High

Everyone always told me that Peace Corps would have its highs and its lows, but that the highs would make everything worth it.  I’ve had my fair share of lows, but I’ve also experienced those highs that everyone always talked about.  But yesterday, I became fully aware of what it means to really have a Peace Corps high.  

Yesterday I sat down with the parents of one of the high school senior boys in my town.  I had invited him to accompany me to Camp VALOR (the boys camp that many of you donated to) this weekend.  He was obviously excited because of the opportunity to miss two days of school and swim in a real pool (even though he doesn’t know how to swim- I promised his parents I’d keep a good eye on him).  But his parents, as any parents would be, were a little concerned about letting him go.  First of all, they were trusting the gringa, a complete stranger from another country, to take their child to another town for four days.  Second of all, he would be missing two days of school, and he is a senior so he needs to be concentrating on his schoolwork to get into university.  Thirdly, he has never traveled- anywhere.  Sure, he’s left El Arenal to head to the market with his family, but he has never actually traveled anywhere for the pure joy of it.  To say the least, his parents were on the fence about letting him go.

This is where my Peace Corps High comes into play.  I sat down with his parents in my living room, listening to their concerns about their boy.  I assured them that the weekend would be beneficial, that he would learn things there that he wouldn’t be able to learn in school.  I assured them that he would be well taken care of and that there would be 40 other boys his age doing the exact same thing.  I promised them that he would call them every night to let them know how things were going and that I would keep my eye on him.  But the part that still makes me smile, and will continue to make me smile for days to come, was their faces when I finally convinced them to let him go.  I looked into their eyes, and sincerely told them that their child was a good example to other kids.  I explained to them that of all the boys in the school, the teachers had unanimously chosen him as the best candidate for coming to this camp.  I told them that the teachers regard him as a model student, as someone that others look up to.  In the eyes of his classmates, he is a leader.  He is a kid who would benefit from this camp, and be able to bring back what he learned and share it with others.  He was the first person the teachers thought of when I was explaining the camp.  As I was going off on this tyrant about how great a kid they have, their eyes glowed.  They couldn’t hide their smiles as they heard me singing praise about their son.  They looked at each other, and I could tell how proud they were in that instant.  That may have been the first time anyone had ever told them what a great job they did with their son.  

So now I know what it means to experience a true Peace Corps High.  It may have been a small thing, but the look on their faces is something that will stay with me forever.  I will be riding on the coattails of this High for days and weeks to come.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
                -- Maya Angelou