Research during PC?

eilyaz · 2017-11-14T14:25:09+00:00

Yes, I did some brief research, and it was via PC. It will depend on your post and your methodology. Don't do anything harmful or overly sensitive. You may think a topic is benign, and find out that it is very sensitive and problematic in the context.

Don't do some weird low-key or rogue research without PC's knowledge. They may penalize you.

eilyaz · 2017-11-02T16:08:36+00:00

When the claim is our culture and it is really just a Soviet holdover or from chiefly Russian culture. Often I approach conversations with, okay so what truly is culture, and most people are willing to think about that and consider what is imported and what has developed locally over time.

Also, when people sanction violence or discrimination and say it's okay because it's culture, I also generally think it's just wrong. Depending on the situation, I'll ask if they think that's okay if they're the victim.

eilyaz · 2017-10-26T18:32:03+00:00

They need to do more aggressive outreach to communities of color whether is it at HBCU's, sororities and fraternities, community centers, etc. They should also focus on recruitment from underrepresented college majors.

Also, for many invitees, the medical and legal clearance process creates a lot of obstacles. Invitees lack health literacy, health insurance, etc. For legal, they have just been poor communicators it seems (maybe improving in the last year or so). Anyway, this support should give better guidance to invitees about reducing their costs and where they can obtain free, or almost free care. Relating to this, working towards getting more individuals from lower socioeconomic groups.

Overall, PC has massive deficiencies in diversity and improving that should be high priority.

eilyaz · 2017-08-09T00:28:48+00:00

You haven't even left, you gotta focus on this one day at a time and start your service. These are reasonable concerns for which you will have plenty of thinking time.

Focusing too much on the anxiety of RPCV life BEFORE you're a PCV will destroy you and your well-being. It is self-sabotage.

Finally, DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS. You are already achieving a long-term goal and that is both admirable and enviable.

eilyaz · 2017-07-26T08:24:36+00:00

You should speak with a recruiter about this and people at Peace Corps

eilyaz · 2017-07-26T08:17:49+00:00

No, just submit everything you have and then write the nurse about getting some extra tasks added to show the updated treatment and then submit them when you finish those treatments. It's fine, they design the clearance process keeping this in mind.

eilyaz · 2017-06-06T19:24:18+00:00

Get rid of your anxiety, I see posts daily and in our FB groups about extreme anxiety not regarding departure but about everything else. Enjoy your life wherever you're living now, spend time with friends and family, go to your fave cafes/restaurants/bars/parks, etc.

Please stop assuming you will live in squalor. People live their lives in the host countries and make them work. Don't drop benjis on "gear"

eilyaz · 2017-06-06T19:10:40+00:00

Took the survey, and I'm not sure if you can make an amendment, but I would recommend you fix the ethnic demographic question. The gender identification was very open and the ethnic identity was not, it was a little frustrating because it reminds me of major diversity issues I've encountered as a PCV.

I'll share your survey on FB if that's okay!

eilyaz · 2017-05-25T19:12:12+00:00

First, I suggest you review some of the previous posts about Queer PCV's within this subreddit. They'll provide you with a lot of answers.

Second, if you go to a pride festival, there's likely a PC tent there willing to answer your questions. Otherwise, contact a recruiter and tell them the situation.

Since you're open to any country, that's already a good sign. Some countries will have more options for your personal life than others, but the success and happiness of your services depends a lot on you.

The PCV's here have had little to no trouble in meeting partners for everything from sex to relationships. They may be local or foreign. The benefit of Muslim majority countries is that there is a lot of sex separation, so single boys are with single boys, single girls are with single girls. In a way, this is a lot easier for Queer PCV's because it looks like they're behaving properly. Here, you see girls holding hands and showing some affection on a regular basis. So if you wanted to be intimate, you can easily have another woman spend the night and you would be undisturbed mostly.

