I must be totally honest. I arrived to my site in April 2014 and considered an ET (Early Termination). The physical setting was really unattractive to me. My place for two years couldn’t be this I thought. It was smaller, dustier, hotter, trashier, and more rural than anything for which I had hoped or even for which I had expressed interest.
I was disillusioned. I labeled it a glorified construction site. Those first two weeks were really tough. The comforts of community based training were over and the realities of fieldwork were staring directly at me apologetically. I recall sitting in my host brother’s room. He had given it up for me while I stayed with his family to transition and look for housing of my own. I remember it being hot and me being sick and especially tired from both a 3 day (all day) Moroccan wedding at the same house, while also fulfilling commitments to work a camp in a neighboring site. A site I thought to be better than mine adding to my disillusionment. On the floor and alone, I had a meeting – with myself. It was a distinct moment of pure honesty; a critical juncture. I asked myself, “Was I going to abandon this assignment and my service to these people because where I was placed wasn’t ‘pretty’?” “Was that really my character?” The answer? No. The year and nine months that have followed have been some of the most interesting, challenging, groundbreaking, and restorative personally and professionally for me and hopefully for others I’ve encountered. Hidden behind what I initially saw was just the right mix of advantages and challenges to cultivate wholeness, completeness, and competence. Sometimes I ride my bike through the rural town now and know, “We’re all under construction in some way, shape, or form.” The willingness to ask and answer difficult questions about myself saved me from missing this incredible opportunity for which I’m abundantly grateful. The fearlessness required to do so is something I hope to further perpetuate and apply to other life choices here and beyond. Demonstrating faith and trust beyond the circumstantial is imperative. I recently applied to extend my service here in this rural town through to 2017. This stage of building simply isn’t finished.
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AuthorWelcome. After years as a manager in the education field, I accepted an invitation in 2014 to serve with the U.S. Peace Corps in Africa in the Youth Development sector. There have been no regrets. Disclaimer: The contents of this site and opinions expressed therein are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Peace Corps, the US Government, or the Kingdom of Morocco.
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