Peace Corps Policy on Technology Usage for Volunteers

Peace Corps Times summer/fall 2006 Leaving One Foot at Home The artifact lays abandoned in a large one form of communication technology plastic box, a memory from the days of yore. over another. Once used regularly, Shan Shi no longer has Both Matthew and Shan just graduated need of it. The relic? A cellphone. from college, leading Shan to use more Shan, 23, and a Volunteer serving in economical means of communication. “My Turkmenistan, stowed away the techno- friends from home don’t call because they logical burden in favor of a more intimate are all recent graduates and poor like me,” form of communication: letters. “Especially she claims. However, with communication ones with stickers on the technology evolving, there front,” she adds. But Shan “Volunteers from the are more options than the presents just one side of sixties and seventies conventional phone call or the onslaught of new com- letter. munication technology just shake their heads Technology Volunteer preferences among Peace Lorena Hinojosa, 24, who Corps Volunteers looking and roll their eyes serves in Peru, has seen to stay in touch with family when we compare tremendous growth in and friends back home. the use of podcasting and Matthew Meyer, on the their communication blogging as new forms of other hand, is a fan of the experiences to mine.” communication. Both are cellphone. “Service in my unilaterally transmitted area is impeccable,” says the 23-year-old online: podcasts let Volunteers receive video Volunteer in Tanzania. To Matthew, phone information, such as news and sports clips, conversations are more personal because while blogs offer information for others to they provide an easier way to tell stories and view. According to Lorena, “It’s possible for “be caught up in life.” The case is different Volunteers who live in extremely rural sites for Shan, who feels closest to home when to come into town where there is Internet she’s able to touch the message that friends access, download hours of podcasts and and family will receive. It is the closest she then return to their sites to listen to the PhoTo by RYAn bRookS can come to human contact with them. programs.” Volunteer nicole Voorhees stays connected in St. Vincent. Writing letters also gives Shan freedom Blogs allow Volunteers to “create a more to communicate where and when she wants. intimate connection with readers back home Then now Whether in an open field or relaxing in her and is often considered therapeutic for & bedroom, the world is her computer, allow- some,” says Lorena. This is especially true ing communication without the hassle of for 65-year-old Volunteer Katrina Meredith, Bringing Back the World finding an Internet café. But sometimes whose blog is a gateway to her opinions and The experiences of Peace phones, I marvel at the difference circumstances force Volunteers to choose Continued on page 7 Corps Volunteers have changed in accessibility Volunteers have dramatically over the past 45 now,” says Lyn. “With instant years, but one of the most no- communications, Volunteers to- CommuniCaTion ticeable changes has been in the day can have one foot at home and area of technology and commu- one foot in their host country.” Volunteer to Volunteer nications. From “snail mail” to Although the twins’ father, e-mail, the communications op- Doug, who served in Afghani- “Sometimes it’s worth sharing a reception and the coverage is continu- tions available to Volunteers have stan from 1967-70, worries that ‘Peace Corps moment’ with a friend,” Ken ously expanding to more isolated areas,” advanced greatly. too much of the new technology Loomis says. For that, the 24-year-old says Ken. That is good news for writ- For the Head family of will take away from Connie and Volunteer in Cameroon uses a cellphone. ing-inclined Volunteers who prefer text Wenatchee, Wash., these changes Lauren’s Peace Corps experiences, It is his preferred device of communica- messaging to its more expensive sibling: are especially obvious. When he is also grateful that this “new tion with fellow Volunteers, beating out the spoken word. parents Doug and Lyn served world offers cellphones, Internet Internet, satellite phones, and land-lines. Text messaging in Cameroon is in the Peace Corps in the 1960s, cafés and e-mail,” for continuous “The call or text message is comforting roughly equivalent to 9 cents (USD) per their only viable option to update communication between home at the end of a stressful day.” message. Compare that to the 36 cents friends and family was through and abroad. Lyn, a Volunteer in Ken, and others like him, use phones per minute it costs for a call, and you can letters mailed home, a process Malawi from 1969-71, shares her to set up meetings or give directions to see why Volunteers often prefer texting that could take weeks. Now that husband’s concerns, calling “the friends traveling through new territory. over lengthy conversations. twin daughters Lauren and Con- accessibility both a blessing and With the advancement