Burkina Bound: Adventures in the Peace Corps: There's No Place Like Home

Contact Me

I now have a new permanent mailing address. You can send me letters or packages (either would be fantastic) to the following address for the next two years:

Erik Durant
Corps de la Paix
Ouahigouya 01
01 B.P. 392
Burkina Faso
West Africa

For detailed instructions and tips for mailing me letters and packages, click on "Sending Me Mail" under the "Important Posts" tab below or simply click here. If you can't send me any mail, that's totally fine as well. I also appreciate emails (ecdura at gmail dot com) and posts on my blog, of course.

I also have a cell phone. Imagine that! To call me, I believe you dial 001 226 75 52 50 58. I don't know how much it costs you so check into that. I know it can be really expensive. I can also receive texts (cheaper for you) if you want to do that.

Timeline

01/12/08: Submitted online application to the Peace Corps
01/12/08: Submitted Health Status Review form online
01/17/08: Contacted by my recruiter for an interview
01/31/08: Interview with my recruiter
02/15/08: Officially nominated for a health-extension program in Sub-Saharan Africa departing in November
02/21/08: Received PC medical kit in the mail
03/05/08: Eye exam
03/06/08: Dental exam
03/25/08: Medical exam
04/03/08: Mailed completed medical kit
04/10/08: PC recieved my medical kit
04/25/08: Received medical clearance
08/01/08: Received dental clearance
08/22/08: Received my official invitation to Burkina Faso as a Community Health Development Worker, leaving for staging on October 12, 2008

Thursday, May 29, 2008

There's No Place Like Home

I moved out of my Williamsburg apartment yesterday with my dad's help and am now back in good ol' Midlothian. I have been sick for the past couple days, so this move has been even more stressful. I am just happy to be done with everything related to moving out, and I am content with relaxing here for a few days to recover. Things to be accomplished in the immediate future: 1) get my job back as a waiter, 2) get a gym membership, and 3) finish my dental work.

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Glossary

Some useful Peace Corps abbreviations and terms :
· Assignment: The location and job the volunteer is placed in
· APCD: Associate Peace Corps Director. A host-country national in charge of that region's program
· CD: Country Director. The one in charge of the volunteers in that country
· COS: Close of Service. The end of a volunteer's service
· Country Desk: The department representing regional countries, at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington D.C.
· ET: Early Termination. Leaving, for whatever reason, before COS
· Homestay: Part of training where the volunteer lives with a member of the community (the owners of the house are often referred to as "family," i.e. mother, brother, etc.)
· Host Country: The country where the volunteer is serving
· IOS: Interruption of Service. When local, political, or environmental conditions require the entire program to be pulled from an area
· IST: In-Service Training. A secondary training event that happens mid-service
· LCF: Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator. Trainers responsible for language and culture sections during PST.
· Medevac: Medically Evacuate. To return a volunteer to the States for medical treatment, usually because they have an injury/illness that is untreatable in-country
· Medical Separation: When a volunteer cannot complete service due to a medical problem
· OMS: Office of Medical Services
· PC: Peace Corps
· PCMO: Peace Corps Medical Officer. The nurse or doctor in charge of all that country's volunteers
· PCT: Peace Corps Trainee. Volunteer's title during training and before becoming an official volunteer
· PCV: Peace Corps Volunteer
· PST: Pre-Service Training. The training program, usually 3 months long, that teaches volunteers language, cross-cultural sensitivity, and job skills before they begin their official service
· RPCV: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
· Site: The location where the volunteer lives and works for 2 years
· Staging: The first day of training, held in the U.S., before flying out to the host country
· Swearing-In: The ceremony that accompanies transition from PCT to PCV

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

There's No Place Like Home

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