I have, like other college students, thought about what to do after college. I have considered many options: grad school, a nonprofit job, a federal job, or the Peace Corps. Walking through the arch of the Peace Corps section of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival got me thinking about the option I had put aside in the middle of last year. Background information: I had attended an information session on the Peace Corps. During the presentation I kept on asking myself if I had it in me to pursue such a task. Allowing an institution to decide my life for 24 months, two years, is a huge decision. As I listened to their video presentation, I kept on wondering if I could adapt and live in the environments that are so different from what I am used to. On top of that, be away from my family and friends fro that large period of time. It would be a challenge, even if I have moved multiple times before college.
Back to the Festival. There were many different posts to explore. I began by walking to my left, where there was a makeshift structure of boards and chicken wire filled with plastic bottles and plastic bags. I read the description of this station and I was shocked, in a good way. This Peace Corps volunteer saw two problems when she arrived in Guatemala. One, there was a shortage of schools for the community’s children and, two; there was an abundance of trash. So, the project she took on during her stay was to find a solution, which she did. She found a way to make a structure by recycling the trash economically. By filling plastic bottles with three pounds of trash, it replaced the more expensive cement blocks used to make the foundations of a school. The structure is just as sturdy as cement blocks against earthquakes! This woman changed the education opportunities for the community around her. That project and those schools are in a way, her legacy. I was inspired.
I also met so many interesting people and I truly enjoyed myself speaking to a vivacious man from Mali in French as well as a simply creative man from Peru in Spanish and a knowledgeable woman from Togo.
That’s when it struck me. I want this experience from the Peace Corps. I want to take this challenge. As Mr. Aronowitz said, you should always challenge yourself. I always have and I do not want to stop now.
I don't understand how the trash gets in the bottles. Liquid trash?
ReplyDeleteInspiring post, but somebody needs to claim it.
The bottles are stuffed with plastic, mostly. It was presented as a kids activity, they were using wooden spoons to stuf bits of plastic into bottles.
ReplyDelete-CFC