Quality Over Quantity

I think a lot of us lately have begun accepting our Peace Corps roles as constant assessment and reassessment as our community dynamic constantly changes, along with our understanding of our community. Upon returning from Foreign, I immediately began reassessing, and pinpointing projects that should be pruned and refined, and others that just have to go. For instance, I reassessed my role at the primary and junior high school after realizing my limitations in teaching troubled hormonal teenage boys, for try as I might, I cannot hide the fact that I’m a woman with boobs while looking professional and not 14 years old.

I have also recently interacted with some very optimistic farmers working through the Farmer to Farmer program (a USAID program that sends real farmers from the US to other countries for short stints), identified a community member who could be a catalyst for change, volunteered on a top tier high school biology field trip, took on a community recycling project in partnership with the Sandals Foundation, and dealt with the same frustrating projects I’ve been assisting with since my arrival, with slightly less frustration.

I think perhaps my time home helped to put things in perspective, or at least let me rest from Sunday morning phone calls about what I’m doing today because someone needs help opening a word document at the CDC container. I was able to remember why I joined the Peace Corps, and also what my strengths are intellectually and passionately. When I got back, The Farmer to Farmer group ignited my excitement as they spoke with a similar passion and even greater intellect on the subject, the high schoolers improved my confidence, laughing and nodding as I excitedly explained why I think wetlands are SO COOL, the community recycling project, along with the breadfruit flour production are now my babies, that small legacy every volunteer hopes to leave behind.

But with all of these exciting revelations, I am understanding that a quality every community developer needs is the ability to recognize when a project is just not going to succeed with the force it should, reassess it, and move on or adjust it so that it does work. As one fabulous TED talk described, what is the point of working for two years on a project to feed your community, when all you end up doing is feeding the hippos?

*Disclaimer: yes, this is something that was said to us during Peace Corps training over and over again, but sometimes you need to touch the flame before you realize what “hot” means.*