflict spread way beyond what anyone thought was going to happen. Boredom is probably the word to describe our time here. We've spent our time hanging out, getting bad news about Georgia, and speculating about our future. We have pretty nice accommodations here (especially for Peace Corps) but everything loses its novelty at some point, particularly when you have nothing to do.
There’s been several options discussed for us here: we can go home to America, we can try to transfer to another Peace Corps country, or we can sit and wait for Georgia.
The last option isn't really an option any longer; we were hopeful at the beginning but it becomes less and less likely with each passing day. The Russians haven't exactly been cooperative and Peace Corps answers to Congress (and our families) if something bad happens to us. The PC office will not be closing in Tbilisi, our staff will continue to work in the country assessing its safety for volunteers, its needs and ways in which Peace Corps can assist. There will be no PCV's in the country for some time though while the assessment goes on.
Some of the 2007 and a few of the 2008 (my group) volunteers are organizing non-PC trips back to the country in the coming weeks to work with NGO's they had relationships with while they were volunteers or assist in the relief effort in general. Plenty of people are job hunting on Georgian websites now but it'll be some time before the formal aid programs shape up and a lot of the work will be unpaid until then. I love Georgia dearly and it would be great to go back but I don't really have the money or the language skills to participate in the rebuilding right now.
Transfers are another option but a tricky one. A lot of you know what a hassle (and paperwork) I went through to get into Peace Corps, it's exactly as much hassle (and paperwork) to get out. Now imagine trying to get out of one PC program and into another at the same time. Now add in a war and I think you'll have an idea of the current situation. A transfer would be my preferred option but a lot of stars have to align to make that happen so we'll see. Some other PC posts have come to us and said they'd be willing to take transfer PCV's so we're looking into it. More on this later if it happens.
Going home is pretty attractive for a lot of people. Peace Corps has offered us the chance to have Close of Service (COS) which is like an honorable discharge is for the military. It means, in the eyes of Peace Corps, you've successfully completed your service and all the duties it required. It also means fellowships, access to Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) networks and career services. For the 2008 volunteers we'll be separated with 6 months of our readjustment allowance (we've accrued about 3 right now) to help transition from the evacuation in addition from our free ticket home (or cash-in-lieu).
The COS option is a really good deal for us and we owe a special thanks to our staff who went to D.C. and demanded this for us. Peace Corps didn't have to offer us this and it means a lot that someone was fighting for us.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I'm looking at transfer options but it's pretty nerve racking. While I really want to continue my service There's plenty of outstanding questions about whether that would work and the COS offer is pretty attractive. If I took the cash I could travel around Europe for a bit, see some family (I've already contacted a lot of relatives who seemed excited for me to come visit them) and I could always re-up later. We've also been promised priority for placement as part of the COS package. This means if any of us reapply for Peace Corps we'd move to the top of this list and have a good chance at getting preferences honored if we wanted.
It's not an easy choice and we're getting information at an excruciatingly slow pace so it's back to "wait and see" for now. As definition forms around each option I'll do my best to keep everyone in touch, weigh all the pros and cons, and do my best not to go crazy from cabin fever.
There’s been several options discussed for us here: we can go home to America, we can try to transfer to another Peace Corps country, or we can sit and wait for Georgia.
The last option isn't really an option any longer; we were hopeful at the beginning but it becomes less and less likely with each passing day. The Russians haven't exactly been cooperative and Peace Corps answers to Congress (and our families) if something bad happens to us. The PC office will not be closing in Tbilisi, our staff will continue to work in the country assessing its safety for volunteers, its needs and ways in which Peace Corps can assist. There will be no PCV's in the country for some time though while the assessment goes on.
Some of the 2007 and a few of the 2008 (my group) volunteers are organizing non-PC trips back to the country in the coming weeks to work with NGO's they had relationships with while they were volunteers or assist in the relief effort in general. Plenty of people are job hunting on Georgian websites now but it'll be some time before the formal aid programs shape up and a lot of the work will be unpaid until then. I love Georgia dearly and it would be great to go back but I don't really have the money or the language skills to participate in the rebuilding right now.
Transfers are another option but a tricky one. A lot of you know what a hassle (and paperwork) I went through to get into Peace Corps, it's exactly as much hassle (and paperwork) to get out. Now imagine trying to get out of one PC program and into another at the same time. Now add in a war and I think you'll have an idea of the current situation. A transfer would be my preferred option but a lot of stars have to align to make that happen so we'll see. Some other PC posts have come to us and said they'd be willing to take transfer PCV's so we're looking into it. More on this later if it happens.
Going home is pretty attractive for a lot of people. Peace Corps has offered us the chance to have Close of Service (COS) which is like an honorable discharge is for the military. It means, in the eyes of Peace Corps, you've successfully completed your service and all the duties it required. It also means fellowships, access to Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) networks and career services. For the 2008 volunteers we'll be separated with 6 months of our readjustment allowance (we've accrued about 3 right now) to help transition from the evacuation in addition from our free ticket home (or cash-in-lieu).
The COS option is a really good deal for us and we owe a special thanks to our staff who went to D.C. and demanded this for us. Peace Corps didn't have to offer us this and it means a lot that someone was fighting for us.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I'm looking at transfer options but it's pretty nerve racking. While I really want to continue my service There's plenty of outstanding questions about whether that would work and the COS offer is pretty attractive. If I took the cash I could travel around Europe for a bit, see some family (I've already contacted a lot of relatives who seemed excited for me to come visit them) and I could always re-up later. We've also been promised priority for placement as part of the COS package. This means if any of us reapply for Peace Corps we'd move to the top of this list and have a good chance at getting preferences honored if we wanted.
It's not an easy choice and we're getting information at an excruciatingly slow pace so it's back to "wait and see" for now. As definition forms around each option I'll do my best to keep everyone in touch, weigh all the pros and cons, and do my best not to go crazy from cabin fever.
1 comment:
Joe,
What a hard decision to make. May God and good sense guide you. What an experience you have had--by the way, loved the story about the dog bite and I agree, you will be drinking on it for years!!!! Whatever you decide, I know it will be the right thing for you.
Love,
Juli
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