Back to Africa: Finally a Peace Corps volunteer!

Dec 20th, 2011 12:55 PM UTC
By Guest Blogger

ONE member and Peace Corps volunteer Brandon Green will be sharing his experiences in Burkina Faso with ONE Blog readers in the series, “Back to Africa” over the next few months. We look forward to hearing about all his adventures!

Brandon Green in Burkina Faso

I was born in Texas but because my parents are missionaries, and as a result, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to travel the world. We actually spent a lot of time in Senegal when I was a child, but I don’t have many memories of living there. I do, however, remember falling out of a swing and having the wind knocked out of me. And I remember watching a lizard climb up a tree. But even with a lack of memories, I’ve always felt as if Africa was my true home. And after having been away for more than 17 years, I’m finally back.

My father, a licensed social worker, and my mother, a registered nurse, were very development-oriented in their work. They instilled in me a compassion for the rest of the world and the desire to help those in need. I went to school to study cultural anthropology and social work, in the hopes of one day going into the field of humanitarian aid and international development.

After graduation, my next step was clear: join the United States Peace Corps.

Now, here I am, living for the past three months in Burkina Faso, a small landlocked country in West Africa and one of the poorest countries that Peace Corps volunteers serve. After three months of arduous linguistic, cultural and technical training, I’m out in the field getting my hands dirty, both figuratively and literally as some of my work is agricultural in nature. My primary assignment is in the education sector, focusing mainly on promoting education for women and girls and gender equality in schools.

But that doesn’t mean my work stops there. It is very cross-sectoral. I tutor primary school children but I also plant trees for reforestation. I teach children and adults about HIV/AIDS, malaria and proper hygiene, and I also help start girls’ clubs at nearby schools.

As a ONE member, you ask the US government to continue funding important international aid programs, like the Peace Corps. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to show you how some of that funding translates into work on the ground. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll see how being a voice for the voiceless truly does make an impact. And I’m sure that we’ll all learn something along the way.

TAGS: Burkina Faso, ONE, Peace Corps