The Letters!

We finally got our invitation letters last Saturday!!! (March 27)

This means we are officially invited to join the Peace Corps. It also means we finally know exactly where we are going.

Here are the deets:

Ghana (sub-Saharan West Africa)
Staging: June 1
Training duration: 10 weeks

No surprises on our primary assignments; Tricia will be doing health/water sanitation and I will be teaching math. I did find out that I will be teaching "Junior High School" students, which means the equivalent of 6-8 grade in the US as far as age (I don't know where they are in curriculum - currently I'm thinking pre-algebra, algebra, possibly geometry (?) ).

So Ghana is exciting as a placement country. First off, for those concerned about safety, Ghana is one of the more stable and well-developed countries that Peace Corps is serves in Africa. So your babies will be just fine. 43% of people have electricity and cell phone coverage is widespread. We will likely be placed in the north where these indicators of civilization are less common, however. This is a trade-off; it means a fewer comforts for us, but this is exactly where the Peace Corps' development efforts are most needed.

While Ghana is nowhere near the Serengheti or Okavango plains famous for lion prides, giraffes, elephants, etc., the country is home to many of these animals and there are plenty of "safari"-type trips taken. Ghana is also home to a burgeoning eco-tourism industry.

That's all for now, we'll have more updates as we learn more.

I'll leave by saying "goodbye" in Twi, a language we will be learning during our training in Ghana...

Merek!

By the way, here's our mailing address for the 10 weeks we'll be in training:

Kris and Tricia Rasmussen PCT
Peace Corps/Ghana
P.O. Box 5796
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa

March Madness

I think this title pretty much sums up the month of March for us. About the time of our last post, we were expecting our invites to come soon. Ok, I was expecting the invites soon (I think I even bet Tricia that we would have them the first week in March). Long story short, that didn’t happen. On February 26 we learned that our applications were in the last stage of review, which entailed being sent to our placement country for them to do a final review. We were told this should take about 7-10 business days. Commence operation "Wait." On March 11 (business day 9) we followed up with our placement officer to see what the status was. We were told that if a) we were placed, we would find out via postal mail, and b) if we were not placed they would call us to discuss other placement opportunities (this would involve a delayed leave date). Nothing new to us, we’ve been waiting for a while now. So again, we wait. On March 18 we asked again, as it was now up to 14 business days. We learned that an in-country officer had been “out of the office,” which had pushed the timeline out beyond 10 business days. We also learned that we were not the only couple in the same situation – there were 8 others also experiencing the delay. So good to know we’re not in this alone. But waiting is waiting, whether you’re in a group of two or two million. And then, on March 24, an email. More specifically, an auto-generated email from the Peace Corps website. Now this caught us off-guard, having anticipated our next correspondence to arrive via postal mail. So we go to the website, log in, and voila: we’ve been officially invited! That’s right, WE GOT INVITED!!! Next question: what country? It doesn’t say. WTF. We need to wait until we get the physical letters. Ok, when will those arrive? The new information on the website says it was sent out March 24, so if it was sent by postal mail, then maybe 3 days (Saturday). However, with some sleuthing on PC applicant forums (which are filled with obsessed, neurotic people), apparently the invitation letters arrive via Fedex. (Side note: why is a government organization not using government mail?) So via Fedex we are guessing Friday. Less than 12 hours from when I am writing this. So here is the latest: • We have been officially invited to the Peace Corps • Our leave date is in “early June” • Our invitation letters are in the mail So it’s a “yay,” but not with capital letters. At least not yet. Stay tuned… Kris

Timeline so far

First off we'll get you up to speed on our application timeline thus far:

January 2009: Submitted online applcations

February 2009: In-person interviews (one each individual, plus another as a couple)

June 2009: Nomination (tentatively scheduled for June 2010)

November 2009: Medical clearance

December 2009: Applications received at placement office

That's all so far. We're currently waiting for the next step, which is to receive our "invitation" letters. Along with official acceptance, these letters will tell us what country and the exact date we will head to DC for staging. There also will be a suggested pack list and other goodies. To be honest, because of the little information we have received thus far, the first couple days after we receive our invitation letters we will probably be in shock from information overload. But after that we'll come to our senses and post the information for you all!

Until then,
Kris

Welcome!

Welcome friends and family to this record of Kris and Tricia’s Peace Corps service in Africa! This blog will be one of the few methods of communicating to you all back home, so check back periodically to stay updated! While at the moment we have no idea where in sub-Saharan Africa we will be serving, we will do our best to post the latest information and progress. So, again welcome and enjoy!