of technology, “If I’m writing a text message, I can nie are serving in Nicaragua and a burden in some ways.” Despite Volunteers are not just able to stay closer write an entire letter,” Deborah Aparicio, Honduras, respectively, they are easing her worries as a parent, with friends and family, but also with 24, says. “Sometimes my text messages able to keep in touch with weekly she wonders if it can distract her each other. are so long that I don’t have room to type cellphone calls and e-mails. daughters and other Volunteers “All major cities [in Cameroon] have Continued on page 7 “Each time we get an e-mail from completely immersing. or talk with them on their cell- Continued on page 7 Page 2 BEHIND THE VoluNTEEr IT Specialists: The Challenges of Keeping Connected With the “Geek Squad” or that col- Another function of IT specialists lege roommate who seemed to know is to constantly research Internet con- everything about computers only a call nectivity options in the country. When away, it is easy to keep computers up a faster or cheaper choice becomes and running in the U.S. But what do available, the IT specialist can suggest you do thousands of miles away when a switch to a new provider. computer know-how is much harder Connectivity is best in countries to come by? like Mexico, South Africa and others Information technology special- in Central America and Eastern Eu- ists are responsible for maintaining rope. However, in other Peace Corps all Peace Corps-supplied systems and countries like those in the Pacific or staff computers at their posts. In addi- western Asia, Internet connectivity is tion, for every 25 Volunteers in a Peace often poor and unable to sustain the Corps country, there is one computer activities of the post. In these situ- workstation that these technicians ations, Peace Corps sets up satellite must also support. This creates a connections with generators to keep tremendous workload for one lone IT a post in contact with headquarters specialist. and the world. In Paraguay, IT Specialist Gustavo Besides these responsibilities, Draugelis describes his typical day as, Gustavo says he is often involved with well, busy. After arriving at the office Volunteers’ technical problems as well, keeping iT systems up and running in developing countries is a challenge iT at about 8:30 a.m., Gustavo begins usually individual projects using tech- specialists like erubey Calvo (center in red) know is a necessity for success. his daily routine of checking server nology. Because the cost of Internet logs, testing remote connections and connectivity in Paraguay is gradually it takes more and more time to fix devices than he does working with cleaning out junk e-mail. Throughout decreasing, more Volunteers have ac- everything that goes wrong. Peace Corps-related computer issues. the day, his office phone, cellphone and cess to technology, creating more work “Every minute spent on Volunteer “With a little research and knowledge e-mail boxes will continually remind for Gustavo. equipment is time taken away from we always manage to sort things out,” him that others need help. The biggest To save time, “we now have a Volun- my job, and I certainly do not have any he says. part of his job is assisting other staff in teer IT coordinator/leader who spends idle time, ever,” Gustavo says. “If it was Henry says working with staff to the office, training center or out in the more time directly involved with IT slower around here, I could certainly solve technical issues relating to com- field as they support Volunteers. projects,” Gustavo says. “These can in- help more.” puters, applications, communication “Assistance is a big part of my job,” clude computer learning centers, radio Gustavo says his working relation- devices and other similar problems he says. “And it is quite gratifying.” shows, and all the gamut of digital info ship with the local shops is excellent requires patience, “but I definitely try The majority of Gustavo’s work in such as tutorials, jingles, and more.” and they are relatively inexpensive, my best to get things done in time.” the office is focused on training staff In Panama, IT Specialist Erubey so he likes to send them business IT Specialists work at every post members on specific tasks, such as how Calvo sometimes finds it challenging anyway. to keep technology running smoothly. to use a certain program or find infor- to keep up with creative Volunteers. Kathy Arle, Chief of International Improvements and training keep them mation for reports. Examples include “Some come to me with ideas on how Technical Support at Peace Corps busy, but they also understand the VIDA, or Volunteer Information Data- to do a brochure or fix a computer in headquarters, says maintaining these need to be a resource and to be creative base Application, a complex program their communities without any techni- relationships is an important part of in countries where few others often vital to Peace Corps’ operations in a cal computer skills,” he says.

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