In this interview, we hear from Alannah Linden. Alannah is working as a Peace Corps Environment volunteer in the Philippines. What Alannah shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Alannah talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Alannah’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity during Service
- Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as an Environment volunteer in the Philippines?
I work at a local government office in Cordova, Cebu, as a fisheries technician. The fisheries technician handles all work related to fisherfolk and coastal resource management (CRM) in the municipality, so we do a mix of work, such as fisherfolk registrations, alternative livelihood projects, training for the fisherfolk, and ocean conservation, such as coral rehabilitation, mangrove, and seagrass assessments.
We also work closely with the community and conduct IEC (information and education campaigns) about the work we do and the ocean. I am typically in the office Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, but we usually have meetings, field work, or other events sprinkled in throughout the week.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose the Philippines?
At some point during my undergrad, I realized that I wanted to move outside of the US and experience life in a new country, which led me to seek out opportunities that would allow me to do so. I studied atmospheric and oceanic sciences and mathematics, so I wanted to do something related to my major. I had heard about the Peace Corps from a professor who served in Vanuatu and decided to look it up.
When I heard about CRM in the Philippines, which conveniently departed just 3 weeks after I graduated from college, I knew that it would be a good fit for me. I had some experience in oceanic field work and a strong background in the physical science of the ocean, and thought it would apply well to CRM.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
I lived with a host family during our community-based training, but when I got to site I was placed immediately in an independent apartment. It was a hard adjustment at first, having to figure out where to buy food and slowly acquiring furniture for the apartment, but now that I’ve been on my own for 10 months, I love it.
It’s a small apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, and it gets very hot during the day, but I saved up to purchase an AC unit. My site is fairly urban, as we are very close to Cebu City, which is one of the largest cities in the Philippines. I live on an island that is connected to the city by a large bridge that was built very recently, which has promoted a lot of urban development on my island. Cordova is very small but has a population of over 70,000 people, so it is quite dense.
However, I found a nice route that I run along every night by the sea wall, which usually has a lot of people watching the sunset. Since we are on an island with a large population of fisherfolk, seafood is very prevalent. Although there are all kinds of fish and shellfish, Cordova is known for its delicacy of sea eel, known locally as bakasi!
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
One of my first goals upon my arrival in Cordova was to befriend people my own age, especially since we have a travel ban for three months, and I didn’t want to be alone. I befriended two girls who also work at the LGU, and spent a lot of time with their families.
One day, we waded through water that went up to my neck, carrying food and supplies over our heads to a tiny mangrove islet where we grilled some pork and fish for lunch. In the middle of this endeavor, it started pouring rain! We stayed out for hours and then proceeded back to their house to sing karaoke. That was one of my favorite days of service.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in the Philippines?
Although I had heard about the slow pace of life, I was still surprised at how much plans would change or be tentative. Sometimes, I find out we have a holiday the day before! I also often have work on the weekends, because that is when people are available for training or other assessments. At first, I felt frustrated at how much I would need to adjust my schedule, but I am used to it now and can plan for delays.
I grew up in the Bay Area and would often have Filipino food at school potlucks or friends’ birthday parties, but I hadn’t tried many foods before coming here, and I was surprised at how much I love them! I’ve tried so many new things and over time developed a love for lechon, the pig cooked on a spit. I will definitely miss Filipino food when I leave.
6. What challenges did you face while working on Environment projects?
Funding offers a huge challenge to most of our projects, which is why being able to apply for grants from the Peace Corps is so important. There are a lot of ideas and plans that my supervisor and I want to do, but our office lacks the funds to carry them out.
Also, one of the barangays (the smallest level of local government, like a neighborhood) is an island, and in order to get there to carry out IEC or assessments, we require a boat, which adds to the complications.
Overall, however, people in Cordova are very invested in protecting their environment, and there is a lot of support for our work.
