03 February 2006

Nominations

So I went through the interviews and the investigations...
Now I have to choose where I want to spend the next two years of my life -
(I need to tell my recruiter by Friday evening ideally.)

Morocco.
(The only assignment I know the actual country of placement.)
Departs in September

The Work: This is a specialist assignment where I would be aiding local rural artisans to sell and market their wares to a global market. Business advising and development, really.

The area is most likely quite rural and is strictly Muslim.

Sub-Sahara Africa - Western coast most likely
Departs in July

Hang-up: I'd have to learn the local dialect through French and my french training is many years dead.

The Work: Community development in rural communities. Working with Aids and health awareness while teaching at risk youth and working with local businesses.

Central Asia (any of the -stans)/Asia
(could be China or Mongoila or Phillipines.. who knows)
Departs July

The Work: Teaching English in a secondary school. Possibly technical training and teacher training involved.

May not be a rural area... so I could be stuck in some huge Asian city...

Some Pacific Island
Departs September

The Work: Education mostly secondary and curriculum development

Very rural.. no running water and little electric

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i know this was posted so long ago, but, I came across it.
my recruiter asked me about "asia, and tuturing English, and sports"
that's all he said, so, I agreed.
I still have to hear from the D.C. folks, but.. in your experience, did the D.C. office send you like three options, and you chose, and then they officially invited you? or, do you send you one, you agreed, and then they invited you. I'm wondering. I don't really want to go to Mongolia, and wondering if I need not worry.
please respond if you get this. thanks so much.
Hope you're well.
cjetness@gmail.com

Rhiannon said...

As far as I can tell, how many nominations you get depends on your skill set. PC assigns you numbers according to your skills that correspond to specific roles/jobs in country. Countries then send out requests for specific skills, hopefully aligning with their needs. I.e. health promotion.

So if you have more than one job position offered to you, you will more than likely be offered more than one option for your service. I was offered four but then found out later in Kiribati as I was being transfered that I qualified for a lot more they were just further in the future.

Do not allow PC to make it seem like you have to go where they tell you to the first time. This is two years of your life and you have every right to have some say in what you'll be doing with it. My advice: Think about the culture that you find most interesting and just what kind of lifestyle your envisioning. Do you want to be surrounded by a rich history of traditional art and expression but have to face strong prejudice? Would you be alright living in an apartment working in a city much like America? How badly do you want to learn a second language? Really give some thought to this as it is very important. The work in the end is often not what they say it will be, so you need to pick a living situation you will find fulfilling. Talk to other volunteers in that country before you agree to anything. And of course feel free to contact me again. (I have daily access to the internet) I hope this helps give some perspective.