Adam Ventures

This past Thursday the Central Indiana Peace Corps Association (CIPCA) played host to Jonathan Pearson, advocacy coordinator for the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA). Jonathan is on a trek across the Midwest to get a feel for what state Peace Corps associations are doing so that as an advocacy director he can inform congressmen of what their constituents are up to. He hopes to show our congressmen just how important the Peace Corps program is by showing that RPCVs are very active members of the community — that the 27 months abroad is only the start of a lifelong commitment to service. Without adequately funding the Peace Corps we are depriving our communities of valuable leaders in the future. In the meantime, though, he was in Indianapolis to see how the CIPCA was faring and to tell us about the NPCA and its plans for the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.

However, the get-together wasn’t all business. I also met a ton of great people. Most of them RPCVs who have served all over the world and one other nominee, who heading to a Pacific island in May 2011. Many of them gave me great advice (“don’t try to change the world so quickly”, “discover your country and stay with other PCVs”) and many of them told their stories in service.

While there, Jonathan interviewed the other nominee and me to inquire about our decisions to join the Peace Corps. You can read his article at this address: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2010/08/networking-with-peace-corps-nominees/

Here’s the story.

In order to be a good candidate for the Peace Corps you have to prove that you are in good, stable health and, as part of the Peace Corps application process, you have to visit an optometrist, dentist, and physician. From those examinations the Peace Corps medical office decides whether or not you are fit to serve.

I received the necessary medical forms in late January and had them completed by mid-February. There they sat for four months on the desk of my medical screening nurse who. Through no fault of her own her office was understaffed. My files sat on her desk for four months because she was busy working on the files of other applicants who left before me and, therefore, took precedence over my application.

At the tail end of June I receive a call from my screening nurse requesting one more test since the results in my files were 4 ninths out of date. At this point I’m ecstatic because after I get this test done I should be cleared medically and then after that all that is left is placement, where I receive an invitation!

I scheduled an appointment with the lab to check my thyroid levels, the test that the screening nurse requested, and had my blood drawn. After the results came back I was out of range on one of the tests but thought that if this is an issue then I can schedule another test later on without it being an issue.

Again, though, my results sat on my screening nurse’s desk for 3 weeks whereupon I’m told that I’ll need one more thyroid test to come back within range before I am allowed to be cleared medically. Within the following days I had another lab appointment where my levels come back as being in-range. Fantastic! I thought, but by the time my screening nurse looks at them and clears me medically it is too late for the program that I was nominated for.

I was originally nominated for a September departure which would have me leaving in a month. However, due to the understaffing in the medical office, I lost my chance at leaving in September.

After speaking with the placement officer, the person who ultimately decides where an applicant will go, I was offered two choices: either I could start teaching myself French and serve in Sub-Saharan Africa or I could wait until January for another chance at getting into a program in my geographic preference of Central or South America.

I chose the latter a because part of my desire to go into the Peace Corps is to help with my Spanish comprehension and speaking ability. In the meantime I have been renominated for a Central/South American country leaving in early January 2011. Having to wait another 4 months does feel like a setback but, as I have to constantly tell myself, nothing worthwhile is easily achieved.

Also, after speaking with the placement nurse I found out that my geology degree also opens up opportunities for environmental education positions.

Taking a look at the image below from Mapping My Futures, redux I can presume that for a January departure it will be either Guatemala or Nicaragua. You can disregard the numbers in the second column as they are only for Agriculture and Forestry Extension positions.

Approximate Agriculture and Forestry Extension positions available in Central & South America sorted by month of departure. The "#" indicates the number of positions in the AgFo program for that country. Data from Peace Corps Wiki's Timeline and Placement Calculator.

RT @adammbaker: Medically cleared! #peacecorps

At the end if the workday I received a call from someone at my doctor’s office explaining that my most recent blood test results were in and that I was within range! I’m not a religious man but hallelujah!

Of course I got the call after the doctor’s office had closed so I’ll have to stop by tomorrow morning before work to pick them up and fax them in. So there’s still hope that I’ll have a September departure!

Yesterday my Peace Corps screening nurse spoke to a placement officer on my behalf, apprising her of my situation, and giving me her number to answer any of my what-if questions.  I called and left a message.  Today I heard back and received some sobering if not disappointing news.

The latest which I could be medically qualified for the program for which I was nominated would be the 18th of August, about what I expected.  However, there are only 3 positions left in that program and as other applicants become medically qualified the spots would be filled, potentially as soon as next week.

This means that I had better get my blood tested again as soon as possible (and well before the doctor would recommend) to have a chance at leaving in September.  In order for this to happen I will have to be able to schedule an appointment at the lab at my doctor’s office and receive the results as quickly as possible.  In other words, in order for me to depart on schedule everything will have to go smoothly, starting tomorrow.  I believe that I have the screening nurse on my side but there are probably others just like me that the screening nurse has to preference just as much as me.

