Our Peace Corps Story

This blog post will be longer than most (and with fewer pictures) but I promise there will be plenty of juicy details.

So, like many people in their early to mid-twenties, my now-husband and I decided that we were ready for an adventure and actually had a few skills/experiences that might be of value to someone. So we applied for the Peace Corps in June 2008, had our interview in September, and were nominated to go to Jordan by October or so. We received our medical forms in the mail, went to our appointments, and sent everything back.

We were expecting a wait since our placement wasn’t until October 2009 and you have to be married for at least six months before getting sent anywhere. But then the letters started coming. I, like just about every woman at some point in her life, had had an abnormal pap smear. I hadn’t been concerned since my doctor, my friends, and the Internet had all made it quite clear that this was very common, wasn’t a big deal, and just required occasional monitoring. Unfortunately, this was a show-stopper with Peace Corps and it became clear that their de facto policy was that you couldn’t receive medical clearance until you had a normal pap smear. I wish I could have taken pictures of the expressions on all of my medical providers’ faces when I told them that. The general response was something along the lines of “Based on what medical reason exactly??!!” My doctor even wrote two very strongly worded letters pleading my case and arguing with the validity of their policy.

This was frustrating but I was being a good sport. My husband and I extended our time in South Africa by a month, got our Teaching English as a Foreign Language certifications when we returned to the States, and ended up moving back to the east coast for seven months to work on short-term projects. (Ashoka’s Changemakers for me, the US Census and the New York Philharmonic for Dan.)

But at a certain point in March 2010, I snapped. I had been in active contact with the medical office and kept hearing the same story. Finally, I decided to reach out to our recruiter to see if she had any suggestions or a new perspective. After over a week of no response, I started getting really worked up. I was sick of being stonewalled and was ready to get a little reckless. My friend suggested I just send an email to the Director of the Peace Corps since he was a former volunteer and might be sympathetic to our situation. So I did that. And I found the email addresses for recruiters in the many cities in which I’ve been based. And I emailed them. And I emailed the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Medical Services, and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity to initiate an investigation into whether or not this aspect of Peace Corps’ screening process was discriminatory against women. And then I emailed my senators in all the states I paid taxes in last year. I even mulled going to the press but thought it best to wait until we had exhausted our other channels. What can I say? We were still optimistic (or at least curious) after all of the nonsense.

In the meantime, I did more research and found discrepancies in what Peace Corps claimed their policies were versus the pdf of their screening procedures that I found online. I took a lot of pleasure in pointing these out to someone in the Office of Medical Services one morning after a poor night’s sleep. Let’s just say, I was definitely not having it.

Also, I wouldn’t shut up about it. I was telling everyone I met about Peace Corps’ ridiculous policy. And then one night, I met someone with a direct connection to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. Let me say quickly that I heard back from Senator Schumer’s office, Senator Feinstein’s office, and Senator Boxer’s office but Senator Gillibrand’s office was on the ball. I have no doubt that her office’s involvement contributed to a very satisfying conclusion by the end of April.

Before I get to the conclusion, I should tell you that the night of my first email blast, I felt sick to my stomach. I wondered if I was actually so crazy and so stubborn as to email several dozen strangers about my medical situation and expect anything good to come of it. But I really am that crazy and that stubborn so I just went for it and interacted with a number of very thoughtful people along the way. Many couldn’t do much but offer me moral support but compared to the non-attention I’d received before, this felt pretty great.

On April 17, 2010, the Office of the Director of the Peace Corps got back to me. They had changed their stupid policy. Now women with certain abnormal results can serve provided they get a note from their doctor. In addition to being ecstatic, partly for the benefit to myself and to other women and partly for winning after a protracted battle, I couldn’t help but feel that democracy might actually work provided you’re annoying enough to get shit done but not so annoying that people think you’re crazy.

~

Ironically, after all that hard work, my husband and I have decided that Peace Corps service is not in our future. We’ve got other exciting things going on – working and volunteering in Malaysia, a Kiva Fellowship in January, and plenty of other potential plans ranging from intensive Spanish and surfing lessons in Costa Rica, hanging out with my brother on a wine farm in Slovenia, boat-building apprenticeships in Greece, and maybe even getting traditional jobs at some point (or maybe not). But, like many things that have happened this past year, Peace Corps has given us a whole helluva lot to talk about so thanks for that, Peace Corps! I also hope that my efforts have opened up service to more women, who, quite frankly, are the key to connecting with families in the developing world. Why Peace Corps doesn’t make every possible accommodation of female volunteers is a mystery to me. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about it any more.

To end things, two pics from our “home” in Malaysia. New definition of “home” – anywhere you can actually unpack your bags.

Day

Evening

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