The Beginning of the Adventure: Words for Moz 23

Dear Moz 23 Volunteers,

Congratulations on being selected to serve in Mozambique; it is a beautiful country with a difficult history and a bright future. You will find yourself changing in ways you never thought possible. I hope that these few words of advice and preparation will help you to have a happier, more productive, and more fulfilling service.

Mozambique will change you more than you will change it. Yeah, yeah, I know the "whole point" of what we're doing here is to change the world; to teach these kids something; to make a difference. Honestly, you will make a difference, but probably not the difference you thought you'd make. Did I teach any of my kids to speak English? Weeelll... not really. But did I make a difference in peoples lives? You betcha, almost as much as they made in mine! What will change the most will be your attitudes towards life, towards family, towards education, towards poverty... you will come out of this a different person. And that's a good thing; don't be afraid to change.

Get ready for a rollercoaster; being a PCV will be awesome and awful at the same time; you'll have highs and lows, probably within an hour of each other. And you know what? That's OK. That's Peace Corps, and eventually it will even out. You may well find yourself thinking "This can't possible get any worse. What the heck am I doing here?" For those times, you have your friends -- both fellow PCVs and Mozambicans -- to reach out to. Reach out. It helps.

Focus on the things you can do; don't worry about those you can't. Mozambique has a lot of problems. Corruption, hunger, poverty, the list goes on. You're a teacher; focus on that. Focus on your secondary projects. Don't worry about every little thing that sucks about life here, or you'll get bogged down and depressed. Maybe your school is corrupt -- you can't control that. But you can control how you discipline kids in your class, and how you interact with your students when you are in control. Focus on that. You can't stop corruption. You can't feed every hungry child. But you can have a positive impact in your community -- just find an opportunity and have at it!

You may be a teacher, but that doesn't mean you stop learning. You are coming in with a first-class eduction and real-life experience, but Mozambicans have a lot to teach you. Don't assume that you know what's best for them; be open to listening to how and why things are done here. It's easy to fall into the trap of judging Mozambique for not being more like America. Well, guess what? It's not America! And it never will be. Open yourself up to learning the deeper origins of the issues in Mozambique; you'll find yourself more integrated and more effective.

Be productive and all that; but remember to have fun. We're here to do a job. Do that job. But in your free time, make the most of living here! Enjoy yourself!  Have a meal with your neighbor's family. Visit other volunteers. Throw a party. Go to Victoria Falls and Kruger. Splurge on pizza in the big city. Wander into the bush for three days. See as much of Mozambique as you can. The adventures you have here will stay with you forever.

Get ready for the best damn two years of your lives. I know you're all worried about packing, and that's normal, but honestly; it's going to be OK. Unless you forget to bring underwear, you'll be fine.

Have a great trip to Mozambique, and I'll see you all at training in 7 weeks! Drink a milkshake in my honor!

BEMVINDOS!

P.S. Y'all better start bribing Peace Corps staff now; only one of you gets to replace me at my site, and it's a pretty sweet deal... just saying.