The Life Less Traveled

Over 20 years ago Mona Sturges joined the Peace Corps. That was the first step toward a international career which allowed her to travel and see the world from a different perspective than most people get to experience. Would she do it again? Yes, in a heart beat.

Conception

1) How did you come up with the idea to join the Peace Corps?
I think I first became interested in the Peace Corps right around the time it was founded in the 1960’s, but I was busy with other things and also was not an American citizen so it just stayed in the back of my mind for years. I would make jokes when things weren’t going too well saying, “I think I will just run away and join the Peace Corps, or maybe the foreign legion.”

Then one day when I was working in the Oregon state legislature I went to a lecture on the Willamette University campus and saw a Peace Corps recruiting poster. My job in the legislature was ending and I had no relationship commitments at that time. I had become a US citizen, and I thought, well I really could join the Peace Corps now! So I called the recruiting office in Seattle and inquired into the application process. This was in the early spring of 1987.

2) Why did you want to join the Peace Corps?
By this time I had known quite a few people who had been in the Peace Corps including my sister and had heard a lot of stories about it. I thought it would be a nice break from the work I had been doing and a good entree into doing more work overseas

This proved true as after I was in the Peace Corps I started to get assignments with the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eastern Europe (OSCE). I did elections related work for the next ten or so years in Bosnia, Croatia, Africa and East Timor. I know that without the Peace Corps experience I would not have got the first overseas assignment in Bosnia with the UN as they were specifically recruiting returned Peace Corps volunteers. But all that is another story!

3) What worried you about joining the Peace Corps?
My main concern about joining the Peace Corps was the logistics. By that time I had stuff… furniture, a car, and the usual stuff. I needed to sell my car, put stuff in storage, and get my life in Oregon tucked away for two years.

4) What excited you about joining the Peace Corps?
Frankly the main thing was I thought it would be an adventure. I would be working and living in a developing country and would experience first hand another culture. It seemed like it would be a challenge and it was.

5) Were there people who thought your idea was crazy?
I remember one person asking me what I was running away from. I thought it was more running to something, not away from something.

6) Were there people who thought your idea was brilliant?
I don’t remember anyone who thought it was a really great idea. Some of my friends worried that I was giving up a promising career to more or less drop out.

7) Was there a specific moment when you though “Yes, I’m going to do this!”?
I think seeing the recruiting poster and realizing that yes, I was in a place in my life where I could actually join the Peace Corps, was the defining moment.

Implementation

1) Was it hard or easy to join the Peace Corps and leave your life at home for your 2 year assignment?
It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy. At the time I joined the Peace Corps there was no Internet and I knew that I would not be communicating with friends and family except by very slow mail. But on the other hand I was looking forward to the challenge of living and working in another country. I knew the two years would go by quickly, which they did!

2) How long did it take from conception to actually leaving for your assignment?
The Peace Corps application process is a lengthy one. It can take up to a year to get an assignment. I worked in the Peace Corps headquarters after I returned from my volunteer service in 1989 and it was taking up to a year for applicants to get an assignment then. I don’t think that has changed much. I was lucky that I got an assignment in August in 1987. Some of the volunteers that went with me to the Eastern Caribbean had waited much longer for their assignments.

3) What is your funniest memory of joining the Peace Corps?
There were lots of funny moments in the Peace Corps and most were of the “joke is on me” kind. Also they were the “you had to be there” to get it kind, so can’t think of anything that would sound very funny now!

Reflection

1) What was the most enjoyable to you about being in the Peace Corps?
I really loved my assignment as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I worked with women’s groups in the northern part of the island of Dominica. My job was in the area of small business development and the women’s groups I worked with were doing a wide variety of income generating projects. It was great to work with them and help put their enterprises in the profitable column.

2) Would you do it again?
Yes. Jimmy Carter’s mother was a Peace Corps volunteer when she was in her 80’s. I think that will be the right time for another Peace Corps assignment for me.

3) What is the biggest lesson being in the Peace Corps has taught you about life?
I think as a result of my Peace Corps experience I developed a more global point of view than if I had not worked outside the US. I found that we are are much more alike than we are different and we all want the best for our families and friends no matter where we live or what our cultural background is.

4) What is your own personal favorite memory or experience that you have from being in the Peace Corps?
My fondest memory is of the people in my village. I lived in a small village located up a narrow steep winding road. The main source of income for the villagers was growing bananas. Everyone knew everyone else and I was welcomed warmly. Even though I was considered a “stranger” the whole time I lived in the village, I was accepted as part of the community. I loved walking up the hill to the little store and having every one say hello and expecting me to stop and chat for a few moments. Going to the store or anywhere in the village took awhile.

Advice

1) What is your advice to someone out there thinking of joining the Peace Corps?
That is easy… go for it and go with an open mind, a lot of patience, a sense of humor and a spirit of adventure.

2) What book would you recommend to someone reading your story?
There are a lot of books about he Peace Corps and the experience of volunteers, but the best information is found on the Peace Corps web site. Most of the people that work in the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington DC are returned Peace Corps Volunteers.