Peace Corps Withdrawal Statement - Cameroon

I submitted a Withdrawal Statement to my Placement Officer today from my invitation to Cameroon.

Please click here to read the statement.

I wish you all the best during your Peace Corps service! It's been a great journey.

Peace.

Invitation to Cameroon!

I received my invite to serve as a Small Business Advisor in Cameroon leaving June 2nd this past Monday. I'm in Haiti right now so my mom called me to let me know the packet arrived. It was a bittersweet moment. I've been waiting for this for a year now, but I'm on a mission trip in Haiti and I'm focused on being over here right now. Nonetheless, I'm very excited and eager to get back to Puerto Rico and start getting ready to leave in a little over a month!

Anyone else getting invites to Cameroon?! I can't wait to meet everybody!

Peace!

PO & a little bit of Haiti

I e-mailed my PO with an updated resume in mid-February. I had already sent one, but I added my mission trip to Haiti. She e-mailed me saying she got it and that she'd add it to my file for when it begins to get reviewed. Then she said that they're still working on programs leaving in April (and May), so it would be a little while until I heard from them. They send their invitations with at least 6 weeks in advance so the latest I would hear from them would be in late April. Given the fact that I was medically cleared so early for my June-nominated program, I will be one of the first ones reviewed for the June Business Advising Program in SSA. That was encouraging :)

I'm going back to Haiti at the end of March for about 3 weeks. I keep thinking I'm going to get my invitation while I'm there! We'll see. Either way, I'm very excited. Time is going by quickly and I can't wait to be an official PC invitee!

If you want to read my first post on my reflections on my Haiti mission trip you can click here.
Peace!

A non-update update

After 5 weeks of receiving the first email from my Placement Officer I decided to kindly email her just to touch base and to let her know that even though my nomination isn't until June, I'm available for departure before then...just in case. She promptly replied thanking me for my email. She marked my file as available to leave as soon as possible, BUT "there are very few (if any) openings in programs departing before then." Oh well, it was worth a try. I just keep checking the PC wiki page and see all those great countries I'd love to go and just can't wait for an invitation!!!
So this was my non-update update. Nothing has really changed since my last post. Just an extra email exchange, just in case.

Peace!

Dear Placement Officer...

Evaluations required to become an Invitee:

DentalComplete. Peace Corps has completed your dental review. There are no dental holds on your account at this time.

LegalThere are no legal holds on your account at this time.

MedicalComplete. A decision has been reached regarding your medical review. Please look for a letter in the mail.

PlaceThere are no placement holds on your account at this time.

I love surprise toolkit updates when I'm not expecting them. I just got the checkmark back on the legal bubble. I'm just waiting on the last and most coveted bubbles of all...the Placement hold bubble. Dear Placement Officer, where art thou? My birthday is on Sunday, Christmas is next month. Is it too much to ask as a birthday wish or Christmas present for an email from my Placement Officer? I think not.

I'll keep you guys posted! Congrats on those of you who recently received nominations, clearances, and invitations!

Peace!

Medical Clearance!!!

I received this e-mail this morning:

"The Office of Medical Services has informed us that you have received your medical clearance. Over the next few weeks, your file will be reviewed by the Assessment & Placement Staff for further evaluation. This includes evaluation of technical skills, suitability and legal information. Upon completion of the assessment, you may be considered for an invitation. Please keep in mind that this stage in the process can be competitive as there are typically two applicants nominated for each spot available. Given this, an invitation is never guaranteed and applicants should make no plans to go overseas unless an invitation has been issued and you have spoken to headquarters staff to accept your invitation."

Woohoo! I haven't received the letter in the mail yet, but e-mail is good enough! I'm really excited. Hopefully I'll hear from my Placement Officer soon!

:)

Peace

Medical...Complete?

I received an email from PC at 5 AM saying they've updated my application status and to check my toolkit...then I see this:

"Medical Complete. A decision has been reached regarding your medical review. Please look for a letter in the mail."

I can't believe it! I received dental clearance a few weeks ago, but like I said in my previous post, I was ready to wait until at least February, which is 4 months prior to my scheduled departure date, to receive any information regarding my full medical clearance.

I'll be anxiously waiting for a letter in the mail during the next couple of days. I still have a legal hold on my account. I'm guessing it's because they do a background check after you've been medically cleared. Is this accurate?

Great, now I can't sleep! But I'm happy a decision has been reached. Hopefully it's a good one!
I'll keep you guys posted.

Peace!

PC medical clearance update!

I submitted my medical paperwork on September 30th. Two days ago, Oct 7th, I had an update on my toolkit: "Complete. Peace Corps has completed your dental review. There are no dental holds on your account at this time."

Today I log on and this came up: "Peace Corps received the results of your physical exam on October 8, 2009. If the program you are nominated for is not scheduled to leave in the next 4 months you may not hear from Medical until the time of departure is closer. Currently those programs scheduled to leave in the next 4 months are being reviewed. For applicants leaving within 4 months Peace Corps may request additional medical information. Please respond quickly to these requests."

My nomination is for June 2010 so I guess this is what everyone refers to your patience being tested by all the waiting! If they don't review your medical packet until 4 months prior to departure date, I won't hear anything again until February or so. Ahhhh!!! (breathe in, breathe out... I just need to remind myself to do that!)

How is everyone else doing on their timeline?

Peace!

Peace Corps update

I applied to the Peace Corps on April 16th, 2009! I didn't really have to think about it too much, it just felt right. I've already traveled to Africa twice serving in 3 countries: Uganda, Sudan, and Ghana. My dream of going back, serving and living there for an extended period of time kept getting stronger and more vivid, so applying to the PC was the right thing to do.

I had my interview today with my recruiter over the phone. After an amazing hour and a half she finally said she'd get in contact with me by the end of the week to let me know if she found something that would suit be in order to nominate me for it. Great! I can wait a few more days. So we hung up. An hour later I find myself talking to her again, she said she found one spot left for a Business Advising Assignment in a francophone west African country leaving late June 2010... so I said YES! I took two years of French back in high school and I've been taking French classes through the French Alliance for a few months now so I should be fine. She advised I keep taking the classes until I leave next year since there is a requirement of basic French for the position.

I secretly wanted my departure date to be before the end of this year, but like all PC applicants, I'm extremely grateful for the time frame, not being lost in all of their paperwork, and at least having a date to look forward to. This next year gives me time to prepare myself physically (most importantly: get in shape, get my immune system as high as possible), mentally, emotionally, spiritually; get my finances in order: pay off all of my debt, save money; spend time with family and friends, and keep dreaming!

I'll be waiting in the mail for the medical packet and as my recruiter told me: "You don't know what 'thorough' means until you've seen those papers!" I'm looking forward to it though!

Let the games begin!

Peace.