Mack Devoto, 135 YinD
One of Peace Corps’ main goals is integration into your community through experiencing the culture firsthand. We accomplish this by living with host families, working with local organizations, attending community events, learning the language, and many more cultural immersion opportunities. In turn, the community becomes our community, and we take this experience with us for the rest of our lives, sharing what we have learned with our friends, family, and peers back in the States.
Another goal is to share our perspectives with the people in our new community, to shine a light on what being an American means to us. Sometimes this goal gets overshadowed, as we focus on integrating into the community as best as we can, trying to soak up all the new information to apply to the next day. In fact, sometimes I focus so hard on trying to be as ‘Thai’ as possible that I lose sight of one of the most important reasons my community applied for a volunteer in the first place: they wanted me because I am not Thai.
Recently, I was invited to help with an English camp at the high school in the nearby district. This is not a school I normally visit, so I was excited to see a new space and to meet new teachers and students. Immediately upon my arrival I was greeted with the usual murmurs of excitement and curiosity from the packed room of students—I hypothesized a little over 100. These were students who have likely never met an American. I was full of nervous energy and excitement to be invited into a new learning environment. After a brief event introduction, I was asked if I wanted to help facilitate the icebreaker games to kick off the camp. I – of course – enthusiastically answered yes. And the fun began.
Despite having never been in this school, having never met these students, and having never worked with these teachers before, I felt at ease and was thrilled to be included so quickly. The teachers wanted to utilize me as much as possible in one day, and I was fully prepared to oblige. Sometimes we get caught up in the routine of our daily lives, to the point where we become accustomed and, perhaps, desensitized to what used to be ‘new and exciting’. I find myself falling into this. The people and places that I first looked at with such eagerness, become the ‘same old, same old…’ mundanity. Every time I start to drift away and fall into cyclical behavior, moments like this camp revive the passion in me. They remind me that my perspective is very valuable to the students and people in my community, that my work here – no matter how small the individual day may appear – accumulates into a beautiful, grandiose picture of cultural and educational exchange that will influence the community for years to come.
As the camp leaders made their closing remarks, I was asked to say a few words about my thoughts on the camp to the students and the teachers. While I normally would be nervous to suddenly be tasked with an impromptu speech in front of a large group of teenagers and staff, this time I, shockingly, wasn’t. I proudly walked up, rallying everyone to cheer louder and louder – obviously to get the crowd hyped, why else? And, as I stood in front of everyone, I shared my thoughts on the camp. I talked about how grateful I was to be invited into their school to spend the day with them, how much fun I had playing games and teaching, and I urged the students to take what they learned that day with them into the next day – as I would. One day may seem small, but sometimes that’s all it takes to make an impact. After all, one day is all it took to make a lasting impression on me.
Sticky Rice 