Joining the Peace Corps gave me the opportunity
to sort of be a part of something bigger than myself.
You know, I thought, what was going on in America and the world at that time? And really, in an international sense,
it was apartheid, and Peace Corps opening everything up in South Africa, and going to South Africa literally,
you know, two years after the fall of apartheid, and being part of that group, I got to be a part of history in the making.
Given the fact that the world today is more complicated, more troubled,
we’re living in an era when good will is more important than ever before. And perhaps equally as important,
it’s an era when understanding—the ability to understand people of other cultures
and other religions couldn’t be more important.
Panama’s got such a kaleidoscope of cultures, and where I live in the Asuedo, it’s very distinct,
and it’s known as the kind of cradle of the Latino culture in Panama.
As the first generation born in the United States, you know, you have - from your family’s side,
you have a lot of Cuban culture thrown at you,
but with your peers in school you have a lot of, you know, American culture thrown at you,
so you’re kind of in this place of solitude, you know, where you’re really trying to find
an identify yourself and where you fit in.
So coming back here was a way to get back in touch with the original roots of my grandparents,
you know, who lived in the country, who were farmers.
The really cool thing for me about being an Iranian-American and being able
to talk a little bit about Iran to the people here is when you say, “Iran,” they automatically think “Iraq,”
and that’s where they think, like, my dad’s from or where my heritage is.
And I get to talk to them, “No, it’s actually different.” But even then, I get to open up the whole—the whole question of,
“What do you think it’s like there?” You know, and having been there and everything, I can explain it to them.
They are so flabbergasted when I tell them that there’s people of all ethnic backgrounds,
that the number of non-white Americans is increasing steadily.
I think it’s also nice being Alaskan-Indian to show them,
“My people were indigenous, and I’m proud of that.”
Peace Corps volunteers are really unique. They have been out there.
They have been immersed culturally; they’ve learned a second language; they have learned how to work and to interact
and to understand and respect a different point of view.
It is more of a curiosity being, coming here as a black woman,
because they’ve only really seen black people on TV, so it’s like, it’s kind of like,
bringing to reality something that they’ve never seen before.
I can definitely see my — everything changing about me. I try to keep a journal, so you can definitely see,
when you look back on the past entries, you can definitely see yourself changing.
So, in Botswana, there’s actually a fairly large, um, Chinese population here.
And a lot of them have come from mainland China to do, um, construction work,
or they’ll set up different shops here for businesses.
And, from talking with the Botswana here, there hasn’t always been a good relationship between the two cultures.
It still takes a lot of convincing to people to explain to them that I’m not from China, that I’m actually born and raised in America.
I’m American, even though I look Chinese. And, after a while, their stereotypes will start to dissolve,
but it’s definitely something that’s always on my mind here.
Here in Ecuador, the poorest class are Afro-Ecuadoreans and indigenous people.
And since I’m also African-American, they see me and they think that I’m from here.
So that has been a great obstacle, for me to overcome a lot of these prejudices. But I think by me working in the areas
where Afro-Ecuadoreans live, I’ve been able to help these people realize that they can do whatever that they desire.
For me to be able to work in these communities and kind of help these people, like, motivate them,
increase their self esteem, has been a great deal for me.
The community that I live in is, uh, it’s pretty small, um, relative to the United States -
3000 people in this village. When I think about it, it’s smaller than the high school that I went to, population-wise.
I feel really safe —I feel like the students watch out for me, the teachers, everyone — everyone seems to watch out for me,
and they’ve kind of embraced me as their village teacher-daughter-sister-something.
But I’m something to someone here, and it’s nice — to everyone.
I am a Pakistani-American, but I find that, living in Kazakhstan, most of the time it’s to my benefit, because people,
when they find out—for example, my religion is Islam, they’re like, “oh, you’re one of us!” And that’s great,
so, it’s kind of nice, because I think they do see me as an American, but they also see me as one of them, kind of.
There’s no question that the Peace Corps, both in terms of overseas
and in terms of Peace Corps opportunities here in the United States offer minority Americans more opportunities.
The Peace Corps has a long-standing history of commitment
to a diverse Peace Corps, commitment to an open and inclusive Peace Corps,
commitment to attracting as many Americans of color as possible.