Diversity Talk

There is now a new Youth and Education group that entered the country in July. These volunteers originally would have been Health and Youth, but they

Send your possible responses to the panel questions to me and Kareen. This will allow Kareen to prepare properly for the session and to know where we may have some holes (areas that will not be discussed) and therefore fill in.

How has your PC service, in your community, been influenced by your identity? (Each panelist should try to limit to about 2 minutes).

As a white woman I am often not given as much respect as men. I am seen as weak, unable to do physical labor, expected to look a certain way and act a certain way around men especially. When I first arrived in my community I had to have almost a chaperone walk with me everywhere, my community would comment how I had to be careful that no guys would grab me. Being a strong woman I can be an example to my woman and girls specifically, showing them that women can exercise and do physical labor and that we can be leaders in the community and don’t always have to go along with what men say or get married young. I can be a professional and still be a woman. I remember one occurrence when I had a stove training in my community and many female volunteers were lifting heavy rocks and doing physical labor, my woman’s group that was observing commented saying, “Caroline you have to tell those women to be careful. Women do not have as strong bones as men and they might break if they are doing physical labor”. It was a great teaching moment to show that women can do everything that men do. When addressing leaders of organizations I am often not taken seriously or hit on frequently because I am a woman. On the other hand because I am white, I have a lot of privileges and have been offered many opportunities that other volunteers might not have been offered.

MODERATOR: This question is for all panelists. Describe a challenging moment either in the country, your community, or in the general PC population and how you would suggest someone manage a similar situation if they were to face it.

Getting hit on as a professional in general. Going into an organization and instead of a man taking you seriously as professional, hits on you. This can be mitigated by always bringing community members to meetings and trying to motivate community members to be advocates for their own change. Every time I go into the high school the teenage boys always hit on me. I always turn around and walk up to them telling them that are not respectful and they need to treat me with respect and hitting on me is not an acceptable manner to address me. It doesn’t always work to stop piropos in the future, but for me it is important for them to see me as a professional and to show my girls that they should not be treated and addressed as pieces of meat. Often with lower Spanish level standing up for yourself in these situations can be difficult or very intimidating, communicate to a favorite Dona, teacher, or youth friend that you do not appreciate being addressed this way and to tell them not to address you this way.

1. TRAINER NOTES / TALKING POINTS: Although we want each Volunteer to share their individual experiences, we would like to ensure that a mix of challenges is brought to the surface. This mix should be challenges in the community where Volunteers serve, but also can be within the Volunteer community.

MODERATOR: invite trainees to ask questions at this point. Remind them that they can ask a general question or a target a question to a particular PCV.

MODERATOR: What positive experience have you had around diversity and the Peace Corps experience?

I always enjoy great discussions with fellow Peace Corps volunteers. Recently I had a discussion with two of my fellow male volunteers about how I had felt belittled in our professional settings because everyone gave them credit for the hard work I had done and always looked to them as leaders as programs even if I was leading the project or was a co-leader because they are male. They were so receptive to my constructive criticism and I felt so much better having an open conversation about how I was feeling with my peers. Don’t be afraid to bring up subjects to other Peace Corps volunteer and Dominicans, we can all improve in our practices!

MODERATOR: How have you been able to talk about diversity in your community? Any successes or drawbacks?

I have been able to talk about diversity; I have given charlas about diversity to my youth and women’s groups. Also, I had my aunt who are married in the States come visit my community and I was able to have an open and respective discussion with my community members about homosexuality in the states and a general state of respect for all people. I have had Black and Latino volunteers come and visit my site, which is a great opportunity to share with my community members that Americans include people of all color and heritages. Some drawbacks to diversity talks are people might be rude about their talk about diversity. For example, when I gave a charla about sexuality to my youth, they left the meeting making jokes about gay people, I had to call them all back and explain to them why these jokes were not okay and how to show respect to others. I feel like diversity discussions can improve as your community gets to know you. Once they respect you and care about you it is often easier to have open discussions, so don’t get discourage if at first they are not entirely responsive to your discussions on diversity and respect.