<p>Congo does NOT have any PC presence. They pulled out of there a while ago. Also, if your kiddo is a PCV, the PC issues travel alerts frequently on places to avoid, or where travel is prohibited to. </p>
<p>My DD lived in central Africa in a village without running water or electricity…and she loved it. This is my higher maintenance kiddo who went to college in CA. She liked her “creature comforts” but said it was NOT hard adapting to the local living conditions and culture. As noted in another post someplace, her country had two PC doctors who were on call 24/7. The kids all had cell phones, and speed dial. My kid said her medical care in PC was the best she has ever had.</p>
<p>The volunteers also receive a medical kit which has info on a LOT of things in it already. My kid also was issued an antibiotic for use if the doctor told her to start via phone. </p>
<p>I wondered how my kiddo would deal with living conditions very different than those here. It was a non-issue. And there were 70 other new volunteers in my kid’s group alone…lots of others to share information and grow with.</p>
<p>Yes, the lifestyle will be different than your suburban home. But really…it’s not unlivable!</p>
<p>DDs house during training had no indoor toilet and the second house had no shower; they poured water over themselves in the bath room. Water service would occasionally go out. The PC issued water bottles with filters for drinking water. Neither house had any heat besides a wood stove that was not connected to the bedrooms. The PC did issue them sleeping bags and space heaters, along with an allowance to pay the host family for the extra electricity the space heater used. There was no A/C and no fans, except for a small one she bought herself and left behind for her host family. </p>
<p>Her area had next-to no crime and she had excellent medical care. She came home, finished her master’s and went back overseas to live. She said one of the employees was complaining about living conditions and she told them they were crazy; it was way better than what she had had with the PC.</p>
<p>Her living stipend more than covered expenses, including her travel. She is very low maintenance anyway.</p>
<p>Which brings me to another concern. Some of your kids are done with their PC experience. Did it in fact help them directly with their career? Are they working? Do you think it has to be combined with a masters degree to really make a difference? Its an awful lot of preparation, to do …?</p>
<p>Almost grad…my kid has only been home since December…and will be apply to grad school for 2014. But I can comment on the other RPCV from our family. ALL found that having the PC on their resumes helped them with future employment and grad school. One got a MPH and PhD from Hopkins which is very friendly to applicants who have been in the PC. Plus the PC experience helped get that first job which involved work in third world countries. Another is an international investment banker. His experience in the PC also stood out in terms of his work and jobs overseas. </p>
<p>Sometimes you need to do an experience because it will help you grow as a person. The Peace Corps did this for our daughter…in addition to giving her the real life perspective from a very different place than where she grew up. We felt this was invaluable experience, and fully supported her decision.</p>
<p>The PC network is worldwide…and spans generations. It’s sort of like a huge alumni association. </p>
<p>Honestly, I can’t think why this would not be considered valuable experience for a person. It shows the ability to live independently, think quickly and problem solve, and work and grow in a new situation…all valuable life skills.</p>
<p>My cousin went to PC and he survived with contracting malaria, about 20 years ago. I don’t know if that experience paved his way to earn a Phd in Harvard. But he is the only one in our generation who had the honor to do both.</p>
<p>I know several people, both lots older & younger than I am with PC experience.
I’ve met many more. I’ve never heard anyone say they regretted it.
