Top 10 Qualities of a Successful Peace Corps Volunteer

It's really challenging to define what a "successful" Peace Corps Volunteer looks like because every volunteer's goals and experiences vary. In many cases it's like trying to compare how an artist and a lawyer define success - they are trying to accomplish two very different things and their measurement of achievement will look very different. Or perhaps the success of a teacher, a farmer and a nurse is more applicable since those are the three types of volunteers in Ghana. However, all of these professions will probably share some characteristics in common, just as all PCV's who I consider successful share things in common.

You may have noticed that I say "who I consider successful" because as the Peace Corps correctly taught us during training, many PCV's finish their service feeling unsuccessful, for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, from my perspective, the most successful volunteers are the ones who leave with the most complete perspective (positive or negative) and pushed themselves to their personal limits (which is different for each individual) to teach and grow their value system. Sometimes that involves starting and completing projects, but not always.

And so while I've only been a Volunteer for about 5 months (not including my 10 weeks as a trainee) and this list may change as my service progresses, this is based on what I've seen and what I think it takes to be a good volunteer.

10. Pro-active: When I worked, however briefly, in as a commercial real estate broker, the joke is that you get a phone and a phone book, or something like that. The rest is up to you. Well in the Peace Corps you get a lot less and to make matters more difficult, you have to work at least twice as hard to get half as much done. Between the attitudes in most of the developing world and the conditions, projects and general work activities simply will not move unless you really really want them to. Some volunteers spend their two years avoiding any meaningful projects for this very reason, although can still be considered highly successful focusing on things like cultural exchange, which is why this is higher on the list.

9. Good Communicator: In the best of situations, which I am lucky to have, only a portion of your community will speak English and even then it will be on a very rudimentary level. Learning the local language also takes time. So it's important that you learn to communicate effectively to be sure that your message gets across. Failure to do this will result in frustration, delays in work, and in some cases cultural misunderstandings and torn relationships.

8. Balance of compassion and indifference: As a Volunteer, you're going to see a lot poverty and be approached by many people and children asking for money and trips to America. Some of them you will have just met, but many of them will be people you know and like, and it will be difficult. You must continue to care about these people because they are the reason the Peace Corps exists but you also can't let it absorb you. Finding a balance between helping HCN's (Host Country Nationals, ie. Ghanaians) and accepting it is not your responsibility to do more than your small part is an important part of being a Volunteer.

7. Patient: Part of this item is related to #10 on the list because even the most pro-active person will wait weeks and months for simple tasks to be completed by their counterparts, but there is also the element that there is just not that much to do. Education volunteers (who go to school 3-8 hours a day) aside, a good month for a volunteers will involve between 20-30 hours per week of actual work. A bad one might average 2-5 hours per week. For many volunteers, including myself, the 3 months of site integration (after training) involve 0 hours of meaningful work. Staying patient and knowing that the work will come is important. Many volunteers end up leaving because there simply isn't anything meaningful to do yet, and sometimes (although rare in Ghana) nothing ever comes.

6. Loves to Learn: The third of the three Peace Corps Goals is (paraphrasing) learning about the Host Country's culture and sharing it with Americans. ONE FULL GOAL IN ONLY THREE! Many volunteers whom I consider very successful are primarily "Goal 3 Volunteers" and there's nothing wrong with that. Even if you're not, you have to enjoy the process of learning the culture to enjoy yourself. To be a volunteer, you are immersing yourself in their culture for 2+ years and if you don't want to experience the new culture, you're only going to torture yourself.

5. Flexible: Spoiler alert, three of the final four items on the list I would consider health related, potentially masking just how important flexibility is to a Volunteer. You won't get the site you want (see my earlier post), you won't be working on things you had envisioned, projects will be delayed and change, you will face so many obstacles and hurdles to forming a daily routine it will make your head spin, you're constantly going to and from site for various reasons - both planned and unplanned. "Expect the unexpected," isn't even accurate in this case. It's more like, "Have no expectations except that everything will go wrong." It's also what makes describing the Peace Corps experience so difficult - it's nothing like what I expected sitting at home having done tonnes of research so it feels impossible to describe to friends and family who many be reading about it for the first time.

