Third Goal



Third goal: this kid is counting on me

Well, it's been about a week since I have been back, and I have found although it's nice to be able to take showers with running water (although I am still feelign guilty over the waste) I miss being overseas a lot more then I thought that I would.   

I did a presentation at work (which was really more of a slide show) to show them the type of work that I have done, and unlike the other countries I have been to, I would really like to try and fufil what Peace Corps calls "The Third Goal".  Peace Corps has three goals: to help the people that you visit, to teach the people that you visit about America, and then to bring whatever you have learned about this country back to America.

I think that Haiti has learned all they really want to know about our grand country, thank you very much, so the second goal wasn't really a priority to me, but the third goal is.  It's also probably the most challenging, as it's nearly impossible to not learn about a country and teach them about yourself when you are in the borders (well, maybe for some Americans) but when you get back it's really easy to forget what happened and just concentrate on enjoying different types of foods again.



On second thought, maybe Haiti's better off without me.



Speaking of which, I could really go for some Eithopean.  I had sushi the other night.  Yum.  (See how easy it is to get distracted?)

Anywhoo, my PP presentation was a step in that direction.  I mean, aside from the fact that it's one of the poorest countries in the world, has been overrun by coups and recent natural disasters, what do people really know about Haiti?  What do they really know about US policy there?  Or even about voodoo?  Why should be care about Haiti when there are so many other places that also deserve attention?  And what the hell is up with the School of the Americas that is still running for some very odd reason?

Yes, all good questions.  I'll leave it to Paul Farmer to answer them, most of which he does in his great book, The Uses of Haiti.

Meanwhile, I am looking for more work down there.  Or in Palestine.  Or maybe Nepal.  Or Burma.  OK, so I suck at Third Goal.  I know I don't want to go back to Samoa is all.