The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

My Peace Corps service taught me to be wary of sta- tistics and those who bear them, for they rarely tell the entire story. For that matter, most work plans and action plans are best used to start fires. My service also taught me that there are at least five sides to every story, and finding the right one sometimes depends on where you’re standing — except when it doesn’t. Above all, I believe the Peace Corps has instilled in me, and my fellow returned volunteers who are now in the Foreign Service, the knowledge that there is a wide world outside the embassy gates. As we work in embassies and consulates, often overburdened by the weight of Washington-mandated reports, it’s tempting to see the world as a series of three-minute visa inter- views. And when you’re offered almost all the creature comforts available in the U.S., it can sometimes be challenging to remember that your purpose is not just to push paper, but also to form real connections with other people, exchange ideas, and thereby promote American ideals and values. Peace Corps Volunteers have crossed cultures before and know that, though difficult, it can indeed be done — and the time investment is well worth it. The more returned volunteers we have in the Foreign Ser- vice, the more likely that FS personnel will move be- yond the embassy walls and truly engage with locals, in the tradition of the Peace Corps. And the better posi- tioned we will all be to engage in truly transformation- al diplomacy. Tyler Sparks Vice Consul Embassy San Jose usu T WO T YPES OF I DEALISM Some Peace Corps Volunteers find welcoming com- munities in their host countries and leave two years later with a genuine extended family. But this was not my experience in Mauritania between 2000 and 2002. Everything was difficult about our Peace Corps experience there: the living conditions, the oppressive heat, but most of all, our interactions with the host- country nationals. We encountered pervasive hostility, both in the form of groups of rock-throwing children and more subtle manifestations. The second Palestin- ian intifada had riled public sentiment against the United States; then the 9/11 attacks and their after- math added fuel to the fire. For many volunteers, this was a shock for which they were unprepared. “We’re here to help, and they treat us like this?” The hostility, along with the difficulty of launching projects and the tortoise-like pace of change, sent many well-intentioned volunteers back home early. Yet despite all of these challenges, the Peace Corps Volunteers who remained in country did amazing work, offering a vision of the United States that was drastical- ly different from the one Mauritanians knew (or thought they knew). By their words, but even more so through their actions, the volunteers peeled away lay- ers of distrust, replacing stereotypes and misconcep- tions with individual faces. Every time I hear the phrase “transformational diplomacy,” I cannot help thinking of my former Peace Corps colleagues, who taught me to recognize two dis- tinct types of idealism, a lesson I’ve carried with me into the Foreign Service. First, there is the naïve sort of idealism, the kind that people often associate with Peace Corps Volunteers. This variety expects the best from people but needs the adulation of others to sustain itself, so it seldom lasts long. And when the world doesn’t change overnight, these idealists are disillusioned — as hap- pened to many volunteers in my former host county. The second kind of idealism is more enduring because it understands human shortcomings and does not expect too much from people. It is hardened by real-life experiences and knows that partnerships take time to develop. This kind of idealism still dares to make the world a better place, but it has a longer hori- zon and is not expecting praise or even tangible results along the way. It sustains itself with nothing more than a belief in its mission and unshakeable perseverance. Now that I am a Foreign Service officer, I try to remember this distinction. No matter how hesitant our partners may be, no matter how slow progress may seem; this second, patient strain of idealism is the one worth guarding. Though the path may be long and winding, why else would we be serving our country abroad — if not to make a positive difference? n Erik J. Schnotala Vice Consul Embassy San Jose F O C U S O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45