4. Strong Mental Health: "I'm cultured. I travel all the time and love it. Spending 2 years in another environment will be amazing!" That was me 8 months ago. What a hoot. I had no idea how difficult it would be spending days, weeks, sometimes months without meaningful contact with people who share my culture. It simply drains you mentally to adapt yourself all day to another culture and it drains you mentally sitting inside all day trying to avoid it. I consider myself a very introspective person - even in the states I spend a lot of time in my own head in a near meditative state analyzing what I'm doing and why. But when you're living in an environment with no real distractions to remove you from that state, you start to get sick of yourself and have no escape. At least that's how I often feel when I'm at site for long periods of time and I know it drives many people to depression or depression-like symptoms. But it's not even just that. A friend sent me an excerpt from a book talking about the high rates of PTSD among Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, citing the cause as the experience of impoverished living conditions. Simply living day to day and mentally overcoming the hurdles of life for your new friends is daunting. 2 years feels like forever until you consider it is all most of your neighbors will ever know. I feel like I'm ranting on this one, but the point is that unless you have the mental fortitude to handle these things, it will cripple your ability to have a meaningful service.

3. Positive Attitude / Sense of Humor: In 7 months, I have enough ridiculous Ghana stories to last me a lifetime. And I get to hear about an equal number of stories from 100+ other volunteers. Yesterday someone ordered a "Cheese burger" (a rarity outside of the capital, Accra) and was served a bun with cheese on it... and tooth picks stuck in it. I hope to upload the picture soon. If you're unable to laugh at the crazy things that happen to you while they are happening, you simply won't be successful interacting with the people around you in a meaningful way. Ghanaian's especially love to tell jokes and their humor often puts you on the spot. The other day a Ghanaian helped me with directions so I thanked them and he said "Okay, give me your sister for marriage." This is completely a joke and they love if you play along. If you take offense or perceive it to be another Ghanaian asking you for something you'll never really make connections with people. "Okay, but my father requires 100 lions as dowery." He responded, "Well what if I give you my sister. (points at girl next to him who he knows but is definitely not his sister.)" I said, "Okay deal, but you'll have to tell my girlfriend the news." Of course I don't have a girlfriend and it doesn't matter. We all laughed and proceeded with our day.

2. Physically Healthy: There are two aspects to this one: The physical requirements to live daily life and the ability to endure what your body will go through during your service. As an easy example of the daily physical requirements, most volunteers are placed in communities that require a bicycle ride to leave, some up to 10 km. Remember, Ghana either has highs of 95F with 80% humity or 105F with 0% humidity depending on where you're located. Even the lows barely dip into the 70's. Plus it's not like your eating a nutrient rich diet to propel you every day. And then virtually every volunteer has digestive issues regularly throughout service and many for years after they go home. Things like Malaria aren't nearly as uncommon as I assumed they were (you don't even need to leave the country to treat it) and volunteers are regularly getting viral infections. I suppose having a body that can handle these physical stresses doesn't make you a great PCV, but you won't even have a chance to be one at all if you can't stay in the country otherwise.

1. Handles Stress Well: I feel like a broken record at this point but it's important. Instead of being angry, upset and irritated all the time, you must feel carefree, relaxed and focused to be able to get meaningful work done - even if that work is sitting with the market ladies for an afternoon and chatting. Many volunteers use coping mechanisms that allow you to deal with the stress on a day to day level is the best way to being a great volunteer. It's okay to vent with other volunteers about the stresses and to take the frustration out on other things in healthy ways, but as soon as those feelings find a way into your work and village-life, you are on the road to being unsuccessful. That's not to say you can't be "real" with your new community - you can. You can tell someone that they're bothering you and you can get angry when your garden isn't bearing any vegetables. Those are real emotions and sharing them with Ghanaians is part of the bonding experience. But it's so so soooo important to be respectful and to never let your emotions lead you to do something you'll regret out of stress. The PCV's who I have the most respect for are the ones I see do this, even when no one is watching.

You may have noticed that none of these (except for maybe "Compassionate") has anything to do with what you might think of when you think of a Peace Corps Volunteer. Cliche words and phrases like "Humanitarian", "Self Sacrificing" or "Altruistic". While those types of things may be why people join, I wouldn't say it's why their successful. It's sort of like a desire to be your own boss is a big reason why someone becomes an Entrepreneur, but that's not really what makes you successful at it. Many of the volunteers I know have become jaded to the poverty we deal with daily while others find it crippling, but I haven't found it to be a strong indicator of how you perform as a volunteer.