Should this not happen there are 2 options that the placement officer gave me: either I could teach myself French for positions in Sub-Saharan Africa leaving in October or I could simply wait for the new year to roll around when the programs start to depart again (the Peace Corps must be apprehensive about having training occur over the holiday season).  Although I would not mind learning French I would prefer serving in Latin America to work on my Spanish more.  If that means waiting an additional 4 months then so be it.

Should this be it there are a couple options that I may be considered for:

Approximate Agriculture and Forestry Extension positions available in Central & South America sorted by month of departure. The "#" indicates the number of positions in the AgFo program for that country. Data from Peace Corps Wiki's Timeline and Placement Calculator.

If I am renominated for a January departure then I may be sent to either Nicaragua or Guatemala; February means Paraguay, Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras.

CAVEAT:  The above chart is using data from departures for all programs so AgFo may not be departing each of the months. YMMV

I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time.  Nothing worth having is easily won.  Have hope.

I received a call from my Peace Corps screening nurse telling me that she had received my recent paperwork.  At the time I received the call I was driving and, sensing that, she asked me if it was a good time to talk or if I could pull over.  So I pull over because I’m anticipating a call thinking THIS HAS TO BE IT! MY CHARIOT HAS ARRIVED! FINALLY AN INVITATION!  Then she asked if I was able to speak privately.

Uhm, that’s not how this call is supposed to go.  Right after I answer you’re supposed to be sing-songing “Adam Baker have I got great news for you!”  Instead, you ask to speak to me alone?

As it turns out the lab results did not indicate that my hypothyroidism was being managed properly.  Upon reading the results my doctor increased my dosage but neglected to mention it anywhere on the forms.  And even though I can get a note from my doctor saying that he did indeed up my dose it won’t be enough to satisfy the Peace Corps medical office.  Which is understandable since they may not have as good or as sanitary places to take blood samples wherever I am sent.

The obstacle, though, is that I will have to wait a minimum of 3 more weeks to get tested again.  Of all the countries in Latin America that have Agriculture and Forestry Extension assignments leaving in September (Paraguay and Peru) only Paraguay will now be feasible and even then just barely so.  There is a 6-week minimum between when the Peace Corps invites you to serve with them and when you depart for that country.  And there are 9 weeks between now and when Paraguay is rumored to depart.  So even if I get the test results faxed to the Peace Corps medical office and have my screening nurse expedite my files then there is only a 1-day window in which I can be invited (unless they get to massage that 6-week rule a little bit).  Now I sit and wait.

Dismayed but not discouraged, here is what I have to hope for:

• I’ll be able to get a doctor’s appointment for the earliest possible time
• my bloodwork will be processed quickly
• my levels will be in range
• I can pick up a copy of my lab results and fax them in quickly
• my Peace Corps screening nurse will process them quickly, and then
• I’ll receive notice that my invitation is in the mail!

My fear is that if even one of those steps is not done as swiftly as possible then my chances of missing that September departure increase substantially.  Should, FSM forbid, my departure is pushed back, the next likely departure date is January.  That is a great fear of mine; I can endure the stress, anxiety, and mad dash that is my list of hopes up above but it will be heartrending to have to wait 4 more months due merely to a time crunch.

Here’s hoping my Peace Corps screening nurse, the Peace Corps medical office, and those in charge of invitations will take pity on me in the 3 weeks to come!

[I know this blog has sat dormant for some time; there just hasn't been any news to keep update this site with.  However…]

Today I received a call from a 202 area code and it rang twice before I could answer.  As soon as I did it disconnected.  Anxiety +1.  I did some sleuthing as to where 202 represents (Washington, DC! anxiety +1) and to where it originates (Peace Corps medical offices! anxiety +5).  It would be about half an hour (anxiety +3) before I received an email follow-up from my Peace Corps screening nurse (anxiety +5) notifying me that she tried to call but was immediately redirected to voice mail (thanks Google Voice!) and requesting that I call her back or give her a number that goes directly to my phone.

So I called her back and left a message.  Still not helping with my anxiety — after several months of not hearing anything since nomination — but at least I was able to leave her a message (anxiety +1).  Fifteen or so minutes later she calls me back and explains that she has sent me a letter requesting more blood work for my hypothyroidism, that she would also like a brief personal statement about a surgery which my doctor neglected to mention on the forms he filled out, and finally that she would like to apologize for the long delay (anxiety: reset).  She said that my files had been sitting in her inbox since February but that, due to understaffing, she had to prioritize the other files according to earlier staging dates.  Understandable, but still a little miffing; it in no way changes my staging date (September 2010) but at the same time I would be able to satisfactorily answered the many “Heard anything from the Peace Corps?” questions that I get asked by family members, colleagues, and acquaintances.

Either way it is nice to get the ball rolling once again.

