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The country is "50% Muslim, 50% Christian, and 100% animist", The further north you go the more Muslim it gets, the further south the more Christian. Drinking is common and legal. I've seen more than one Muslim man walk into a bar, neatly fold his prayer cap, place it in his pocket, do a shot of Pastis and leave. scenes from a street in Yako:   
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May 17, 2020 07:14
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The_Continental posted:
I would. You've mentioned it earlier that for cultural reasons many girls do not proceed to the high school equivalent. It's my understanding that girls not being educated is a thing because it's thought they shouldn't be educated. How do you reconcile attitudes like that with your mission.
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May 17, 2020 08:03
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What if your a goon who will won’t integrate. Has all food air dropped. And ships in a generator and solar for playing games and netflix.
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May 17, 2020 08:19
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Methanar posted:I would. Well there needs to be a significant amount of groundwork before a volunteer is invited. In the case of Girls Education, it was national policy that more girls should be attending school, which was in line with The UN Millennium Challenge goals. Educators and regional directors identified a need for support, and Peace Corps helps by providing them with qualified workers to help out. Obviously, you are going to run into some cultural issues. Personally, I never felt it was within my job description to convince someone that their daughter should attend school. I was more interested in the intersection of people who valued their daughters education, daughters who were apt and willing to pursue education, and barriers preventing that from happening. I also wanted to support girls who were already on track to pursue secondary school and make sure they stayed on track.
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May 17, 2020 08:22
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How does the peace corp work, in terms of volunteering? I talked to a few volunteer organisations when I was right out of high school, and they seemed more like a "pay several thousand dollars to go there, dig some trenches, and get some photo ops" Obviously, your arrangement seems much better, both for you, and the local population The_Continental posted:
Also tell me more about this outfit
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May 17, 2020 08:33
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DropsySufferer posted:What if your a goon who will won’t integrate. Has all food air dropped. And ships in a generator and solar for playing games and netflix. Well there are policies that Peace Corps has in place that say you should generally live off of your allowance and stay in your site, but some people don't do this. I certainly accessed my savings via ATM while there (which set off all kinds of alerts with my bank, despite telling them of planned travel), but only did this during time off. There were certainly volunteers who would bail from village, and rent rooms in the capital a bit more often than was advisable. Its hard to do that for any extended period of time because you'll likely be noticed by the expat community, which was fairly tightly knit. I know volunteers who bought motorcycles though, rented secret houses in regional capitals, spent vast amounts on booze and weed and OTC valium. A lot of these were really smart, well integrated volunteers who just didn't want to give up certain creature comforts.
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May 17, 2020 08:41
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ante posted:How does the peace corp work, in terms of volunteering? Ill answer this last one before taking a break for the evening. You generally have to have a degree (at least a bachelors) relevant to the assignment you're working on, and its very competative. If you are going to be a teacher, you need a teacher's certificate. I had a Psych degree and experience working with at-risk youth in the states. When I applied, you applied generally and then checked off where you were willing to go. I left the map open and said, "send me anywhere" because I felt it would expedite the process. The application took about a year and involved lots of reference checks, essay writing, phone interviews, and waiting. You get an allowance per month based on local wages, so that you're in line with what other low to mid level functionaries are making. Your housing is provided and you get training. You also get a readjustment allowance of a couple grand. I wouldn't consider any of it "payment". Nobody really makes money while they are there. I hope that answers your question, I'd be happy to elaborate later if you like.
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May 17, 2020 08:49
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Good thread
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May 17, 2020 08:54
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Would you do it again?
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May 17, 2020 08:56
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The_Continental posted:I'm choosing to leave that stuff out because A. Its not very interesting aside from (lol had sex) and B. I'm married to a wonderful and beautiful person who would have their feelings hurt if they found out I was typing out details of past sexual encounters. I for one respect your decision not to... tell us his name.
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May 17, 2020 09:07
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As a connoisseur of meltdowns, flameouts, and fuckups in a variety of countries and situations, I am interested in first- or second-hand tales of volunteering failures. Who failed, and how/why? Were any of these failures entertaining enough to relate? What is the oral history of notorious human disasters in your (area / section of the organisation)? Tell me of the human errors. Feed me suffering.
