5/16/2015
"And
if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe
for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that
we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish
our children's future."
On
Thursday, I rang out my service with Peace Corps. Ringing out is a tradition in
many Peace Corps countries, where the leaving PCVs ring a special bell. The
bell alerts all the staff that a PCV is done with their service and they all
stop what they are doing, come out of their offices and clap and cheer for you.
They all then came up to me and gave me hugs and thanked me for my service. It
was really emotional and I was so lucky to have some of my closest friends drive
into the city to watch me ring out. It was an amazing experience and really
caused me to reflect back on my service.
What first comes to my mind when I
think about my service in Mongolia, is the relationships I have built. I think
of my beautiful host sisters and brother – I imagine there hands touching my
face and hair when they first met me, trying to figure out why I was so
different from them, the little taps of their fingers on my door and their soft
voices telling me it was time to eat breakfast, their giggles, the millions of
times they told me they loved me and the afternoons where I would walk home
from classes and they would be waiting at the gate yelling my name and jumping
up and down, so excited that I was home once again. I think about my
counterpart, who shares a piece of my soul and is a better person than I’ll
ever be. I think of going out to the real countryside with my amazing Mongolian
friend and experiencing true nomadic life. I think of the Volunteer community,
Volunteers who connect with me on an entirely different, somewhat disgusting,
unique plane of shared experience than anyone else ever could. It gave me a new
group of close friends both throughout the United States and Mongolia. I think of the love I felt from Peace Corps
staff and the understanding of the Peace Corps doctors that took care of me
physically and emotionally.
I have gained far more than I ever sacrificed.
As proof of this, on Friday, the new staff that I had been working with at the
Traditional Medical Center, took me out for a delicious lunch and gave me
presents. I had only worked with them for two weeks, but here they were taking
time out of their day to spend with me. The doctors I worked with for just two
weeks, gave speeches and said how grateful they were to have me. At the end
they said I was an angel who blessed their work and that God put me here on
this earth to touch the lives of others and they were so grateful for it. Wow.
I was speechless. The director gave me a
card which she wrote “Thank you for all your faithful, hard work for our
researchers and doctors. We learned many new things including what it is like
to have a wonderful teacher. From the bottom of our hearts thank you for you
warmhearted, helpful, great job with your beautiful smile.” I have never been
so touched in my life. I hope that I can bring back this sense of gratitude for
the small things people do and to always remember to thank people no matter how
big the deed is. I think that in America we forget to truly thank people, for
just being in our lives and it is something that I hope to never stop
practicing.
My
Peace Corps experience has changed the way in which I view the world and
my role in it. It changed what I care about. It changed how I approach my
relationship with myself, with others and ultimately how I approach every
individual I meet. It changed how I will, one day, raise my children and what
values I will try to instill in them. It taught me what I am capable of, alone and
in a group. Peace Corps taught me why
the “teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life” saying is so obviously
accurate. It taught me to build upon assets rather than dwell upon deficits to
create positive change.
“Being able to touch
someone’s day and go home knowing you did something
for this world. This is
what life is about because your life could end in the next
hour and these are the things you
will have cherished.”
I experienced days and weeks where it
seemed like nothing mattered. There were times where I no longer wanted to try and thought of going home. Those days
would flip into moments where every single thing had a purpose and
the smallest act brought tears to my eyes. This experience
has made me be so grateful that by chance of birth, I was born in a country
where people have fought so that I and everyone else can enjoy social safety
nets, to help people from following below a certain poverty line. By chance of birth, I’m from a country that, despite its deep and many
flaws, seeks to protect its most vulnerable, even if it doesn’t always manage
it. By chance of birth, I’m from a country whose citizens have the ability to
voice their grievances to a government elected by the people. A country that is
by no means perfect, but has the potential to be so, if only we work harder,
work together, care about each other more. By chance of birth, I am American,
and that is a privilege, it is luck. My Peace Corps service has been difficult
and at times I hated it, but ultimately I am the lucky one for having the
opportunity to live in Mongolia. **
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has.” ― Margaret Mead
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