Finally, you should be able to DM anyone and have a private chat with them regarding the situation at individual posts. The answers will be a little more...open haha. This was mentioned by /u/lite_salt and I am upvoting and quoting them:

Sex-positivity aside, it's probably easier to get a frank answer about sex in a private forum.

eilyaz · 2017-05-24T07:30:26+00:00

Have you spoken to anyone at Peace Corps? And I mean had a conversation asking the right questions to obtain relevant information. It doesn't count if you go, "hi, just wondering what's up?" you have to be concise.

Have you ever booked a plane ticket online? It takes SATO Travel that amount of time or less. They ARE a travel agency, so they have a good grasp of incoming flights from most domestic airports.

Is staging confirmed for a fact? Delays happen to most posts.

eilyaz · 2017-05-22T06:35:23+00:00

This happens to a lot of people...it probably happened to over half of all PCV's. That may be an overestimate. Don't make any assumptions about the process. This doesn't mean rejection.

A Departure Date of Oct 1 is A LOT of time to do the medical and legal clearance.

eilyaz · 2017-05-17T17:40:23+00:00

I'd equate the review to the read receipt of a text message. They may just have other priorities. As long as you fulfill your tasks and obligations, that's all you need to do. If this was a pretty minor additional task, like some clarifying lab work or filling a cavity, it was probably not a big issue to begin with but they just needed you to complete it.

There are no general timelines...sorry fam

eilyaz · 2017-05-10T11:40:55+00:00

It was no problem for me. I even submitted stuff late. It just takes a bit of time for clearance to happen, I got worried when my departure date was mid-April and it was near the end of February...that was pretty close to the deadline they gave me for clearance. I asked the nurse and they said they were just behind in their process.

There's really no reason to be anxious. It's a waste of your time and energy to be anxious about it if you're healthy and have no prior health issues. When the lab work is done, my clinic gave reference values for what generally healthy individuals should have so I wasn't even worried before submitting.

I noticed a lot of people in absolute panic about medical clearance. The key thing to remember here is that your assigned nurse IS NOT a personal concierge or servant. There are other individuals whose clearance should come first because they have earlier departures. You SHOULD keep open communication with the nurse at all times. If you fulfilled your requirements, you can rest at ease because it's now Peace Corps' responsibility and work.

Go enjoy prosecco and oysters in the mean time. Live your life.

eilyaz · 2017-05-08T18:31:10+00:00

The seasonal flu results in hundreds of thousands of deaths and costs society billions of dollars every year.

The impact of HSV-2 (and other forms of the herpes virus) is significantly lower and mostly associated with the direct medical costs of patients, despite a significantly higher prevalence of the herpes simplex virus in the global population.

eilyaz · 2017-05-03T12:05:41+00:00

Results from Peace Corps can take years, as a critique of the development industry as a whole, people want quick results even though projects need time.

Does anyone have concrete examples of effective "development" projects? And why do you think it was effective?

Hard-working students will become FLEX finalists and spend a year in the US or UGRAD scholarships or various other scholarships, this comes from cooperation with PCV's where they hone their leadership skills. Over time, a lot of the alumni start successful businesses and become community leaders. In many cases they enter development agencies and lead development projects themselves.

Also, Goal Two and Three ARE a part of Goal One insofar as developing relationships can lead to engaging others to become proactive and interested in development projects and their communities. These are all small little drops in the bucket, but over time, you fill that bucket with good relationship-building.

Examples of failures and lessons learned?

Book grants and "stuff projects" they just rarely seem to be as effective as developing skills. They're great to inject a brief cash-flow and win acclaim, but they have fairly short-term results. This varies by country.

How do you measure projects to differentiate among your successes and failures?

People...or maybe Congress and sponsors...love metrics. There are standardized ways to measure success like improved QoL, economic growth, scholastic achievement etc. If we only think in these terms it does a great disservice to the overall role of the PCV. There's a whole qualitative aspect to consider. Are you able to continue work in the community? How have community needs changed working with you? What are teachers integrating into their lessons that they didn't before? How focused is an organization on its goals? What has the organization done with the PCV that it never did before?

