Instagram Call Outs and Total Transparency

Currently Listening to: "Curls" by Bibio

Instagram Call Outs and the Very Un-Cute Side of Peace Corps

RIP Jaded Corps Story. Last week (Around July 2019), an Instagram account called @JadedCorps posted an Instagram Story with the caption “What’s the most savage thing you’ve heard a volunteer do”? For context, Jaded Corps is an Instagram account that is meant for Peace Corps Volunteers only, though I’ve seen people who follow the account before they even start service – which is problematic in the sense that these PC Trainees come in with certain expectations. To me, an ethical service is characterized by 1) being open to always learning, 2) constantly seeking information about your host country, and 3) leaving your expectations at the door when possible. Anyways, Jaded Corps posts memes, which I think can be cathartic for some volunteers, but most of the time, they’re memes that paint our host country with American brush, oftentimes in a negative light.

Anyways, some of the responses to the caption “What’s the most savage thing you’ve heard a volunteer do” included “Take a 2 week vacay in the US without telling PC” – which is also grounds for administrative separation because you’re always supposed to report your whereabouts, meaning if you’re not at your site you have to report where you are in case of emergency. Major yikes but just an example of breaking the rules. But one of the more horrifying responses one that said “Last night I choked out a student because I was tired of his shit” WOAH okay so that is wrong on so many levels. That’s an insanely violent response. Other responses included “Write a grant, then attempt to pocket the money. Fucking over HCNs and PCVs”, and “Killed and burned a neighbor’s goat because they were eating his garden”. All of which, are just wrong especially from American volunteers who are supposed to be working with these host countries, not exploiting them and inflicting violence.

A Call Out. Someone shared these responses with the Instagram account @NoWhiteSaviors, which is an Instagram account which advocates for better practices within missions and development work in Uganda and beyond. Their Instagram has almost 200K (As of July 2019) follows and use this platform to spread awareness around issues relating to the White Savior Complex, racism, ethnocentrism, and other forms of discrimination. Their post included screenshots of Jaded Corps’ stories, and also shared their thoughts on Peace Corps. They discuss their thoughts on Peace Corps, such as viewing Peace Corps as “Imperialism in Action”. In a lot of regards, I agree with their post and won’t shy away from a call out, but I just wanted to take the time to discuss my experience as a Filipino-American PCV in the Philippines, and my perceived value of Peace Corps' model of volunteering. In this post, and it’s a lengthy one, I’m going to be transparent about my reasons for coming to the Philippines with Peace Corps, and speak to the super valid points NWS’s post from the perspective PCV one year into living in the Philippines.

Total Transparency

I’m a Filipino-Korean American who lived in Texas my whole life, but wanted an opportunity to connect with my Filipino culture. After I graduated from UT Austin, I looked into opportunities that would allow me to live and work and learn in the Philippines, and the most ethical option / best fit for me seemed to be Peace Corps. Specifically because 1) I wouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars to go abroad, I can’t afford something like that and also doing that just feels wrong, 2) Peace Corps training included 10 weeks of language, culture, and technical training with Host Country Nationals, and 3) the organizations Peace Corps works with are organizations that specifically request for volunteers.

It should be noted that the ability to do PC in the first place is a privilege, or you have to work insanely hard to make it work. Though we have volunteers that come from all different types of economic backgrounds, you still have to be able to1) pay the fees associated with the Peace Corps application process for medical and legal clearance, and 2) step away from your life in the States – so you can’t work a job or take care of family etc, is a privilege.

Serving as a Volunteer of Color in the Philippines. In the 1990s, only 7% of volunteers came from minority backgrounds. As of September 2018, Peace Corps reports that 33% of volunteers come from minority backgrounds, though it should be noted that Peace Corps is still grappling with how to support Volunteers of Color, and this statistic is hard to break down because it’s unclear as to whether these numbers are from volunteers who accepted service but didn’t necessarily finish. Also, People of Color can still bring their American-centric lens to their host country – so we’re not immune to perpetuating an imperialistic perspective on our work just because we’re people of color.

The Philippines’ Neocolonial History. Alright, here's a quick history of America and the Philippines. Not as an attempt to frame the Philippines within the American narrative, because the Philippines is a country with a rich culture that goes way beyond a 50 year occupation, but to shed some light on Filipino-American history that 1) isn’t discussed enough in the American education system, and 2) give context for what American Volunteers are stepping into when they arrive in the Philippines.