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May 17, 2020 09:11
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What's the age range of volunteers like? Anyone surprisingly young/old getting involved? Did you encounter any rich locals at all?
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May 17, 2020 09:30
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Atopian posted:As a connoisseur of meltdowns, flameouts, and fuckups in a variety of countries and situations, I am interested in first- or second-hand tales of volunteering failures.
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May 17, 2020 09:30
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Props. NGO's tend to receive a lot of flak due to practically everyone on the periphery second guessing why people educated & successful would give up their time en masse to provide a positive infrastructure in a "developing" country. The glacier pace of some things happening or not being way out of the control of those with their feet on the ground is really beyond comparison.
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May 17, 2020 09:34
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Pretty good posted:What's the age range of volunteers like? Anyone surprisingly young/old getting involved? I can't even tell how old OP was from the pictures. He's got one of those age 20-35 faces, no offense OP. At this point this is really just A/T but 2 years is a long time to commit in advance for anything. Were you kinda at a loose end in life or were you super passionate about the cause?
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May 17, 2020 11:03
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Jeza posted:I can't even tell how old OP was from the pictures. He's got one of those age 20-35 faces, no offense OP. Alright I'll answer one more before bed. Fine two: 1. Age range is significant. The oldest volunteer in country was in her 70s. There were some couples in their 50s that had served in their 20s previously. The average volunteer was mid 20s. 2. I had recently graduated with my bachelors and I planned on using peace corps as a means to network and get a bit more clarity (I did). I didn't know what I wanted to do (still dont). I was sure that I didn't want to enter the workforce as a youth worker in Detroit. But, I was definitely passionate about working with youth at the time, and became even more passionate while on the ground. I certainly had selfish reasons for joining (wanting to travel, etc.), and am grateful. I found that most volunteers that were coming from a more altruistic "I'm gonna help save the world" perspective had a very hard time with the realities of service.
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May 17, 2020 11:21
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Hell yea. This is a good thread, thank you for taking the time to post it. Voting 5.
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May 17, 2020 12:50
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thomas sankara owned so obviously the french had him assassinated so the guy who caused riots in the ops story could become dictator
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May 17, 2020 13:46
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Do you use a pic of you with the children on Tinder? I notice a lot of people do this.
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May 17, 2020 14:00
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Did you follow the educational progress of any of the girls particularly closely? Were there any girls whom you are particularly proud of helping? Any whom you weren't able to help as much as you wanted to? Any stories about individuals that particularly stand out to you, is what I'm asking.
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May 17, 2020 14:01
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My criticism of the Peace Corps model is that it seems super inefficient to send 25 volunteers for two years each rather than one for 50 years. Do other foreign aid agencies in the region work similarly?
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May 17, 2020 14:18
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:My criticism of the Peace Corps model is that it seems super inefficient to send 25 volunteers for two years each rather than one for 50 years. Do other foreign aid agencies in the region work similarly? That's very German of you. Your free Staatsbürgerschaft will be in the mail.
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May 17, 2020 14:22
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Grevling posted:Do you use a pic of you with the children on Tinder? I notice a lot of people do this. Look for op here
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May 17, 2020 15:25
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I have a ton of respect for you doing something like that. I regret not having the passion or courage at a young age to do what you did. The world needs more of this. Favorited and  ’d. Please keep posting.
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May 17, 2020 15:36
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Cool post and good on you for doing something worthwhile and actually helping the world be a better place, op. Plus, with minimal sexpat endeavors.
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May 17, 2020 15:56
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Oh hey, an RPCV from Burkina. I did a tour just over the border in Northern Benin and Your town looks almost exactly like mine and the photo of your house literally looked exactly like mine. Great to hear someone else had a good experience there! The Peuhl probably saved my life. Once I found a guy to buy cheese from I went from losing 30 pounds in two months to maintaining a healthy weight. My favorite dudes, super cool
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May 17, 2020 16:20
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How many people return from the missions more racist and embittered than they left rather than enriched
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May 17, 2020 16:33
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Awesome thread and thanks for sharing!
