Peace Corps Training

Technically, I’m not a Peace Corps Volunteer. Incha Allah, I will be sworn in and officially become a PCV on December 30^th. For now I am a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT). During these first nine weeks I’m learning how to become a successful volunteer through sessions on language, culture, personal health, safety and security, and technical skills.

There are a total of 42 of us PCTs, all training to become Community Health Agents (CHA) or Forestry, Agriculture and Resource Management (FARM) volunteers. The first two nights in Niger we all stayed on the training site, which looks a lot like the site of a summer camp in the US. There’s a cafeteria, an infirmary, and a volleyball court. There are also several buildings that could hold beds if you wanted, but here in Niger we sleep outside :-)

After two days at Camp Peace Corps, we were introduced to our host families and moved into our Community Based Training (CBT) sites. Most of the trainees (myself included) are learning Hausa, so we all live in the same village. Trainees learning Zarma live in several surrounding villages. 

Peace Corps Training is intensive. On a typical day, my family’s rooster wakes me up around 6 AM, and I’m under my bed net by 10 PM.

Language classes begin at 8 AM and are generally conducted at my house. Every week, Ashley (another fellow trainee) and I have a different language instructor. All the language instructors are young Nigeriens hired by the Peace Corps to train us in either Hausa or Zarma. These instructors are some of the most intelligent and patient people I have ever met. Language lessons generally go from 8 AM to noon, with a half hour break in between. After our hour-long lunch break we generally go back for another two and a half hours of language, followed by another half hour break. The last session of the day is typically a cultural or technical session. So far we’ve covered topics that range from the role of Islam in Niger to the importance of Moringa Trees in both agriculture and health.

Once or twice a week we have “core” days. On core days all the training sessions are conducted on the Peace Corps Training site. These days are less language intensive. Peace Corps Niger staff instructs the entire group on safety & security, health, and culture in Niger. Core days are a nice break because they allow a little bit of a break from the intensive village life—we eat lunch with utensils instead of hands and sit at tables instead of on mats, and the food is more geared toward American tastes... the break is much appreciated.

By 6 PM everyone is generally exhausted. After watering my garden plots (my transplanted tomato and lettuce plants died pretty quickly, but I’m holding out for my green pepper and eggplant seeds) it’s back home for dinner with my host family. Shelly (roommate and fellow trainee) and I generally hang out with our younger sisters after dinner on the tabarma (mat) for a couple hours.

We laugh a lot, sometimes we talk a broken mix of French/Hausa/English, sometimes we dance, and sometimes I try to study more Hausa… Most of the time we lay and stare at the stars, and this is definitely my favorite part of the day.