Soooo…. I’ve changed my mind about the private thing. It’s silly, and it’s driving me nuts keeping up with two blogs so I’m over it.. hahaha oh well, hopefully Placement will know I’m dedicated and passionate about Peace Corps if they do read my blog. *shrug* I’m slowly working on getting everything back up to normal, and playing around with themes, so hopefully soon I can settle down and move on!
On with my post:
Because I’m not strong enough to go “cold turkey” on Peace Corps…
I still am checking Peace Corps Journals pretty much every day, mainly because I like to hear whats going on with everyone else, and I like reading blogs from Mali and Benin. It’s easy for me though because I have an iPhone and there’s an app for PC Journals so when I’m bored at work I can pull it up 
One thing I’ve done to curb my addiction to PC related things is, I made an account on Peace Corps Wiki and now have it set up to email me whenever there is a change made to the Staging Dates Timeline page lol. It’s stopped me from checking it obsessively for changes everyday. I did notice though that South Africa has been added for a July 12 staging date. It’s not Francophone, but it means one of the Placement desks has begun July departures, so it’s something!
An issue that is on my mind right now is birth control. Now I know PC provides you birth control during service, but when I was looking at the Benin pages on PC Wiki apparently some countries only have 3 or 4 options to chose from, so if you get invited there you have to switch to one of the options. Now this isn’t really an issue, whatev, but I’m concerned with taking a pill every day during service, with no way to remind myself (now I use an alarm on my phone) and limit drinkable water.
SO! I was thinking about getting on a long-term birth control option. I recently discovered I can get Implanon, Mirena or Paragard for free! (yay!) My first thought is to do Mirena, an IUD that last for 5 years. A few ladies have mentioned being on it and not having their period at all anymore, which would be fantastic for service: no pills, no period? amazing.. HOWEVER, I emailed my PC nurse to ask how getting Mirena would affect my placement and she said:
Greetings Ashleigh,
The type of switch you mentioned would mean that your placement would be limited to those countries where the relevant medical intervention, if needed, is available. That would reduce the number of countries in which you could be placed. We do not give out the list of countries.
Hmmm… Non bien! That idea is now out the window. So then I emailed her to ask about Implanon:
Greetings,
That will not limit your placements. If you choose to get it, please send in the documentation via fax.
YAY! So I think next month (cuz you have to be on your period to get it and that’s already passed) I’m going to go to the Health Department and have Implanon inserted. For those who don’t know, It’s a small plastic rod that they insert on the inside of your arm under the top layer of skin, it lasts for 3 years. 3 years would be perfect and it won’t limit my placement and I won’t have to take a pill every day, woot. Sounds like a plan! Hopefully it will be good, I’ll have 3 months to see how I feel about it before I leave and I’m really hoping I like it and don’t get headaches. I got headaches bad on Yaz, so we’ll see.
On a different note….
I’ve been slightly worried about the harassment and sexual assault issues that I may face as a young, white female so I’ve been doing some research. First off I looked up deaths in the Peace Corps. I did some simple googling and discovered that Peace Corps puts out annual Safety Reports which include in-service deaths.
From the 2008 Annual Safety Report:
In-Service Deaths:
Volunteer death encompasses the categories of: homicide, suicide, accidental death, death due to illness, and/or death due to indeterminate cause.
There were no deaths by homicide in 2008. From 1961 through the end of 2008, there have been 21 homicides in the Peace Corps. There were 2 in‐service deaths in 2008: 1 accidental death and 1 death due to illness. From 2006 to 2008, there were 9 Volunteer deaths: 6 accidental deaths, 2 deaths due to illness, and 1 homicide. A summary table and figures for in‐service deaths are not provided because the small number of deaths does not allow for meaningful analysis.
That makes me feel much better, just to know the stats and see what my risk is for serious incident and/or death. I tend to be a worst-case-scenario kind of person and can let the unknown get the better of me.
