ABCNews and 20/20....that is some serious bad journalism you did on the Peace Corps!

I rarely…actually never write blogs that are not simply an archive of my daily thoughts, but like many PCV’s we heard about or saw on the internet the news about the 20/20 ABC news report about the Peace Corps, and I feel compelled to write something about this
Lets be clear from the beginning: These opinions are mine, mine alone and in no way represent the United States Government or anything about the Peace Corps. Lets also be clear that I am well aware that I am a 29 year old 6’4 caucasian male who can at least pretend to look halfway like the kind of person that you would think twice about bothering, so a lot of the difficulties and hardships some of my fellow volunteers go through I do not, but even with that in mind I feel as though I can make some valid points.
First off, I want everyone to be aware that 20/20 and ABCnews actually upgraded their story throughout the week. At first they were only talking about rape cases or sexual assault and suddenly yesterday the story about the death of a Peace Corps volunteer came up. Its strange, but your never quite aware of just how much of a slant the media actually has until it attacks something that you are a part of in some way. I didn’t know any of the volunteers the report mentions, I don’t know the background, I don’t know the people and I cant comment towards any of that. All I can do is tell you what I know.
I know that the Peace Corps staff I have worked with both American and Mongolian have never done anything but shown the utmost concern for my safety and well being. Ive never told them anything that they ignored or even sat on, they are always interested in finding ways to make sure I am as safe as I possibly can be. I know that the well being of Peace Corps volunteers is the NUMBER ONE concern of everyone who supervises me. And they don’t nearly get enough thanks for that!
I don’t take away about the seriousness of what the news special brought up. Rape and murder are naturally extremely serious and should be regarded as such. Yet from my own take on the news report it was about as one-sided as you could possibly get. Seriously, the only people taking part in the conversation were those who were victims or families of victims. Again I understand why they would answer in the way that they did but to the people in the American public who don’t experience Peace Corps the way volunteers do it is probably the only thing they have heard about us in terms of details and I can only imagine what they must be thinking.
We join the Peace Corps very aware that while every possible precaution is taken we are not volunteering at the Hilton ladies and gentlemen! As much as I may love what I do this is not a vacation I am on everybody. One of the three goals of the Peace Corps is to go to places that have need for skilled manpower and to volunteer our time and expertise in assisting others. That means we go to places that aren’t as bright and utopian as where you live. I have lived for over a year in a half in one of the poorer countries on the planet.
We may not be night patrolling the streets of Falluja, but we are in the places of the world where there is more crime and murder than in your suburban neighborhood. There is crime, there is murder, there are even a small number of xenophobes in this country who would very much not want me here (I even have a picture of Mongolians dressed up like SS officers at Sukbaatar Square.) There is a chance that something horrible might happen to me here, or any one of us for that matter. I don’t say that it is not a tragic loss if that happens, but all of us are here knowing that very slim risk exists. You should not make one of the last of the Great Society projects out to be unsafe and uncaring by only looking at the tragic losses of the 200,000 of us who have served in this organization, the exceeding overwhelming majority of us successfully and without incident.
The Peace Corps is far from perfect, but what 20/20 showed….thats as inaccurate out of context as you can get. Take it from me, I work for it!