"Every single step of this incredible journey is worth it: the triumphs, the setbacks, the elucidation, the confusion, the disillusionment, the clarity. There are so many reasons why joining the Peace Corps has been one of the best decisions of my life."- “Is Peace Corps ‘worth it’?”: http://1.usa.gov/1kmaZC7
“Seven PCVs, four tourists, and two Guatemalan guides hiked in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We were taking a risk climbing the volcano during the rainy season, but we had brilliant luck. When we got to the summit, it was a clear enough day that we were able to see several other volcanoes in the Sierra Madre range: Tajumulco, Tacaná, Santiago Atitlán, San Pedro, Tolimán, Acatenango, Agua, and Fuego. We could even see Santa Maria’s side cone, Santiaguito, erupting right next to us as well as Fuego erupting in the distance. Climbing a tough volcano seems metaphorical to Peace Corps service: there are moments where it seems like too much of a challenge to be able to go on and you wonder what in the world made you wake up in the morning and decide to do this. But when you get to the top and see the view, it all makes sense and you see all you’ve learned and accomplished, you couldn’t be happier that you did it.”
“On the dock of a lake in Guatemala. Getting to know several of the small indigenous villages around the lake and my site has been a great pleasure of my service.”
"I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game."- Toni Morrison (via wordsnquotes)
(Source: wordsnquotes.com, via thebluewagon-deactivated2021040)