The Dealio

Last month I accepted my nomination to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Ukraine. In the Ukraine, I'll be a TEFL teacher at the secondary level. Duties will include teaching English at a high school, facilitating English language development of my colleagues, developing English teaching materials for my school, establishing a resource center, assisting in curriculum development, facilitating workshops that introduce innovative language teaching approaches, and taking on secondary projects such as working at summer camps or partnering with other organizations. This is a two year commitment, excluding pre-service training that will occur from the beginning of October until mid December 2009.

The Peace Corps has been involved in the Ukraine since 1992 providing various services including business development and English language instruction. Currently, there are over 100 volunteers in the TEFL program. The purpose of TEFL instruction in the Ukraine is to increase social, educational, and cultural opportunities so that Ukrainians can be active participants in the global marketplace. With this exposure, civil society and democratic ideals are promoted through the work of the volunteers.


I though I should copy this document for clarification as to my purpose:

Core Expectations For Peace Corps Volunteers

The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship by:

· Helping people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women

· Helping promote better understanding of Americans on the part of peoples served

· Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans

In working toward fulfilling the Peace Corps Mission, as a trainee and Volunteer, you are expected to:

1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months

2. Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work; and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed

3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service

4. Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture

5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance

6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, and mutual learning and respect

7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve

8. Exercise judgment and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others

9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America

10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service

There are many reasons for why I chose the Peace Corps and this specific program. If you know me at all, there is little need for explanation. Namely, I've been interested in Eastern Europe for as long as I can remember to the extreme that I focused heavily on the area in my undergraduate studies. I hope to use the language skills I develop after my service. In relation to connecting to my studies, though I've not had that great of in interest in pedagogy, I do periodically update myself on new trends in teaching and education reform. Also, being a teacher in a public school greatly relates to my interest in urban planning and community development. So, this experience is a good basis for finding what I want to pursue in my graduate studies and career path by building on what I'm already passionate about.

Other reasons I chose this program include the core ideals of the Peace Corps and its ability to provide both challenge and opportunity for me. With finally becoming an adult, I hope to make myself more marketable through professional development in such a challenging environment. Uh oh, the tone of this is way too serious for what I intended. In brief, this is an excellent opportunity with unquantifiable benefits that definitely beats any other post-undergraduate menial job I could have chosen.

So, in concluding this rather dry post, I'd like to write that this blog is intended to allow friends, family, and other volunteers to have a better understanding of what I'm up to and is a tool for monitoring my evolution over my years of service.