Volunteers will receive full medical coverage during their time in the Peace Corps, including medical insurance and dental benefits. This covers primary care, hospitalization, medical evacuation, prescriptions, and more. Volunteers receive time off, typically two vacation days each month. Many will use this time to travel around their host countries or neighboring countries. Reallocation and Resignation Adjustment Funds. When you join the Peace Corps, you are not obligated to serve for two years without any way of resigning.
Volunteers can resign from their service at any point and can return home with 72 hours of their resignation. However, this makes you ineligible for the readjustment allowance.
Making a difference. No matter where or when you serve, volunteers have three main goals. Two of them focus on cultural exchange, and one relates to development in your host country. Volunteers will succeed with at least one of the three areas, either through making strong relationships or education. You are contributing to world peace by educating or being educated yourself. Further yourself and grow. Joining and participating in the Peace Corps is hard work.
However, getting out of your cultural comfort zone is a great way to make sure you grow as an individual and open your eyes to the world outside of the United States. Safety nets. With the Peace Corps behind you, if something goes wrong or you require assistance for something that feels daunting, you will have the organization behind you. The Peace Corps has a medical staff, training procedures, safety and security officers, and more.
New friends. The Peace Corps service is a two-year-long program with three months of training before you travel at all. When you relocate to your post, you will be with a variety of other individuals experiencing the same thing.
Build a professional resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Volunteers are typically serving alone in remote areas that are often hard to access. You may be in a place where even digital communication is hard to come by, making you feel depressed or isolated. Loneliness and isolation from those you love the most can be tough for people to process and make this already difficult journey even harder. Depending on your situation, you may be the sole volunteer on any given post.
Culture shock. Volunteers must be prepared for the huge culture shift they will experience in the Peace Corps. Unlike America, many of these areas are impoverished, and the difference between life in America and a developing nation can be almost unbelievable and sometimes traumatic.
For example, something like basic hygiene may be significantly different from what Americans are accustomed to. Water accessibility may be difficult and require treatment before consumption. Food can cause harm to your body. Living conditions can be poor, strangers may not respect your cultural norms, and you may be in close company with reptiles and bugs. Minimal supervision. Volunteers are expected to work independently with little intervention by the Peace Corps office, except for emergencies.
Through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program , volunteers qualify for forgiveness of their federal student loans after months of payment. According to the Peace Corps , those qualifying for an income-driven repayment plan — Pay as You Earn, Income-Based Repayment, or Income Contingent Repayment — may have payments of zero dollars per month for their 24 months of service since their income is so low.
In other words, they would get credit for 24 months of payments if they commence payments at the beginning of their service even though their actual payments are zero. After that, volunteers would make only eight more years of payments based upon their income earned in the years after leaving the Peace Corps. Volunteers who do not qualify for an income-driven repayment plan can also elect to defer making loan payments until the end of their service under a financial hardship provision.
Following completion of their service, they would make payments based upon their income following Peace Corps service. For most people, it makes more financial sense to begin repayment when they enter Peace Corps service since the monthly financial obligation is minimal. Volunteers also get an automatic deferment of Stafford, Perkins, or consolidation loans during service.
Volunteers receive two to three months of language, technical, and cultural training in the country they will serve before beginning their two-year service.
These are all significant assets when seeking employment in a global economy. Returned volunteers have a lifetime eligibility for the Paul D. Coverdale Fellows Program for graduate degrees that may include loans, tuition reduction, paid internships, and assistance with housing.
According to CNN , employers seek workers with creative problem-solving skills and an ability to work well with others. Returning Peace Corps volunteers have developed a unique set of skills and proof that they can overcome challenges that set them apart from others. Also, alumni are granted noncompetitive eligibility status for Federal Government jobs. This status, extendable to three years, allows federal agencies to hire a returned volunteer without going through the normal competitive process.
Alumni of the program have achieved success in a variety of different fields from business to the arts and entertainment:. Volunteers receive housing and living stipends that enable them to live in a manner similar to the people in the country they serve.
Since most volunteers serve in underdeveloped countries, facilities are not on par with those in the United States. Living conditions vary from country to country. Volunteers serving in Africa may live in mud houses with thatch or tin roofs furnished with a bed, mattress, desk or table, a straight chair, and a cupboard for hanging clothes.