Because I have been nominated for an assignment in September of this year I have several weeks before I get wind of a medical clearance:

Due to this, my mind has been running wild trying to keep my Restless Applicant Syndrome sated.  One of my whimsies was trying to guess which country I will be sent to (assuming I am medically cleared and then receive an invitation).  I am secretly hoping for either Peru, Ecuador or Guatemala, but I understand that the only say I have in this matter is whether or not I will accept the invitation they send and that I will be happy in any country they send me to.  I love mountains so Peru, Ecuador or Guatemala would be a great fit but come to think of it, though, try finding a country in Latin America that does not have mountainous terrain.

But looking at which country I would like to serve in tells me nothing about which country I will likely serve in; my desires in no way influence the actuality of what the invitation may say regarding the country.  So when I went searching for some clues as to where I may serve I went to the one-stop shop for all information related to the Peace Corps — Peace Corps Wiki.  There, they have a chronological listing of upcoming invitations which is very informative.  When you receive an update from your recruiter you are told when the staging day is (the day you ship out of this country) but you are not told of the country in which you will serve; they save that information for when you receive the information in the mail.  However, when you get the call you can take a look at this page to figure out with 95% certainty the country (that is, unless you are one of the first of the group to get the call).

Linking from that page is a list of past invitations categorized by country of service, assignment, and staging month.  From that exhaustive spreadsheet of information I sorted it by assignment.  My assignment is Agriculture (Forestry Extension) so I narrowed it to this:

Agriculture Service Probability sorted by September Departure

The above image is the list of all countries in the past who the Peace Corps has sent volunteers to sorted by September departure.  However, this list is populated by several countries that are not in Latin America.  The above list cleaned up:

Agriculture Service Probability in Latin America Sorted by September Departures

Now we’re talking!

As you can see from the above image Ecuador has not been sent any Agriculture trainees in September.  If the image above were to be believed, I would have an equal chance of serving in either Paraguay or El Salvador followed closely by Peru.  Coincidentally Paraguay and El Salvador are the countries I am least looking forward to serving in.  Not because of any hatred for the people or the culture, I merely prefer mountainous terrain to these mostly flatfish countries.  Are there enough qualifiers in that last sentence?

Now for the disclaimer:  I do not take these spreadsheets at face value; these lists have been compiled from past data and are NOT predictive of the future.  Times change, people change, programs change, a multitude of other variables can interact and change the outcome so that the past is not indicative of the future.  Just because Paraguay and El Salvador have had the highest probability of September-departing Agriculture trainees does not mean that I will most likely serve in either of those countries.  Just because Ecuador has not had any Agriculture trainees departing for the month of September does not mean that they will not receive any this year.  This data from the past does not reflect the future potentiality due to the myriad changing conditions that precipitate an assignment in a country

Additional disclaimer:  Just because I have favored and disfavored countries at the current time does not preclude me from enjoying any country that I am invited to serve in.  Though I may not wish to serve in Country X as enthusiastically as Country Y has no bearing on the experience that I will have; each country is different, and inside the country every state is different, and inside the state each city is different.  Any predetermined desires to serve in one country over another are based on no experience whatsoever.

Ultimate disclaimer:  I have not yet been medically qualified, least of all invited to serve with the Peace Corps yet, so this entire post is predicated on the presumption that an invitation will come.

Even with those disclaimers this was a fun exercise in mapping my potential futures.  It provided no real information to me other than what others in the past have experienced.  Nonetheless it was entertaining to me — a whimsy.

I woke up this morning to find an email from the Peace Corps. As soon as I saw the email that my Toolkit (online PC application status indicator) had been updated I quickly put the kibosh on any good feelings. I did NOT want to get my hopes up before the email and have them crash down after seeing what the deal was.

If you couldn’t tell by the title I had no need to fear! I’ve been dentally cleared! And with such a quick turn-around time, too! It has only been 13 business days since I first turned in both packets and only 2 business days since I sent my completed dental records in.

I am very thankful they moved at lightning speed to process those papers; potentially needing my wisdom teeth extracted was causing me some anxiety and this is a concern much allayed.

Of course it’s not smooth sailing from here on out; there’s still the possibility a similar issue may pop up with my medical clearance. I hope that to not be the case but if it is I hope that it can be resolved as quickly as this one was.

I stopped by my dentist’s office earlier today to talk to him about the reason my dental packet was sent back.  He explained that though my wisdom teeth are impacted it will not be a danger or detriment to my health in the near term.  He then offered to write a letter explaining this to the Peace Corps but that he could not get to it immediately.

About an hour later I return to pick up the letter and am presented with 3 or 4 sentences explaining the situation.  I hope that, though brief, the letter will be sufficient for the Peace Corps finding my dental packet insufficient.  Here’s hoping!

Also, happy 49th birthday, Peace Corps!