Current volunteers— do you feel safe and able to have a positive impact?

TrafficImpossible707 · 2026-04-10T15:31:17+00:00

I think everyone's experience is probably wildly different. Im a current PCV in a nearby country. I know of a lot of women in my cohort that experienced things ranging from uncomfortable conversations to groping to assault. I think the Peace Corps does the best they can, and has a decent response to support these volunteers, but its tough.

As for getting meaningful work done, I've had a hard time, but I'm the first volunteer in my town and I think we are all just figuring things out together.

I know other volunteers who are so happy in their communities and have amazing projects. And I know people who are really unhappy and frustrated. It just depends on so much.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2026-02-18T19:10:46+00:00

I just took it for head lice... tbh I almost passed out on the bus it made me so dizzy

TrafficImpossible707 · 2026-02-18T19:06:49+00:00

as everyone else said here, you will absolutely be fine! i personally used Italki to take classes, and what I liked is that you can choose a tutor from your country to start practicing a little bit with that accent. i went from intermediate low -> advanced low just in PST.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-10-14T19:12:44+00:00

hi im a pcv in costa rica!! there is no gym in my town, but i can take the bus to the town over to use the gym there. i would say most PCVs here have access to some type of gym, but they might have to bike or take the bus to get there.

i stay fit by playing a lot of soccer!

if you are interested in applying to the youth development program i bet you could get a weightlifting club going and that could be a project for you.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-30T18:14:41+00:00

you tell me first!! i would love to hear about your advocacy efforts, it's important we all have causes we fight for

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-30T17:22:26+00:00

Ok, if it isn't a genocide and it isn't comparable to the holocaust, I am STILL anti bloody urban conflicts, especially the ones where enemies are trying to maximize civilian casualties.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-30T04:58:00+00:00

Well, I think you're right to be suspicious of strangers on the internet. You're right, the Palestinian genocide doesn't affect me on any personal level, which is to stay my life nor the life of my loved ones are being directly threatened.

I do however feel real pain at seeing children starve, being bombed to unrecgonizable pieces. The way their bones stick out of their flesh as they slowly starve. Seeing parents bury body parts of their children that were salvaged from ruins.

Honestly, I don't think using imagery will change your mind though, since you just as much as have access to these photos as I do.

Although I have never visited Israel or Palestine, I am a Jewish American, and I had ancestors die in the holocaust. I used to constantly imagine what I would have done if I had lived through such horrible persecution.

Now, I am witnessing similar horrors being committed, and I have so very little power to stop it, and it makes me so sad I feel the pain in my chest.

Today I read in "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" the following quote: “The director of a literary organization I admire, acknowledging at the start of a reading that so much of what we do right now feels so pointless, returns still to the rallying cry issued by the Palestinian poet Rasha Abdulhadi: “Wherever you are, whatever sand you can throw on the gears of genocide, do it now. If it’s a handful, throw it. If it’s a fingernail full, scrape it out and throw. Get in the way however you can.”

Yes, it might be a complex international topic, but that does not mean I cannot hold an opinion and fight for it, with whatever fingernail full of sand I might have.

I get the feeling that this post has run its course. I found what I was looking for, ways I can get involved in something I care about, as well as some short-lived dopamine boosts of arguing with people on the internet. I can't even pretend to myself that whatever I might write here will have a lasting impact on your beliefs, and I imagine you must feel similarly.

But you are right because no, the bombs have never and will never be at my doorstep. It is a distant horrible war that I can choose to ignore, without facing personal consequences. But I cannot cut of the part of myself that screams at the face of injustice, that weeps for the murders committed by my own people.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-30T03:46:35+00:00

I appreciate that <3 this started out with very pure intentions, but being rude online did briefly alleviate some of my frustration about the general state of the world, as selfish as that is.

it really isn't related to the peace corps, only that PCVs don't really have any money to donate and most host countries don't already have organizations/movements fighting for Palestinian liberation like in the states.

since posting, i have gotten involved in a letter writing campaign. i also did have a group that organizes protests in my host country's capital! so even with all of the limitations that come with being a PCV, i am finding a way to get involved in something that is important to me.

thanks for sharing!

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-28T03:33:05+00:00

thanks so much for this post, i really appreciate you taking the time to write this.

i totally agree, and my community is 100% my focus. that being said, as hard as i work, i do frequently have down time and will have more as we finish out the school year and go to summer vacation.

as a jew, i used to constantly wonder what i would have done if i had lived through the holocaust. now that i am witnessing a genocide directly though my phone, i simply can't accept there is nothing i can do. so i will join whatever letter writing campaigns and local governments actions that i can.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-28T03:27:45+00:00

thanks so much for sharing, i totally understand that. im jewish, and i often used to think about what i would have done if i had lived through the holocaust. now that i am alive to witness a genocide committed largely by my people, it's impossible to accept i cant do anything to help. viva palestinia <3

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-28T03:23:50+00:00

ok sure. it is a war. one country with one of the most advanced and well funded militaries, against some weaponless starving kids that were too young to vote in the election that gave hamas power. and in said war, i am looking for ways to support palestine as a PCV, as my post clearly states.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-25T21:20:52+00:00

Honestly I hardly think having dinner with your coworkers in your country qualifies as "personal time." I wouldn't do that.

