The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

Grassroots Diplomacy I don’t mean to make light of the situation, however, because the experience prepared me well for my current work. In fact, a theme I’ve seen in my work, both as a con- sular officer and as a Peace Corps Volunteer, is that our contacts really do appreciate the work that we do, even if the people who know what that is add up to an extremely small number, and even if we’re never able to do as much as we would have hoped. As a volunteer, I had students come up and give me handwritten letters in which they thanked me for teaching them already outdated American slang and helping them decipher song lyrics. In other words, for nothing worth mentioning. As an FSO, I have had to deliver the worst news imaginable — your mother has died, your husband has died, your child has died — and have had the recipi- ents thank me for that, as well. That sort of thing also nagged at me as a Peace Corps Volunteer and still does. The Peace Corps is often said to perform “grassroots diplomacy,” which I think is an excellent way to describe what volunteers do. While all volunteers have primary projects, such as teaching English, the Peace Corps goes to great lengths to make sure that trainees understand that they are also full-time, 24/7 representatives of America. What better preparation for a career as a diplomat than being urged to go out into the countryside and set a good example, hopefully without making any mistakes bigger than mixing vodka and pear-flavored Fresca (a pretty dis- gusting combination)? As much as I enjoy being in the Foreign Service, I still see my Peace Corps service as a watershed moment in my life, one that continues to pay dividends. Did it make me a better FSO than I would have been otherwise? I’m con- vinced it did. So for me the only question remaining (which will have to wait a fewmore years for an answer) is whether a career as a diplomat prepares one well for a repeat tour as a Peace Corps Volunteer. n F O C U S 38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8