The Peace Corps has played a significant role in shaping foreign policy in the post-World War II era, particularly in Africa. A study sheds light on a new and intriguing historical perspective of the Peace Corps’ meaning and significance.
Though the main focus is Cameroon, the study offers a window to understanding Peace Corps performance in all of Africa, and the larger global community. It examines Volunteers’ service in countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Guinea, showing how the agency transitioned from a Cold War agency to the Post-Cold War era, while asking important questions about the continuous relevance of Peace Corps in Africa.
The book interrogates modernization theories showing how those ideas shaped the creation of the Peace Corps, but ultimately contributed to the agency’s problems. The book questions the Peace Corps’ effectiveness as a development organization and much more.
Yet for all the agency’s problems, the Peace Corps served as a rite of passage for returned Volunteers to make everlasting contributions to American life and society.
Volunteer Experiences in Cameroon
Life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon offers a unique and transformative experience. One volunteer recounts waking up in the earliest hours of the morning, to the sounds of roosters and baby goats. The mosquito net slightly filters the incoming light.
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Furniture here needs to be made by the village carpenter; I still don’t have a bed frame. The children here are resourceful geniuses. They build skateboards and scooters out of wood and rusty nails they find. Calvin’s empty sardine boxes become little cars pulled on bits of string.
The road is compact earth, which smothers the leaves in red-brown dust every time a car passes by. The surrounding jungle is a dense and leafy ecosystem where hunters bring back whatever meat they can find: deer, monkey, lizard, pangolin. Night falls fast, the same time every day all year round, bringing with it an intense scattering of stars. They ask why I look up so much, and I try to explain in my broken French the idea of light pollution back home.
This village is 900 people in 200 houses made of mud slathered onto a frame of sticks and topped with roofs of palm fronds. Trying to describe New York to people here is almost as difficult as describing this place to Americans.
I work on my Community Needs Assessment, a seemingly endless document due in the beginning of March to collect and analyze data about village resources and health problems. I have learned through home visit questionnaires, community relay workers, and health center and village chiefs that the women here usually start having children at 14; that people rarely know the importance of using condoms; that babies often die from malaria; and that there is a lack of vegetables causing intense problems with malnutrition in children. I have also learned that the women are some of the strongest people in the world and share whatever they have without question. That when I am being harassed by men or if I shed a few tears missing home, I am immediately protected, supported, and loved.
I wake up in the middle of the night from vague and dark dreams, shifting figures of the people from my village in my field of vision but frustratingly out of reach. Mama Jean cries soundlessly, the same tears the day I left. The children are playing happily together, but never seeing me, even as I try to reach out to them. Sometimes he sends a brief voice message from people I miss the most. I cling to every word. I play them over and over again just to hear their voices. Sometimes he will FaceTime me, though the service is so delayed I can only see a pixelated version of his face.
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Unbridled joy: kids in the village.
My time in Peace Corps was brief: six months in country, three months in village. There are not enough words to express the gratitude I feel for the time in Cameroon. Although it was sooner than expected, it’s important for me to be in America right now. I have seen the power of small and local changes in Peace Corps. And I am seeing how people in the States are mobilizing and calling for changes that are long overdue in this country. I feel hopeful that America can truly change, through grassroots movements the likes of which I have never seen. One day I will return to Cameroon.
Peace Corps Cribs l Cameroon
Key Issues Addressed by Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps Volunteers make a difference by addressing issues in their communities.
- Health education and disease prevention
- Agricultural development and food security
- Education and literacy
- Environmental conservation
- Community development and infrastructure
Impact and Future of the Peace Corps in Cameroon
The Peace Corps’ presence in Cameroon has had a lasting impact on both the local communities and the volunteers themselves. While challenges remain, the dedication and resilience of the volunteers continue to drive positive change.
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tags: #Cameroon