Then I looked at Sexual Assaults from 2008:
That’s all I’m posting, there’s like 5 pages of information and broken down stats, but that’s the basics.
Any way, so I was looking at these stats and realized that, save for a few incidents, that I’m probably not anymore likely to endure sexual assault during service than I would be if I traveled alone somewhere here in America. Why should I be any more concerned about it in a different country? If I don’t face my fears I won’t be able to accomplish anything worthwhile. I am very aware that I’ll be thrown into a cultural situation where I will be a minority, so please don’t think I’m being naive, my point is that, the issue of sexual assault is not as big as I had thought, and that I am probably just as much at-risk in parts or America and that this issue should not be a weighing factor in my decision to accept my invitation.
Woo, this is a long post.. Just my thoughts lately…
Till next time!
Dear blogger-
Hey, my name is Katherine Kovac and I am currently a Peace Corps Applicant blogging through Peace Corps Journals. I have greatly enjoyed the connections I have made through this site, and find it to be a essential source of information for anyone considering the Peace Corps in the future. I am currently a senior studying English at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and for my senior Capstone Project, we are required to put together an ethnography, or a study of a culture or community. Because of my history with the Peace Corps Journals site and its bloggers, I decided to study this community of people who have come together, and the effects that these blogs have upon the bloggers, their readers, and the Peace Corps experience.
In light of this, I wanted to ask a few bloggers whose sites I have found intriguing to personally participate in my project. Basically, all this would mean is that I would feature aspects of your blog in my project, and perhaps send you a few interview questions, just to get your opinion on the community. No names will be included in my project, and ages, locations, etc. will be withheld, as well.
I greatly appreciate your consideration, and I have greatly enjoyed reading your blog. The Peace Corps Journals community has had an effect upon me, as I’m sure it has upon you, and this is something I would like to study on a larger scale. If you are interested, please email me at the address listed below.
I thank you again,
Katherine Kovac
kakovacis@gmail.com
Hey Ashleigh,
not to freak you about TOO much, but you should definitely check out “First Response Action:” http://firstresponseaction.blogspot.com/
Hey Catherine! Thanks for the link to the blog, it’s an interesting site. I’m glad someone is giving a voice to the issue. And no it doesn’t freak me out too much
I am very aware of the risk and the stories and statistics, my point in my post was that these issues are huge issues in America too and that I shouldn’t let the fear of assault hold me back.
Thanks again for the input!
-Ashleigh
right, I agree with you about the risks involved. but I am a bit concerned about the experience that Casey, the RPCV, had:
“After I reported this assault to Peace Corps, I was evacuated to the capital. My initial meeting with Peace Corps, subsequent to the attack, focused mostly on whether or not to report the assault to local authorities and developing a new site; I was not offered any medical attention or counseling. Having prior experience working with issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, I tried to rely on my own strength to work through this situation, but a week after this meeting, I fell apart. The country director sent me out of the capital to visit PCVs and be “productive” during this transition period. I was visiting a fellow Volunteer in her rural village, her house surrounded by the all-too-common penetrable fence. I was afraid. I was scared of the shadows and I scowled at the people in the community, wondering why they had to stare at me. I feared that someone else would attack me.
I called the Peace Corps Medical Officer and requested to see a counselor. The PCMO told me that there was no budget for me to see a counselor and that while he would fight for me, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Having trust in the organization that brought me halfway around the world, I choked out an “okay,” hung up the phone and cried. Since I was quickly unraveling without support from Peace Corps in-country, I decided to call the Office of Special Services in Washington, DC. I was connected to people who told me that there is always budget available for PCV health and safety and that the PCMO had spoken in error.”
The Peace Corps’ response is particularly concerns me.
Hm.. Yes that is very discouraging.. I wonder why they were so reluctant to get her the help she needed? I am a social work student and am well aware of the need for mental health services and this story is not making me happy. I guess I’m glad DC was able to make things happen, but still, how heartless of the in-country PC to ignore her needs. Hm..
Are you an applicant? What are your thoughts?