This is the second installment in a series of blog posts where I talk about who volunteers, why, and what it is like to be a Hispanic PCV.
I have found that people, in general, like and support the idea of volunteerism. After all, altruism is a facet of many of the world's cultures and religions (according to wikipedia of course). But what differentiates those of us who think about it from those of us who put the thought into action and volunteer?
Two things: time and money. Volunteering is a privilege of the middle and upper classes. How many people can afford to work for free? Those with disposable incomes who make enough money to be able to support extra-curricular activities. Actually, I should probably add a third requirement: a lack of commitments. You know who's not joining the Peace Corps? Poor people. Why? Because when you are making near minimum wage, the last thing you're trying to do is work extra hours without getting paid. You know who is joining the Peace Corps? Fresh out of college students who don't have real bills yet and can get their loans deferred by volunteering (*cough*yourstruly*cough*). According to the Peace Corps, 84% of current volunteers are between the ages of 20-29, and 93% are single. I don't know if Peace Corps has statistics on the socio-economic levels of its volunteers, but that would be very interesting to see.
Right before joining the Peace Corps I was living with my cousin in NYC. I suggested to her that she should think about joining the Peace Corps too. This was met with laughter. My suggestion was in jest - because I knew very well that a working class single Dominican mother of 2 young children is probably the least likely person to volunteer. Why? Time, money, commitments...there's just no way. When my cousin isn't working, she's taking care of her kids. And when she's not doing either of those, she's exhausted and basks in the few minutes of the time she has to herself.
The other day I was speaking with my parents and told them they should join the Peace Corps together. Again, laughter. And I quote: "Ay si, ahora mi'mo. Tu tiene que 'ta loca. ¿Y quien va paga' to' lo bile?" WORD.
Disclaimer: Obviously you should know that all this shit comes straight out of my head and by no means am I trying to play off any of my theories as fact. I'm speculating based on my personal experiences and observations...I mean, this is my blog not an academic paper sooooo yea.
Jess--I think you make some excellent points here and I think you're right, it would be interesting to see what the socio-economic status is of PCVs. Jodi and I just sat and chatted about this a little. We are from low income families and waited to join PC until after we had assured ourselves we were going to lead lives different from those of our families (and had been able to have some years to accomplish it). If you look at the criteria alone to join PC I think it rules out a lot of low income individuals, almost all accepted applicants have college degrees. Additionally, the amount of money that it takes to apply to Peace Corps, remember those medical tests? How do you do that without some sort of disposable income or means to pay for them? Anyway, great blog post. Just wanted you to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I completely agree with you. I think it's a very interesting discussion to have, and I wish there were stats on this stuff available. One of the reasons it took me so long from the time I applied to PC to when I actually was assigned (about a year and a half) is because I didn't have insurance and it was really hard finding the time and money to get all those tests done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment/input!
Word dawg. Word.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I like the new tabs on the top.