“…while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

To the people who may think I am crazy to be willing to fly thousands of miles to live in a strange place with strangers:

Sure.  I may be crazy to be joining in the Peace Corps.  I’m very excited about the opportunity to live in a foreign land and cooperate with foreign people to solve issues.  But I’m not going to deny that I am nervous too.  Yes, I know that I am headed for a huge challenge.  I’ve learned as much as I could about the obstacles I will likely face by reading other Peace Corps Volunteers’ blogs about their experiences.

I will be living in a shack with inconsistent electricity, killing rats and big bugs, speaking in a foreign language, and eating strange food.  I’ll likely get sick with food poisoning, no mater how hard I try to eat and drink carefully.  Because racial discrimination and gender inequality still exist in various countries, including in Cameroon where majority of the population is black, I am aware to expect to face differential treatment because I am a white women.  People might stare at me and call me names such as “La Blanche,” which means “white woman” in French.  I may get many random proposal requests from men and will need to stand up for myself by politely saying, “No.”  People may tease me for having more money than average people in the community.  I also acknowledge that I will face frustrations in not seeing fast results from my efforts in completing assignments and creating some positive changes.

I am prepared to cry on some days and ask myself, “Why the hell did I choose to take this job?”  However, I will be stubborn and refuse to quit.  In midst of frustrations, I will still discover many charms in the strange land.  While I will meet many friendly people who will teach me how to love Cameroon and make great new friends, I will also find gorgeous sceneries that are worth photographing.  I will still find food that are tasty such as beignets.  I will celebrate the smallest achievements I will have made, be it being able to successfully wash clothes and linens by hand or teach a concept that a few people in my community will be able to learn.

I will also likely be taught so many invaluable life lessons.  I will probably learn how to become a more patient person and take one day at a time.  While I already have experiences in living abroad, I will continue to learn how to be sensitive about the cultural differences, communicate effectively with people from different cultures and live the lifestyle of the locals in the community while educating them about my American culture.

I will also apply the experiences I learned from overcoming obstacles due to being deaf while growing up, to my daily work.  If I face a setback or feel like I am not achieving something, I will remember the times when I learned to hear and speak while growing up.  When I was a child and learning listening and spoken language, there were days when I struggled and wondered if I would ever be able to do just as well as my hearing peers.  But I persevered and still experienced making great advancements.  I did eventually master my listening and spoken language skills.  It was just a matter of being persistent and also patient.

Circa 1993. Rachel doing therapy work with her mother.

While my goal is to make a small, positive impact in a community while serving in Peace Corps, I also expect that Peace Corps will change who I am.  I hope to acquire the skills in solving social issues and become better networked with people who work with humanitarian organizations for future job opportunities.  I will certainly not be Malala Yousafzai, Steve Jobs, or Rosa Parks, people who took risks and created a phenomenal change on a big scale.  I will simply be working along side with the locals in a small community.  I also want to note that my impressions about what I can possibly encounter when moving to Cameroon could turn out to be totally different from what I write here.

While you are thinking that I am crazy to face frustrations and risks, please keep in mind that if we want to see positive changes, facing challenges is necessary and a worthwhile.