The Philippines is an Archipelagic country in South East Asia with over 180 individual languages and over 7,000 islands. The Spanish colonized the country from the 1500s to the late 1800s. Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. The Philippines called for independence in 1898, and demanded freedom which culminated into the Philippine-American war, where Americans committed numerous war crimes against Filipinos. In the end though, America occupied the Philippines until the 1940s, in an attempt at ‘benevolent assimilation’ which meant that America would tried to absorb Filipinos in their culture out of their desire to ‘civilize’ them. They viewed Filipinos as too uncivilized to govern themselves and required American intervention, but America’s true intentions laid in the fact that they wanted to use the country to expand its influence in Asia.

Peace Corps and the Philippines. Fast forward not even 20 years, when Peace Corps was established in 1961 in an effort to “assist other countries in their development efforts by providing skilled workers in the fields of education, agriculture, health, trade, technology, and community development.” Peace Corps established a program in the Philippines in 1961, and it’s the agency’s second oldest country program, and their first volunteers were education volunteers. This is already kind of sticky, because the Philippines prior experiences to American Volunteers included the Thomasites, who were a group of American teachers sent by the US to expand a public school system using English as the medium of instruction. Though the expansion of accessibility to education is laudable, these teachers still brought their American-centric mindsets, and attempts to ‘benevolently assimilate’ their Filipino students. Furthermore, using English as the medium of instruction established a linguistic hierarchy that reinforces white supremacy, that is, those who speak English may be seen are superior to those who cannot.

Peace Corps Training and Site Placement- To speak to the type of training we receive, each post goes through Community based training. For the Philippines, this means living with a host-family, going through language training (for the Philippines, we learn the National Language- Tagalog - first, and then our Local Language after we find out where we’re going to be placed), Cultural training, and technical sessions with our Filipino Language and Technical Facilitators / programming staff. For education trainees, each PC Trainee has a Filipino teacher counterpart who we observed and work with. We go through this training for 10 weeks, and we aren’t sworn-in as volunteers unless our training staff thinks we’re ready. Our training isn’t comprehensive at all though, and we don’t talk about topics like white saviorism or dive into our neocolonial history. Considering how Peace Corps is currently up for budget cuts, I don’t think that will change for a while. For Peace Corps Philippines, we do have a committee meant to promote a culture of inclusivity within the Peace Corps community, which is the branch of the Peace Corps Intercultural Diversity Integration program, but it’s not a true solution to the lack of training volunteers have.

Site Placements for volunteers depends on a myriad of factors, such as health (ex. does a volunteer have a condition where they need to be placed closer to a hospital?), experience (ex. A coastal resource management site might specifically request a volunteer who is dive certified), and personality (every site has a different vibe!) Some Trainees may request or wish for a certain site, but just because you wish to be placed on the coast doesn’t mean you’ll be placed there. What all site have in common is that the host country agencies, which for the Philippines is the Department of Education, Local Government Units, and Non-Government Agencies, request for a volunteer, and then go through a site assessment conducted by both current volunteers living in that site and Filipino Peace Corps staff to conclude whether a volunteer can and should be placed at a site. We also have trainings throughout the year (in-service training four months into service, mid-service training one year in, and Close-of-Service Conference a few months prior to leaving, as well as the encouragement to find local language tutors. Some sectors get additional training, for example CRM had a Mangrove planting training this year with their Filipino Counterparts. And they’ve also implemented Local Language Intensive trainings in each province to keep volunteers on track with learning the language)

Explanatory Commas – the Post from My Perspective

Qualifications. One of the points NWS calls for is an explanation for how “a bunch of (mostly) white young adults, freshly out of university supposed to promote ‘world peace’” because “The majority of the PCVs I’ve met are not actually qualified to work in the capacity in which they are working. Many who are teaching here in Uganda, for example, don’t actually have degrees in teaching. But they are American, right? So I guess this is the qualification they need.” I think there’s a lot of validity to this, especially to the education sector, and I just want to speak to how I view my role in my school and how I am trying to rupture the narrative of the ‘American Expert”. As an education volunteer serving in the Philippines, with no prior experience teaching in a Filipino classroom. I didn’t even grow up in the Filipino school system, and there are only a few PCVs in PC Philippines who have. Even PCVs who have prior teaching experience probably don’t have experience teaching in a Filipino context! I grappled a lot with accepting this position, because of my lack of experience in teaching and my skepticism of teaching English abroad.