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May 17, 2020 17:41
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Great thread op. Ever think of going back? Either to Ouaga specifically or the Peace Corps?
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May 17, 2020 18:40
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Well done OP, cool thread. In addition to supporting girls' education, what else do you think would make the biggest difference for the people there? Infrastructure? Tech? Healthcare? I do like the idea of volunteering like this but at this point I don't think I could commit to 2 years, not in my 30s when time seems to be flying as it is. unpacked robinhood posted:Look for op here Ran into one recently, but it's not the OP I think 
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May 17, 2020 20:22
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Atopian posted:As a connoisseur of meltdowns, flameouts, and fuckups in a variety of countries and situations, I am interested in first- or second-hand tales of volunteering failures. sweet thursday posted:I counter with this: give us stories of human triumph There was the charity high jump event... 
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May 17, 2020 20:41
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unpacked robinhood posted:Look for op here Some of these are just pictures of someone with like one adult black guy lol, or like, a child that might just be a friend's kid or something my kinda ape fucked around with this message at 21:04 on May 17, 2020 |
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May 17, 2020 21:01
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That tinder link is like the people posing with lions and tigers in Tiger King, except with black people. It's kind of hosed up. Oh well, what can ya do?
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May 17, 2020 22:03
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Im Ready for DEATH posted:That tinder link is like the people posing with lions and tigers in Tiger King, except with black people. It's kind of hosed up. Oh well, what can ya do? Sociopathic displays of performative empathy.
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May 17, 2020 22:06
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excellent thread, thanks for sharing this!
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May 17, 2020 22:17
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LabyaMynora posted:Sociopathic displays of performative empathy. Is it sociopathic and performative though? Two years is a long time to sacrifice and I surely haven't done as much. People ought to be proud of themselves for doing this.
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May 17, 2020 23:20
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LabyaMynora posted:Sociopathic displays of performative empathy. To be fair, any time I brought out a camera in Burkina, children would JUMP in front of it and start throwing up peace signs. Additionally, I have like zero pictures of myself before or after Peace Corps. I think its only natural for people to want to show and tell others about their experience, that doesn't make them a sociopath. Im Ready for DEATH posted:That tinder link is like the people posing with lions and tigers in Tiger King, except with black people. It's kind of hosed up. Oh well, what can ya do? This is also misleading. If I look through the pictures I have with children (some of which I've posted in ITT), I see photos of myself with my neighbors. These were people that visited me daily, and that I had a relationship with. Nothing was staged or performative. Obviously, I do take some issue with "eat, pray, love" self described yogis attempting to paint themselves as humanitarians or citizens of the world after they did a 2 week mission trip to Uganda, that's pretty gross. However, I also take issue with websites that post photos of complete strangers from a dating site based on some weird ascetic morality, where good deeds are only pure if done in complete seclusion and without recognition. edit: Kid who is REALLY excited to see us 
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May 18, 2020 00:37
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The_Continental posted:To be fair, any time I brought out a camera in Burkina, children would JUMP in front of it and start throwing up peace signs. Additionally, I have like zero pictures of myself before or after Peace Corps. I think its only natural for people to want to show and tell others about their experience, that doesn't make them a sociopath. Yeah but... for your booty call app profile?
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May 18, 2020 00:41
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I'm not really here to discuss the morality of tinder, or any other dating app. I'll say this bit and move on to some more substantive questions: It's the same as posting a picture of yourself in the gym, with a fish, with your dog, with your car, with the computer you just built, doing a beer bong, or at a baseball game. They are just the aspects of people's lives they choose to put out there while looking for a date, romance, a quickie, whatever. Anyone can look at that and say "THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE THING THEY ARE TRYING TO LOOK LIKE THEY CARE ABOUT". To which I say maybe, or maybe not. At the end of the day I don't really care about Tinder.
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May 18, 2020 00:53
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Scooter_McCabe posted:There was the charity high jump event... Replace the toilet with a hole in the ground and you've got a pretty accurate summary of my first year.
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May 18, 2020 00:54
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