Serving Under Conditions of Hardship

It's one of the first things you are told about Peace Corps, and you have to agree to it upon accepting your invitation to serve:

Expectation #3 of the Core Expectations for Peace Corps Volunteers states that PCVs must:

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

Obviously, this means different things for each Volunteer, country, site, context, etc. Living in a town and in an Eastern European country means the hardships I face are different than the hardships faced by Volunteers living in rural contexts or other parts of the world. I really have no complaints about physical hardships in my site. For example, I don't have to chop my own wood or coal, I don't have to get my water from a well, I don't have to walk or bike miles to the nearest market. The biggest challenge I face here regarding resources is that twice a year my town turns off the water to clean the water pipes - which is happening this weekend, so I showered last night and have stockpiled bottles of water to use for the next two days while the water will be off.

However, there are non-physical hardships that all PCVs face: we miss our friends and families, we miss favorite foods, we miss events and experiences at home.

I have been thinking about this recently, as I have now been in Moldova for nearly 17 months. I've missed a few friends' weddings, I've missed friends' babies being born, I will miss the national convention of my sorority - which will happen for the first time ever in my hometown of Seattle, and which I had hoped to attend. And just yesterday, I found out that my favorite band will tour their new album in the Spring and I will miss the show they play in my hometown on my birthday.

But when we accept our invitations to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers, we understand that we are giving up the conveniences of home and that we might miss important events during our service. In my case, it was a choice I made with open eyes and willingly. Certainly, I am sorry to miss these experiences, and I absolutely miss my friends and family at home. But at the same time, what I have given up feels like a small price to pay for the extraordinary opportunity to gain new skills, knowledge, friendships, and experiences through my Peace Corps Service.

I am grateful for the people and communities that have welcomed me here in Moldova, and I would not trade this experience for anything.