Ymmv</p>
<p>Almostgrad…this needs to be your KID’S decision. If your son decides to pursue a PC application, please try to be supportive. The reality is he could do the entire application process and receive an appointment without your permission. But that he has brought this up as an option with you means he wants your support. Please try to give it.</p>
<p>Sometimes we parents project our fears and worries into situations. 20 something kids really see things through a different lens…thank goodness. </p>
<p>If your son is at all unsure about his decision to pursue the Peace Corps, this will come across in his interview…and the process will end. </p>
<p>I am glad that my kids’ generation is willing to take the benefits that go along with the challenges of being in the Peace Corps. As noted upstream, we know at least 20 returned volunteers…and none regret their experience, and in fact say it was a positive life changing experience.</p>
<p>I should add, in my daughter’s group of 70, there were a bunch that were in their 30s and older.</p>
<p>My DD did her PC service from June 2009 to Aug 2011. She came home finished her master’s (she was doing the Master’s International program), and went to Turkey for at least two years to work. She absolutely loves Turkey. She was hired and left 8 days later, which she said was something she could have never done without already doing something like the Peace Corps. Her service pretty much made her an immediate hire.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the support you are giving me, yes I realize this is my sons decision. He has always been an adventurous, industrious kid, hard worker, but not very good sitting behind a desk, (but thank goodness he is getting through college), and anxious to experience the world. Yes, thank God they’re young. We are older parents, and he is our only child, so its hard if we have to loose him for 2 years. We are anxious to see him on his path to having a career, and being self supportive, but maybe that doesn’t happen right out of college. People have told me that the PC would be good if he has a clear direction of what to do afterwards; he doesn’t, it is evolving.</p>
<p>As thumper1 mentioned above, the application process takes some time so, if your son is considering PC, he should start now. Throughout the process there is a lot of time and space for reflection and conversation. I also browsed a number of blogs and they run the gamut (so, no, they are not always reassuring.) Also, be aware that placement is not a given. I know of two people who applied, but didn’t join. One was told she needed some additional education which she didn’t want to get. Another, with a degree in botany, was discovered to have an allergy to corn during the medical review. Her placement as an agriculture agent was rescinded. She was offered an alternative placement teaching, but she wasn’t interested. While applying to PC your son should be thinking about alternatives.</p>
<p>We are excited for our daughter, but, yes, it’s been hard for us as well to think about her being gone for more than two years. And not to minimize your love and concern for your son, but having a son and a daughter, our fears for our daughter are generally greater. (Our son is not in the military which would involve a whole other level of concern.)</p>
<p>As an FYI, our daughter did NOT have a clear direction for her future when she applied to, and served her PC assignment. However, during that 27 months, she DID figure out what she wants to do next…all while doing something very interesting and productive as a PCV.</p>
<p>One of our kids has spent time working in NGOs overseas in developing nations, though has yet to apply for the PC. It coud be in her post-graduate school future, as her field is international educational development. </p>
<p>I recently worked with a graduate student who had just returned from PC work in Africa. He worked in a rapid paced, innovative role that required much thinking on his feet. He excelled at it all, calm under fire in a way that belied his age. He was very good at shifting gears and working with complex personalities. My guess is that he set off for the PC as a grounded young man, but gained even more skills and maturity while there. I have had similar observations about several other PC volunteers. </p>
<p>Like all parents, concerns about our kids’ safety exist. With a child likely to pursue this type of career, we anticipate some issues specific to where she is located. PC work does however, offer many opportunities for personal growth, as well as educational pursuits and career development. It is not for everyone, but if the fit is right, it can be worthwhile in my observation. Good luck!</p>
<p>Son says that if you apply by November, you would leave sometime between July and Sept of 2014, which would give him enough time to graduate college.
Just for arguments sake, what happens if he applies, and gets a job opportunity within the year that he doesn’t want to pass up?</p>
<p>He can withdraw his Peace Corps application at any time.</p>
<p>Sample of three…each completed their PC application in August prior to the start of their senior year in college. All three received their appointments right around graduation and left in September after their graduation. A year from application to departure. 2010, 2012 and this year.</p>
<p>Just decided to see if this post is still current.
My son still says he’s applying to the Peace Corp, but hasn’t yet. He’s gone to meetings, and spoke to them at a career fair and showed them his resume which shows past humanitarian trips.
I’m supportive in theory, but when it happens, I’ll be a basket case.
In the mean time he is hoping to get an internship he applied for, helping place international refugee’s.
I am happy he is focused.
Anyone interviewing for PC?</p>
<p>Almostgrad…keep me in your loop. As you know from my posts, our family is a PC family. The sixth volunteer is currently serving from our family.</p>
<p>thumper1, Great Lakes mom, mini- thanks for your words of encouragement months ago on this thread when I shared that D3 was soon to be joining PC in Peru. She has been there for 3 months and, as she put it, has “hit the PC lottery”. Many who hear that her mountainous placement renders her with no cell phone coverage and no Internet think she has lost her mind. Yet she is very content and very appreciative of this opportunity to reach beyond her comfort zone, make new friends, share knowledge, change lives and be changed. 40% of the residents of her village speak only Quechua so she is learning that indigenous language in addition to improving her Spanish! I am so happy for her :)</p>