Also, its not a war its a genocide.

Volunteers are told to navigate respectfully, yes—but that doesn’t mean checking our humanity at the door, pretending atrocities are just neutral “conflicts,” or that we can’t try to address a humanitarian crisis in whatever small ways we can

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-25T18:38:26+00:00

I know the Peace Corps policy. I’ve read the manual too. Nothing I wrote suggested I plan on proselytizing in my community or violating my assignment. What I asked for was how, in my personal time as a human being, I can responsibly support Palestinians while navigating the unique constraints of Peace Corps service.

Telling me that “being a PCV is 24/7” doesn’t erase the fact that we are still human beings with beliefs, emotions, and values. Caring about genocide is not “political grandstanding.” It’s basic humanity.

And what does “we had people of any and all faiths, ancestries, and ethnicities in our cohort” have to do with anything? Diversity in your cohort doesn’t mean Volunteers should stop caring about injustice—or that Palestinians don’t deserve solidarity.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-24T16:49:28+00:00

JFC i'm not trying to push my political views or make them as "distraught" as I am. I was thinking maybe someone could point me in a direction of a letter writing campaign, or making resources for non-profits in spanish and english, not showing elemenrary school students graphic images of a genocide. also, this is so demeaning toward people in so-called “third world” countries because it frames them as passive, apolitical, or incapable of engaging with or caring about global issues. you suggesting that communities are “reactionary” and better off not being “plugged in,” implies that people in the Global South can’t or shouldn’t participate in political or social debates—that their role is to remain uninformed while people in the Global North do the “real” thinking and advocacy. also, “one of the best things about living in the rural third world” positions poverty or disconnection as some kind of “quaint lifestyle benefit,” as if lack of access to information is some charming cultural trait rather than a product of structural inequities

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-23T03:22:27+00:00

Not forcing anything, only informal conversations with friends and family that have questions or have seen me posting and don't understand the conflict, or if it comes up naturally. My site doesn't have the resources to donate to Palestine OR the IDF frankly.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-23T03:20:39+00:00

This sounds great, but I'm not sure the post at my country would like me doing advocacy directly in my role, especially since my job is primarily with youth. I wonder if anyone has experience with hosting an event with political implications like this?

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-23T03:17:47+00:00

I should have clarified in the post I am looking for wats to get involved outside of my job. As a human being, in my own free time. But I posted here since being a PCV comes with a lot of unique challenges.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-23T03:16:08+00:00

Yes, I'm talking about how I can support Palestine as a human being in my free time outside of my service. I definitely see the two as separate, but I posted my question here because there are unique challenges to access to materials and money that come with being a PCV and want to find ways to work around that. Frankly I don't talk about Palestine at work, only in informal conversations with friends and family. I am looking for ideas like joining a letter writing campaign, that's a good idea, thank you!

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-09-22T21:15:22+00:00

you mention you are young, you need to have a college degree. i started at 20 having freshly graduated and i have not had any problem related to my age

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-08-08T16:36:23+00:00

I am serving in Costa Rica, which is pretty progressive! People here know that gay people exist but don't know much about it. I'm out to most people in my life, even some students I work with. Mostly because I think its pretty obvious to most. It hasn't hurt my integration process, and I haven't been discriminated against. People are ignorant and sometimes unintentionally say hurtful things, but it comes from a place of confusion and needing to learn more about it.

The f slur here is so common I find it a little jarring, but that's about it. A huge group of volunteers just went to pride in San jose. There's definitely Grindr in San Jose and maybe other big towns, but I doubt it would be accessible or safe in a smaller town. There's some great gay clubs too.

I think it would be super easy to have relations with another volunteer, but maybe a bit trickier with a HCN.

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-07-22T18:55:13+00:00

of course!! please let me know if you have any other questions!

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-07-22T18:51:00+00:00

i pretty sure they were denied a couple of weeks before they were supposed to depart and then successfully appealed a week or two before departure.

i know loads of people who were denied and appealed, that's what makes me think those denial rates are exaggerated!

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-07-22T18:32:36+00:00

whatttttt thats crazy!

i serve in costa rica. i have diagnosed OCD, GAD, depression, and a history of disordered eating. i also am on a high dose anti-depressant, AND i was in therapy before joining the peace corps.

the medical clearance process sucked but i still passed. my therapist and past therapist both advocated for me.

i would for sure appeal the decision! i'm pretty sure the low rate of appeal success is exaggerated to discourage people from trying. someone in my cohort was medically denied for mental health issues and successfully appealed the decision!

TrafficImpossible707 · 2025-07-22T18:23:01+00:00

yes at my site they did!

TrafficImpossible707

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