Mid-Service Training

The old theory of signing up for the Peace Corps, getting accepted and then being dropped off in some remote land where the people don't speak your language and the bugs are constant isn't quite as true anymore. In the new age Peace Corps, the bosses don't let you out of their sight and make sure you are exactly where you should be. Hints....Mid-Service Training!!!

Palm Haven Hotel

MST is a week long training held about a year into your service. The point of the week long imprisonment is to reconnect with each other, reflect on your accomplishment and chart the way forward for the coming year. What really happens is we sit in a classroom (with a/c), hungover from the all night partying the previous day and listen to people lecture us about grant writing and business management. Ok, Ok, maybe I'm being a little harsh but it went something like that.

Our Country Director Kevin Carley and his wife Ellen

One highlight of the week was hearing the projects other volunteers are working on. St. Lucia, Dominica and Grenada were the islands represented, all of which have vastly different work cultures, so hearing another perspective on the "Peace Corps Experience" was really nice. Peace Corps has enough goals and objectives to stretch the radius of the world, often times causing volunteers to focus more on quantity rather than quality. MST let us refocus and see that sometimes our secondary projects have more of an impact than our primary work sites. It was reassuring to hear that building relationships and letting your own talents shine through makes for a just as successful service as number crunching and mountain moving.

Don't worry, they aren't taking notes, just doodling.

It was awesome to be able to reconnect with volunteers from the other island and see just how much everyone has changed. The biggest topic of conversation was who looked different and who had lost the most weight. I thought I would be in the race for most weight lost, but some older volunteers in St. Lucia put me to shame. Oh well. The evening times consisted of finding some form of good food other than macaroni pie and stew fish, which turned out successful when we found Thai food. YUM! We were also lucky enough to be situated right on the marina where we made friends with the owner of a super nice bar called H2O. After many rounds of Kings Cup, pool and shots, I think my liver hates me. Thank God for good coffee and air conditioning.

Thai food, YUM!!!!

MST turned out to be productive in the end and I feel refreshed and motivated for the coming year. Although sitting in a classroom all day proved to be painful, the nights with good friends and cheap beer chalked up the week as successful!

St. Lucia beer!

Devastation In My Hometown

I was in Dominica on vacation with volunteer friends when my phone rang, it was mom. Mom calling my phone was normal, especially because she knew I was away from my island and assumed she was just checking in. Instead, I could hear in her voice devastation as she informed me the town that I grew up in was demolished by an F-5 tornado. My family was safe and sound, having missed the path of destruction by a mile, but many of my friends were unaccounted for. Desperation is the only way to describe the coming hours as I frantically tried to phone each and every friend whose number I knew off the top of my head. Phone lines were down, electricity out and no internet available. I was helpless.

Being thousands of miles away from the town I call home has been hard enough, but now I simply feel guilty that I went away and continue to be away while my friends struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives, one brick or board at a time. This tornado is the worst recorded tornado since recording began in the 50's. The tornado couldn't of picked a worse path of destruction, included in the path were Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart Supercenter, Pizza Hut, The Plaza Apartments and densely populated residential housing areas. The current death toll stands at 129, with the list of still missing people raising to over 200. My heart sinks as I realize I will know and recognize many peoples names as I bring myself to read the list.

Our town is devastated and people are still in shock with what has hit our small community. But what keeps me inspired and in love with my town is the shear dedication to helping in any possible way. Friends, family and neighbors are pitching in their time and effort to ensure Joplin will be rebuilt, stronger and better this time. We can't bring back the lives lost in this tragedy, but we can remember where we came from, collect our belongings and move forward. I'm proud to call Joplin, Missouri my home.

St. Mary's Catholic Church, a church I attended many times.

St. John's Hospital, where my aunt and many other friends work.

Joplin High School. So many memories made in this place.

Walmart, where my Goddaughter was pulled safely from the rubble.

F-5 tornado that was 3/4 of a mile wide.