In China, volunteers live in local housing units or apartments with a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and sometimes a study. Due to complaints about the quality of medical service, the Peace Corps has made extensive changes since in its procedures including implementing new standards for medical personnel and responses to sexual assault.
Volunteers receive two vacation days per month or 48 days over two years. This time is typically used to travel throughout the host country or nearby countries. There are no restrictions on the use of the funds. Volunteers have the right to resign from service at any time for any reason. If possible, resigning volunteers are returned to their home of record by commercial air economy class within 72 hours of resignation. Peace Corps service is not for everyone.
Even the most ardent volunteers concede that serving in an impoverished country can overwhelm a volunteer physically, mentally, and emotionally from time to time. It is another world, lost in time and space.
It is hard, and the little annoyances can manifest themselves into a black cloud… [The] Peace Corps really is a roller coaster. An exhilarating and scary ride that completely sucks and totally kicks ass. Volunteers typically serve alone in remote areas, far from loved ones and with inconsistent communication.
The only constant in this life is that nothing is as it seems it was, is, or should be. I joined the Peace Corps when I was 22 and had been out of college for two months. Blogs, at the time, were just catching on in popularity so I only had a handful of conversations to lean on from people who had served long before me in different countries and regions of the world.
Become a part of your community - Peace Corps Malawi. Photo credit: Peace Corps. As far as advice for anyone considering joining the Peace Corps—you need to be humble. From integrating into another culture to navigating the illnesses you may encounter to sharing your experience with friends and family back home - your Peace Corps service can bring you to your knees. Joining the Peace Corps is not for everyone. You can opt to volunteer abroad for shorter term or teach abroad and get paid for it.
The choice is yours! Kaya Responsible Travel runs dozens of programs in multiple countries around the world. They are a good option to consider as a Peace Corps alternative because you can combine both internships and volunteer placements to create a year of service that doubles as an investment in your skills set. GeoVisions was founded in with the aim of helping individuals develop global skills to succeed in the 21st century.
These skills will ultimately lead to greater cooperation and understanding among nations and peoples of the world - something the Peace Corps also seeks to achieve, which makes this a great alternative to the Peace Corps if you share those values.
They are committed to treating every person on their programs with respect, and devoting their efforts to helping participants meet their individual and collective goals. Related: Read reviews of Geovision Visit their site. GoEco has been encouraging ecological and volunteer tourism that promotes sustainable development since its inception in They offer ecological and humanitarian programs initiated by their partner organizations around the world.
They connect volunteers who are passionate about wildlife, conservation, and global communities with the most suitable programs through careful screening. They select the best programs around the world, update the availability and timing of projects, validate the quality and reputation of projects, and help volunteers prepare for the trip.
Related: Read reviews of GoEco Visit their site. Global Volunteers pioneered short-term volunteer programs in to engage volunteers in meaningful community development projects around the world. Global Volunteers aims to promote peace and justice all over the globe. The nonprofit organization, in partnership with UNICEF, is led by experts and local leaders who develop and evaluate programs that help prepare short-term volunteers to maximize their contributions to long-term development projects in communities, especially in addressing the safety and development of children.
Related: Read reviews of Global Volunteers Visit their site. Love Volunteers is the most affordable way to volunteer and help local communities in developing countries!
Why are they cheaper than other organisations? Firstly, they are just a handful of passionate people working hard to help volunteers and local communities around the world. They don't have huge overheads—no company cars, no downtown office—they're just volunteers who knew they could do a better job. All of Love Volunteers partner organizations have been fully vetted to ensure that not only does a genuine need for assistance exist, but that the environments that they place their volunteers are safe and of a high quality.
This kind of rigor when it comes to passion and safety is similar to that of the Peace Corps, which makes this organization a great alternative. Related: Read reviews of Love Volunteers Visit their site. Global Nomadic exists to help travellers, young professionals and career-changers find affordable and ethical projects in a wide variety of fields by matching you with reputable and worthwhile projects all over the world - a demographic often represented by people interested in joining the Peace Corps.
Experience the world and give your career a real boost at the same time with their unique professional internships. Choose from amazing projects in many diverse fields such as wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine, community development, education, human rights issues, medicine and journalism. Related: Read reviews of Global Nomadic Visit their site.
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