By Charlotte Murphy, IU Corps Intern
IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs graduate student and IU Corps employee Maura Baker volunteered for the Peace Corps in Los Róbalos, Samaná, Dominican Republic for two years.
When Baker was a junior in high school, she did not know what to do for her future career based on the skills she possessed. After working with a career counselor, her top job result was as a Peace Corps volunteer. From that moment on, she decided to join the Peace Corps. Peace Corps is a U.S. government-run volunteer program that aims to promote world peace and friendship by sending American volunteers to partner countries around the world.
“I read the description of what a Peace Corps volunteer does, and I was like ‘oh, this is so me,’” Baker said. “I never looked back from then on out. Everything I studied and did in college was dedicated with the aim of doing Peace Corps. I studied political science and international studies with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean and Spanish.”
Baker’s original plans with the Peace Corps were to go to Guatemala, but due to the global Covid pandemic, her program was shut down in March of 2020. After being in limbo for a while, she decided to apply to a program through AmeriCorps called City Year AmeriCorps. Americorps is a national service program where individuals dedicate their time and talents to address critical community needs across the United States. Baker was assigned to Miami and did that for a year with the hopes of Peace Corp eventually working out.
In February of 2021, Baker got into the Peace Corps program in the Dominican Republic. That program was one of the first to reopen after the pandemic shutdown, so her cohort was one of the first cohorts to go back into service after being paused for two years. Baker was offered a position as an education volunteer but in a unique way.
“Typically, with Peace Corps educational programs you are teaching English,” Baker said. “But as an education volunteer in the Dominican Republic, I would be a Spanish literacy promoter. I would be teaching students how to read and write in Spanish.”
While Baker had a unique opportunity as a volunteer, her initial programming was like other Peace Corps’ volunteers. Once one signs up and is accepted, they agree to do 27 months of service. The first three months are in-country training and then two full years of service in a community. For Baker, she became fast friends with her cohort of volunteers from around the country.
“You become really close with these people because you spend basically day in and day out with them for the first three months. I was exhausted, but every day, I was going to bed and was so excited because everything was new, and it was really nice to be among other people who share the same passions as me.”
After the three-month training, volunteers are sworn into the Peace Corps and then disperse into their permanent communities for the next two years. Baker’s mission in Los Róbalos, Samaná was to teach 1st through 4th graders how to read and write in Spanish. Baker’s tasks included giving tutoring lessons, doing in class and whole class work, as well as collaborating with teachers and doing home visits.
“90% of my service was tutoring,” Baker said. “I tested all the students and then conversed with the teachers about which of their students needed help. I ended up tutoring about 25 students completely in Spanish.”
One of the challenges that Baker encountered as a Spanish literacy promoter was that she wasn’t an expert and didn’t study education.
“I did not study education, so I’m not capable of diagnosing a child,” Baker said. “Where I worked is beautiful, but it is still rural and fairly impoverished. They had limited capacity and resources, but I suspected many of my students had learning disabilities. It just felt like no matter how many different activities I did, there were students who might have a learning disability and needed extra tools and more specialized catered learning that I can’t provide. That was really tough for me. But most of them fell somewhere in the middle of success, where they still probably weren’t up to grade reading level but compared to where they were initially, better.”
Baker made a significant impact on the Los Róbalos, Samaná community but they made a significant impact on her as well.
“My favorite aspect of [Peace Corps] was being able to observe Dominicans interact with each other,” Baker said. “I love that I got to be a part of their culture and not just be there as a tourist. I got to see and experience, truly, how they live their day-to-day lives. A lot of them don’t have easy circumstances but they have a great outlook on life, just finding things to laugh about and looking out for each other. That’s the aspect that left one of the biggest impacts on me.”
The Peace Corps is not just a job in a beautiful location with lasting cultural immersion. Joining the Peace Corps is hard work. There are many Western luxuries that Peace Corps volunteers give up. However, according to Baker, there is a reward in the limitations.
“Peace Corps isn’t for everyone. It is by no means everyone’s cup of tea. It’s challenging,” Baker said. “You do have to sacrifice a lot in terms of amenities like A/C, running water, a car, but it’s great to know you can still live without them.“
For a student interested in the Peace Corps, there are six sectors in addition to education. Peace Corps offers programs in agriculture, education, environment, youth in development, community economic development, and the health sector. Baker has some advice for a student when considering applying: “If you’re interested in other cultures and knowing a different part of the world, you can live in another country and have the U.S. government as your employer. I recommend if those are thoughts in your mind and if you care about service, I highly recommend [Peace Corps]. It’s also great to do after college. It’s a great resume builder and just great experience overall.”
For more information about the Peace Corps application process, request a meeting with Vicki Runion (vrunion@iu.edu), IU’s on-campus resource for all things Peace Corps, or check out IU’s Peace Corps Prep website.
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