Ask a Volunteer
Q: What would you like students in the United States to know about the environmental issues impacting your country of service?
A: I would like students to know that I live on an island. People here live very close to the water; sometimes their houses are over the water. Every inch that the ocean rises means that families here in Samoa will eventually have water in their living rooms.
Matt Crichton, Computer Science Peace Corps Volunteer, Samoa
In Samoa people still have an age-old way of taking care of their garbage. It’s either thrown into the bushes, the rivers, or the ocean, or it’s burnt. The problem is that so much plastic, glass, tin, Styrofoam, batteries, and other materials are building up tons of hazardous, toxic, or non-biodegradable materials in a relatively small area. Garbage pickup and educational programs are underway to deal with the problem, but it could take many years to get resolved.
Michael Curran, Construction Peace Corps Volunteer, Samoa
A: Paraguay was home to one of the largest and most beautiful rain forests in the world, the Atlantic forest, until it was clear-cut for the lumber. This caused the temperatures to rise dramatically; combine that with strong winds because there are no trees to block the wind, and the topsoil is slowly being eroded away. Since most people here are farmers, these situations make it a lot harder to grow the food they need to survive.
Brian Cross, Public Health and Sanitation Peace Corps Volunteer, Paraguay
A: We put a pile of beans in the center of the floor in front a group of kids. We tell them, "Imagine these are our natural resources. Take as many as you'd like." The kids grab a handful. "Now," we ask, "how many are left for the next generation?" Huge portions of Paraguay's natural forests have been destroyed. People continue to burn wood as their primary fuel source to cook, yet where is this wood coming from?
Firewood management is a problem for the future. In Paraguay, many rural homes have brick ovens, called fogons. The idea is that less wood is consumed to produce more food; four items can be cooked over the stove top instead of the one pot cooked on the kitchen floor. Additionally, PCVs promote tree planting when working with a community to build fogons.
Chantelle Doerksen, Rural Health and Sanitation Peace Corps Volunteer, Paraguay
A: Plastic is being burned to start fires. Burning plastic is toxic to humans, animals, and plants. It enters our bodies and what we eat, leading to many different diseases, including a higher risk of cancer. Trash pits are a low cost solution. Dispensas, or local corner stores which use large quantities of plastic, have a dilemma. A trash pit only works as long as you have space to make one. What happens when the space runs out? Using glass bottles, instead of plastic bottles, and reusable bags are two very small steps in resolving this problem.
Chantelle Doerksen, Rural Health and Sanitation Peace Corps Volunteer, Paraguay
A: Panama faces problems as its population grows and parts of it become more well-to-do. Deforestation for timber is affecting not just the canal watershed but also mountainous communities and national parks, as thin layers of good soil erode and farmers search for new soil. Waste management infrastructure, including trash collection, recycling, and sewers, are underdeveloped. And natural resources in the oceans surrounding Panama, such as fish, corals, and sea turtles, are being stressed from over-fishing and pollution.
Kevin Cropper, Agriculture Extension Peace Corps Volunteer, Panama
A: The largest environmental issue affecting The Gambia is land pollution. There are no land fills here, so everyone throws their trash on the ground, making everything dirty and ugly.
Heather Dixon, Elementary Education Peace Corps Volunteer, The Gambia
A: Everything is dry. And it shouldn't be. Or at least it wasn't. Not fifty years ago. Not even twenty years ago. In the Sahel, the terrain is golden and brown and dusty and dry, and every year it gets a little worse and a little worse. Men and women work hard to plant trees, trying to push the desert back, away from their fields. But this is not easy; nothing worth doing ever is.
Jonathan Dick, Agriculture Extension Peace Corps Volunteer, The Gambia
A: How we treat the environment in America changes things around the world; when we pollute the air it can affect the rain elsewhere; when we litter or waste things it makes it seem okay for others. In Morocco, farmers tell me how the rain nowadays is much less than in years past, and now the countryside and waterways are littered with plastics and things that will never go away.
Tom Dannan, Community Health Education Peace Corps Volunteer, Morocco
A: I would want students in the United States to know that Bulgaria has a problem with the over-consumption of plastic bags. It is an issue of social responsibility, and I believe it is something that can easily be changed with awareness, education, and the encouragement of taking environmental ownership of the community. Peace Corps Volunteers are provided with a wonderful opportunity to effect this change.
Nicolette David, English Education Peace Corps Volunteer, Bulgaria
A: In Macedonia there is a shortage of trash cans. Imagine all the trash cans you see every day in America. There are a lot! Here, you have to know where they are, and even when you do find them, they're the size of a small box. As a result of this shortage of trash cans, many of the communities in Macedonia dump their garbage on the ground. Throwing trash, or "jubray" in Macedonian, on the ground just doesn't seem to be a bad idea to my community. I ask my friends if they mind seeing garbage in their community wherever they walk, and they say, "It's just the way things are."
Maggie Davies, Elementary Education Peace Corps Volunteer, Macedonia