One of the things Peace Corps pushes is for Education volunteers to co-teach English (of course we’re not allowed to hold our own sessions unless we have a Filipino CP in the room, we’re not qualified teachers). My current counterpart is a Master Teacher who is incredibly dedicated to her students, who implements tons of learner-centered activities that get her students engaged with her lessons. Responding to not being ‘qualified to work in the capacity in which they are working’, I agree, I’m not qualified to teach. And as I mentioned earlier, I am skeptical about co-teaching English, because I don’t want to be seen as an expert simply because English is my first language. Therefore, I view my role in the class as another perspective, not a superior one, just another voice. And I view myself only as a facilitator, or support, for the projects that the school wants to provide. What I mean by that is that I’ve noticed that, much like in the states, teachers are underpaid and overburdened, so I try to dedicate myself to working on projects that focus on the topics they want to cover but don’t have the hours in the day to do so. Right now, I’m looking for already existing, Philippines-based training programs and initiatives for my school to possibly pursue. Do I think that any of my projects will necessarily survive once I leave? Not necessarily, but I do believe in the value of person-to-person diplomacy and cross-cultural exchange (as long as you’re aware of neocolonialism and ways to mitigate that)

Speaking to the whiteness of Peace Corps, it's true that historically Peace Corps has been primarily white. Today, Peace Corps reports that 33% of volunteers come from minority backgrounds (though I've struggled to find a breakdown of this, or if 'minority' includes religion, disability, sexuality, etc.), and speaking as a Volunteer of Color I can speak from my own anecdotal experience here that Peace Corps struggles to support Volunteers of Color considering how budget cuts affect... everything. But I digress, as America shifts towards becoming a majority-minority country, Peace Corps demographics should follow. I wanted to bring up this point, not to pat ourselves on the back and say "wow look we used to be so white and now we're SO diverse", but I wanted to give you a figure to ponder so we avoid erasing People of Color when having these discussions.

A Glorified Gap Year? I mean, I joined the Peace Corps for very selfish reasons, which I cannot and do not deny. As I said earlier, I had an itch to connect with my Filipino roots, and I believe that traveling here would better educate me for the career I want to pursue, which is a track that is entrenched with western-bias. That in it of itself, is a deeply selfish reason to pursue something.

NWS argues that from their experience, “PC is honestly a glorified gap year(s) paid by the American gov’t, for young adult Americans who aren’t sure what they want to do after college. It also looks REALLY GOOD on their CVs for grad school or whatever. No doubt that most are passionate and well-intentioned but the entire structure and function of the PC is a waste of funding and not sustainable.”, and there are plenty of volunteers who joined Peace Corps just because it looks good on a resume – I know of a few myself! Peace Corps being advertised as a way to get a leg up for graduate school is not a new concept. $396 million dollars (which as I said earlier, is constantly threatened to be cut) is not something to sneeze at. And a person who enters the Global South with the main priority to use their experiences as a leg up for their future in the Global North is extremely extractive and harmful.

My current status as a PCV is definitely factored into my hesitation to call something like Peace Corps a waste of time and funding, before for volunteers who are mindful of our position as Americans and feel connected to our communities, the opportunity to shift people’s mindsets and attitudes towards a more inclusive world (i.e., facilitating discussions about diversity for both Americans and our host country) is real work, and important work. There are definitely volunteers who come in to service with problematic attitudes, as white saviors or American sympathizers, and there’s a lot of harm that can be done (which is outline in the Jaded Corps stories). I don’t mean to sound like #NotAllVolunteers because I think the dialogue surrounding this post and the concept of a ‘glorified gap year’ is so valuable. As Americans, regardless of if you’re living in America or abroad, we have a responsibility to keep ourselves accountable and a dialogue running on these topics!

Lastly, I wanted to include that for some Volunteers from low-income backgrounds (especially those who can jump through the hoops of getting through the application process, such as the legal and medical fees), Peace Corps does afford them the opportunity to travel. I don't think these individuals should be reprimanded for seizing the chance to experience and learn from the world. For some, Peace Corps will be the first time they ever fly on a plane, and they're doing so with a model that will provide training and emphasize community integration.

Are Goals 1-3 worth achieving? The post outlined Peace Corps’ three goals, so I just wanted to outline how these three goals can have positive or negative impact. These three goals are 1) to help build local capacity, 2) share American diversity, and 3) bring the world back to the States.

As I stated earlier though, sometimes building capacity comes in the form of the connections created and cross-cultural exchange. And sometimes, a volunteer who is mindful of their American-presence in the community has the ability to create positive change in the long term. For example, one of my batchmates shared a story from their last service where they helped establish a youth center, which probably would’ve happened regardless of the PCV’s presence. But through that youth center, they created a very small art program, with only a handful of students. The impact of that seems negligible, but those students came back a few years later to say that the art club continued after the PCV left, and those students became advocates for social justice in the local art movement. I also know of a non-profit that was founded by a family who hosted a deaf volunteer, and then later established a non-government organization that employs and empowers the deaf communities in the Philippines by working to transition the country to Filipino Sign Language, build applied skills, and find community. What I mean to say is that there’s the opportunity for small, meaningful change, that sometimes takes longer to show.

