Both last Monday and Friday were holidays here, so I took full advantage of the non-working days to explore more of Kyrgyzstan’s beautiful nature and the, finally, warm weather (THANK GRACIOUS). I went on two day hikes with a local travel company called Trekking Union Kyrgyzstan (TUK). They are local-run, affordable ($5-8 for a day hike), organize groups for weekend and mid-week and multi-day treks, and provide transportation and guides. The transportation aspect was the biggest pull for me to shell out 280 som, as there are few or no public transportation options to most of the surrounding hiking sites AND taxis are expensive (one taxi trip to Ala Archa and back cost us around 2,000 som last summer). Monday TUK took me to Kashka-Suu (about 40 minutes South of Bishkek, right before Ala Archa), and on Friday TUK took me to Issyk-Ata (about 1.5 hrs East of Bishkek).
The views were amazing on both days, though I had actually been to both places once before (Kashka-Suu for the “Camp TOT” last summer and Issyk-Ata to swim in the hot springs with my friend Anna last fall – both written about in previous blog entries). In neither place had I hiked though! There were 16 people on Monday’s Kashka-Suu hike – 12 locals, myself, and 1 Russian and 2 German tourists, and our Guide, Andre. Friday’s Issyk-Ata hike had a cast of 35 all-locals, and our guide, Adilet, all speaking Russian to me all day long! It was great language practice, incredible views, and super-nice new friendsy-friends.
The Russian tourist on the Kashka-Suu hike, Vanya, was here visiting some local friends for a week (who we have mutual friends with – it’s a small city!). I love a candid, ultra-opinionated, and hilarious stranger – and Vanya was all this and more, and now he is my GOOD FRIEND FOREVER (hey Vanya!). He and I talked quite a bit and hung out throughout the rest of his stay in Bishkek. In addition to taking a slew of high-quality iphone photos (which he promised he will send to me – Vanya..), Vanya also graced me with one of the longest list of What-Is-Peace-Corps-and-Why-Are-You-Doing-It questions I have ever heard.
When I am asked “What does the Peace Corps do?” I provide a well-rehearsed speech (which I have touted maybe 200 times, in Russian and English, and which I again delivered on this very day to Vanya).
I start by listing the three official goals of the Peace Corps:
The Peace Corps’ Mission
To promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:
- To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women
- To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
- To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans
Then I go into the 5 sectors PC works in (statistics are world-based, accounting for a 3% ‘other’):
- Education: 40%
- Health: 22%
- Environment: 12%
- Community Economic Development: 11%
- Youth in Development: 7%
- Agriculture: 5%
And then I discuss what PC Kyrgyzstan does (we work here in the Health, Community Economic Development, and Education sectors), and provide examples of what my friends here and I are working on at our work sites and beyond (i.e. secondary projects and PC activities like TOT’s, conferences, trainings, etc.).
After delivering my speech (in English – Vanya practically speaks better English than I do) I found myself defending all sorts of PC policies and methods via hard-line interview from Vanya, AKA “But WHY??-Vanya.” Major topics included why I would choose to live in a “less-comfortable place” (Kyrgyzstan) than the U.S. without any obvious (financial) benefit, why I wouldn’t do something on the side to earn money, and why would I join an organization that both would not pay me AND would restrict my personal life in all sorts of “unfair” ways (like requiring contact when not sleeping in my bed or leaving my oblast, and having preference about with whom and how I should spend my free time). Feeling like the Ambassador of Peace Corps, I explained and re-explained all the ways in which PC provides for my health and safety and supports my work through the sometimes-strict rule system and administration’s guidelines – all of which is tried and true and which I buy into 110% (though also not static, and the room for change is a major progressive plus). The conversation then shifted and stayed forever-on on volunteerism overall, as in “Why Volunteer (work without pay/personal benefit)?” I explained my reasons (one of almost every PCV’s reasons) for joining the Peace Corps – the “because I want to help people”-thing, and tried to break down other aspects into relatable and appealing benefits such as experienceing a different culture, learning a new language, seeing a less-explored part of the world, and getting to put my education into practice in a unique setting which allows me a great deal more autonomy than a paid starter-job in the U.S.
Because the culture here in Kyrgyzstan, and in other former USSR countries, is often self-identified as lacking a volunteer mentality, I have to provide this speech a lot. I am asked to explain why I am here, what and why is Peace Corps, what do I actually do and how and in what way, what benefits do I have – what is my incentive, why would I be here without pay, exactly how much does Peace Corps provide me for my living expenses, will being a PCV help me get a job later – and, sometimes, is that really why I am doing it, do I like Kyrgyzstan, and have I tried besh barmark (the national dish)? And that’s is just the beginning.
Like with Vanya, I try to appeal to the practical, generally unanimous, and tangible desires of my listeners (pre-career experience, opportunity to travel and learn). I answer these questions with the tone and ultimate goal to help others see why volunteering is FUN and WORTHWHILE (besides the other fun and worthwhile aspects of providing help to those in need and improving their lives and the world on a whole).
With Vanya, this talk led to a full-out tour of the Peace Corps office! I gave him an after-hours showing of every office (door), our PC kitchen, volunteer ‘lounge’ and meeting rooms. He sat down and studied one of our many volunteer-ability-enhancement recources, the Participatory Analysis for Community Action book, and even requested to buy it. Wants to bring volunteerism to Russia, wants to use methods like the Peace Corps to build the skill-set of volunteers and thyoughtfully prepare them for their work. For me, this was excellent. And, not trying to toot my own horn or anything, I think this is excellent for how Peace Corps is received in the world and, more importantly, how volunteerism is perceived.
THUS – I entitled my efforts with Vanya as being in pursuit of an unofficial 4th goal of the Peace Corps – sharing volunteerism with the world! I am pleased with this and hope you, dear reader, are too.
And here are some more pictures from the hikes!
(kashka-suu:)
and Issyk-Ata:
Larisa in Kyrgyzstan 