The challenges of being an urban volunteer

Let me begin by saying all peace corps volunteers face challenges specific to their sites. In writing this I am not calling mine greater or lesser than others’ – I simply wish to discuss the challenges that I face. In so doing I am also admitting them to myself, which helps me to process and accept them as part of the unique experience offered by my site. I’ll try not to be too comparative, though I may slip up at times as I battle my own subconscious expectations.

I knew that my site was different from my fellow Nepal PCV sites, almost all of which are quite rural, but the reactions from PC staff during a recent site visit served to emphasized some of the challenges unique to my placement as a urban volunteer.

INTEGRATION
All volunteers spent quite a lot of time introducing and “explaining themselves” at site, especially in the first few months. But for many, there comes a point when everyone in the community knows the story and knows the volunteers name. In this culture, that is also the point where individuals invite the volunteer in for tea and snack and what have you. Living in a city, I don’t expect that time to ever come. My challenge is to find a digestible chunk of it where I can make myself known, perhaps a small neighborhood OR maybe a community defined by common interest rather than geography. While I’m certain all of the people who live along the route between my house and my office know my face by now, I never expect to learn all of their names, nor be invited in for chiya with each – the prospect alone is overwhelming. And so – my two years here will be marked by a constant string of strangers following me and asking “where are you from?” as I find my way to the office. We all develop a tolerance for it – I’ve just got to be sure mine is extra sturdy.

SCHOOL CHILDREN
All volunteers, the world over, have to deal with the powerful annoyance innate to all school-age children, which is esp potent when they’re walking and talking among their peers. They point, they laugh, they ludely call you “tourist!” with a derogatory tone and devilish grin (trust me, it seldom fails to feel like an insult). They ask you one of the two phrases they know in English “WHAAAT IS YOUR NAME?” or “WHERE ARE YOU FROM?”. If you answer, it’s likely that a small crowd will surround you and stick with you until they reach their destination (which I admit is usually tolerable). Some let you off easy when you ignore them and actually leave you alone. Others will follow you for blocks repeating the question – over and over and over again – and then repeat in mocking mimicry whatever small responses you provide. As I said, all volunteers deal with this, but the part that’s uniquely challenging to an urban volunteer is simple: mass. There are over 50 elementary schools in my city. So when schools’ out, the streets are teaming with children. I’ve personally never had anything against children before. But here my coping strategy has been to generally avoid them, strategically timing my walks after / before they arrive to / leave from school. Again – it’s just overwhelming.

AIR POLLUTION
I think this one’s pretty self explanatory. In a country with few paved roads, the paved one’s are certainly well used. Well, this city’s paved. And be damned if they don’t take advantage of it with jeeps, motorcycles and – tractors. I appreciate the clear evidence of economic activity that it portrays but I really detest the amount of fumes it leaves me to breath. I especially detest whichever neighbor has decided to park his tractor beneath my bedroom window, who sits and idles the engine for about 20 minutes early each and every morning, the fumes from which proceed to fill my poorly-sealed room. While I know it’s far from perfect protection, I wear a dust/fume gas on my walk to work most mornings to keep the larger particles out of my system. In addition to traffic fumes, many people burn their plastic-filled garbage along the street, often huddled around it to warm their hands. You learn not to think about the various toxic fumes you’re inhailing  And then you ask yourself – is this something ok to forget about?
For many the noise of the city presents an additional challenge, but I can honestly say that for the most part it doesn’t bother me. Although that damn tractor below my bedroom is challenging my deep-sleeping abilities (it’s probably better for my lungs to wake up and flee the room anyway…)

FOCUS
My current work is focused on the creation of a “Community Report”  which is essentially a base-line study documenting the status-quo of services and resources available here. It is to include the status of economics, markets, agricultural production, educational facilities, health, sanitation, electricity, water, demographics, physical characteristics and the general history of my community. It’s quite a lot of information to gather for a city with a semi-organized (at best) record system that is, of course, all in Nepali. So I’m chugging along, going to a slough of District Service offices (the education office, forestry office, etc) and attempting to meet with the numerous NGOs that have projects here. I often find myself a bit overwhelmed with scope, and with ideals of potential community projects to implement during my time here. There are so many fertile ideas! Thus it’s a practice in mental discipline to embrace the possibilities while not stressing over figuring out precisely what to focus on just yet.

Anybody catch a trend here? I think the challenges of my site essentially boil down to an array of sources for OVERWHELM. Regular yoga and meditation are necessities for maintaining sanity (but aren’t they always?)

In fairness, there are a lot of opportunities offered from my urban placement as well. And trust me when I tell you that I have embraced them. I have access to virtually everything I want or need (limited by the products offered in Nepal, of course). I have fairly consistent internet available. Because of both these things, I am frequently visited by volunteers within a 4 hour radius. And, most especially, the challenges of the work are fairly well matched by the opportunities here. Working in the district head quarters, I have a lot of resources readily available to me, and – I have the opportunity to work on programs that may be implemented district-wide, which could increase my impact as a volunteer. So even as I list my challenges, I certainly also count my blessings.