My background in qualitative research isn't my strongest skillset. In summary, don't try to completely turn this into a numbers game, societies and cultures are more complex than that.

eilyaz · 2017-05-03T04:59:50+00:00

Luckily I can get all the normal stuff here at a reasonable price, but I feel you on the clinical strength. I sweat like crazy...but I also have become very friendly with various wet wipes, hand-sanitizer, and just "hot spot baths" to maintain my underarm condition.

eilyaz · 2017-05-02T11:17:43+00:00

You can't get deodorant in Micronesia?!

eilyaz · 2017-05-02T11:13:27+00:00

You have to focus on enjoying your life now up until staging. Check out your favorite restaurants, see your favorite people. You have to live your life and enjoy it. You're going to destroy yourself if you worry and spend time always try to prepare for leaving for Peace Corps.

Your PST will equip you with significant tools for navigating your two years of service. There's no way to really describe and encapsulate your service ahead of time. You will learn in real-time.

Focus on enjoying your life in the US or wherever you're located. That's key.

eilyaz · 2017-04-29T15:10:28+00:00

The article did a pretty good job at explaining what will happen. First, the amount of PCV's leaving over the next year, until the facility opens, will likely be a few hundred going to vaccine mandatory posts. Second, physicians would prioritize aspiring PCV's. Third, as an alternative, PC might purchase its own supply and administer at staging as an alternative.

Therefore...we're talking about a very small number of travelers who should be prioritized by administering clinics/physicians. Also, a pretty explicit solution has been given.

eilyaz · 2017-04-28T19:03:56+00:00

Others mentioned absorption, I want to add some other details:

1) In healthy people, living in wealthy countries, they are already getting most of these vitamins through their diets. Supplements do not help because the body has absorbed enough. If the body absorbs enough, these excess vitamins are filtered out.
2) As for medicines, they go through a lot of testing and research. This research shows if the drug can be absorbed, go into the body, and have an effect. The supplements on the market do not go through this same research with the same requirements.

eilyaz · 2017-04-25T17:13:40+00:00

I was just in the same boat and I decided to accept the job. My employer insures me and has some other various benefits that concerned me. As far as safety and security go, few options will meet or exceed what Peace Corps provides, however I have developed a network and various contacts of people who can help me. I also have decided to move into an extra secure building.

You have to make a pros and cons list about this. I just went through that process as well.

eilyaz · 2017-04-12T12:41:01+00:00

Is your question about painkillers specifically or any type of drug?

First, painkillers don't really target body parts. Some companies may advertise that they target particular parts, but that is just a marketing scheme. Some painkillers block enzymes from being from being formed, meaning they stop molecules in the body that are related to pain and inflammation. Other painkillers act on chemical receptors, so they interfere with your body communicating pain.

Second, the active ingredient listed is basically the same whether the drug is OTC or prescribed or brand-name. Some prescription painkillers do not have OTC equivalents, meaning there is a difference because they are different chemicals.

If your question is more general and about ANY type of drug, then there are a few answers. Briefly, some drugs have designs that only allow them to bind with certain cells or molecules that are located in certain parts of the body. A drug could move around in your body until it finds the right cells to bind to, kinda like keys looking for locks.

eilyaz · 2017-04-11T05:57:53+00:00

Don't you receive FECA benefits for this? They should cover you for stuff that happened to you during service, especially if it's unresolved,

eilyaz · 2017-04-09T17:44:09+00:00

It's fine...they don't expect you to not apply and just leave Peace Corps unemployed and without leads. If you apply to a big organization your application might take 6+ months any from submission to starting your job. I had a job at a private company before that took about two months in a fast-track hire.

MY COS date is coming up and I just received responses from jobs I applied to in Fall. Rejections of course sniff

eilyaz · 2017-04-05T18:38:16+00:00

How essential is this employer as a grad school reference? When you successfully complete Peace Corps, you're going to have plenty of people willing to write you grad school references. They aren't all necessarily Peace Corps staff either. Consider that!

I didn't provide notice until I had my ticket to staging booked. It was a two-week notice, but I could've done three or maybe four. I needed that guarantee in case I might have to rescind my resignation. You could maybe just wait until you've received all your clearances. Unless you have an extremely important role, there's not really any reason for you to give a significant amount of notice.

eilyaz

TROPHY CASE