No, not everyone ceases these opportunities, and you definitely have volunteers that do more harm than good, for example sometimes you get volunteers who don’t listen to their community needs or think that they know best, and pursue projects that are abandoned immediately (for example, I’ve heard of a volunteer who established a library at their site, but as soon as that volunteer left, their library was abandoned and the community used that space for something else entirely). Or you have volunteers who have the awful mindsets seen in those screenshots, where they are physically harming community members or stealing funding from them. Or, volunteers pursue projects that just have little impact, like bringing a reading training or an environmental camp that may or may not happen again in subsequent years. The type of impact volunteers have on their community is mixed.

Speaking to sharing American diversity, I think it is valuable (and again, maybe this is because this is a personal struggle I face, which is the concept of being a ‘pure American’ aka an American who isn’t white) to share American diversity. Yes, the majority of volunteers are White, but for Volunteers of Color, our service poses a myriad of challenges and learning moments. For me personally, it’s a chance to discuss what it means to be bi-racial in America with my community, and how I’m not less or more Filipino than I am Korean or American. I do think that some interpretations of Goal 2 can be imperialistic, and bringing only your American point of view to the table in some situations (i.e., seeing your point of view as the only ‘correct’ way) is extremely harmful, and I do think that (in the Filipino context at least) there’s the opportunity to talk about the many ways America is similar to the Philippines, like in the struggles we face to close the class gap and celebrating how diverse both the Philippines and America can be.

Unfortunately, Peace Corps isn’t always on the forefront of progressive support, and it shows in the lack of support volunteers of color experience. I mean, I’ll say it can be exhausting being a WOC in Peace Corps because it does feel like you constantly have to do work to educate both your community and your batchmates. Sometimes it feels like you have to constantly justify your experience or concerns or frustrations. I’m on a committee that is meant to promote a culture of inclusion and equity within PC and the communities we serve, but this model isn’t perfect or the salve to all the discrimination volunteers from minority backgrounds experience.

Lastly, addressing PC’s third goal, bringing the world back to America, is a tricky line to walk. This goal is extremely selfish in the sense that it mostly benefits Americans, but I think that it creates the opportunity to shift the minds of Americans when viewing POC in America. PCVs carry their volunteer experiences with them for most of their lives, for better or for worse. Some people likely come out of service with a white savior complex, or a sense of American-superiority, and they speak to their service with an American-centric lens, which is so incredibly dangerous. And the way volunteers discuss their service on social media, or rant to their followers about the culture they’re in, is also dangerous. Volunteers who go into service with an understanding of how they could possibly harm their community, and are open to learning about another culture, do bring these positive experiences and mindsets back with them to the states, and I do think that they can become better allies for marginalized communities within the US, which considering the current climate of America, is much needed these days. Also, though I mentioned that PC is a privilege earlier, there are volunteers who come from low-income families and would not be afforded the opportunity to travel, perhaps to their homeland or just to fulfill the wish to see the world, if they didn’t pursue something like Peace Corps.

So...is Peace Corps Ethical?

As it stands, and rooted in our long history that began in the 1960s, Peace Corps is an agency run mostly by white folks. I do believe that the institution of teaching English, especially as it is in the Philippines, is inherently imperialistic. There isn’t a but to that, just an ‘and’. And there isn’t a federal agency, as far as I know, that focuses on solely understanding another culture (though if there is, please shed some light on them in the comments below!) And there is merit to the claim that the current structure of Peace Corps allows some Americans who come in with their problematic attitudes and behaviors who do more harm than good to their communities. And I do believe that Peace Corps has the potential to do positive change, by training and supporting volunteers who put their community first in all aspects of change making.

Peace Corps is not the solution to world peace by any means, but I do think there is value for both Americans and our Host Countries by building community and understanding together. The dialogue surrounding the ethics and sustainability of Peace Corps is a conversation the volunteer and Peace Corps as a whole should lean into. As a volunteer organization, there are definitely flaws, and gaps that need to be filled. Americans who go into their country of service and refuse to listen to their community or inflict harm upon community members have no place in the country that they serve. Since it is a government agency, Peace Corps, though an apolitical entity, have political appointees who usually don’t really have any idea of what PC is about at its core or what it can be for ethical development. And there’s high turnover rates for volunteers and staff (anyone who works for Peace Corps can only serve for 5 years at a time in a position, which causes the loss of institutionalized memory but is meant to employ RPCVs and keep the energy up in short appointments). And 398 million dollars is a lot of money (albeit like, 0.02% of the federal budget). And NWS is right, I’m sure people who are tight about this or defensive are RPCVs or PCVs, but I personally am not mad that they shed light on this at all. I think that these conversations are necessary when thinking of the ethics of anyone going into another country. So major props to this instagram account for making PC reflect on who we are and why we're here. And for getting rid of Jaded Corps, which in my opinion, just needed to go.