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
This year was the second year of a coral rehabilitation project conducted by the University of the Philippines, working with divers from all over Cebu, including the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, the neighboring municipality of Lapu-Lapu, Bantayan Island, Malapascua, and, of course, divers from LGU Cordova. For the project, we held regular monthly assessments to determine the exact month that the corals would spawn, then had night dives every day for a week around the full moon, as that is the time of month that the corals spawn.
We would place mesh net cones in the early evening, then collect them when they were full of coral eggs and sperm late at night, sometimes getting back as late as 2 am! The coral spawn was then planted in degraded reefs and will be assessed regularly for baby corals. We collected over 20 million spawns throughout the week!
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Environment volunteer in the Philippines?
Being an environment volunteer in the Philippines and in the Peace Corps in general means you must be very flexible and come in with little to no expectations. The description on the website is not a guarantee, and everyone’s work at site is different.
For example, one of my friends is working to open a sea turtle conservation center with her community, while I am organizing a training for the community to be able to control Crown-of-Thorn outbreaks. Every person, every site, and every day is different, and once you accept that, you will be successful.
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
The language classes are so important, which I think some people underestimate. Through learning a language, you learn about a culture, and that is how you connect with the community. Also, the introduction to Filipino culture that trainees get while living with a host family is crucial to adjusting at site when we are completely alone for the first time. I didn’t get a host family when I came to site, but I was very close to my training host family and still keep in touch with them, and am so grateful for everything they did for me while I was living with them.
I’ve only attended IST so far, which is when we were given many more ideas on projects and work at site. Don’t be afraid to suggest something and hear what people think, and listen to the other volunteer’s ideas, because it could be something that would work at your site. But most importantly, do what your community wants.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future the Philippines volunteers?
I wish that I had packed more snacks from home. I know I would have finished them quickly, but I didn’t think that I would miss them so much. Also, I didn’t bring a Kindle but am planning on getting one when I leave to visit my family. There is a bookstore in Cordova, but the options are limited, and it would be cheaper to just get library books online.
11. How has learning the language been?
I had no problems learning the language quickly, having received an advanced low on both my language proficiency interviews. I don’t think trainees necessarily need to start learning before staging, though it wouldn’t hurt. The best way to learn is just to practice. You will be fully immersed in the language upon your arrival, which will force you to learn fast. My host family during CBT didn’t speak much English, so I had to learn Tagalog quickly. But I also wasn’t afraid to make mistakes and practice with strangers often.
Social Identity during Service
12. What challenges have you faced as, and how did you overcome them?
As a woman, I receive a lot of unwanted attention on a daily basis. I get stared at every day, whether I’m at the office or walking down the street, and I often get yelled at. This has taken me a long time to overcome, especially when I first got to site, as I was not used to the attention and prior to this had only ever been with other volunteers or my training host family.
Over time, people got used to seeing me, and I grew comfortable with responding to people just saying “hi,” and one of my favorite things is when the kids who live along my street run up to give me high-fives. I also usually listen to music when I walk or run, so I don’t hear what most people say.
13. What advice would you give to other women considering joining the Peace Corps?
If you’ve wanted to do the Peace Corps, just go for it. It’s hard to find a perfect time to do it with jobs, relationships, and family, but if you keep letting one thing get in the way, you will never do it. When I applied, I thought it would be such a long time and I have the rest of my life to do it, but my roommate told me I needed to just apply. And I’m glad I did, because once the application was submitted, I realized I really did want to do it and it would be such an adventure.
Final Thoughts
14. Any last comments to pass on to future the Philippines volunteers?
You are going to learn so much every day that you are here, and you can never prepare enough for this journey. The Philippines is an amazing place, and volunteers must be open to learning about the culture and being flexible, which is crucial in all PC countries. Just remember that you will grow so much throughout your service, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the way.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Alannah’s, apply to the Peace Corps today. Expand your horizons, push your limits, and create positive impact as a volunteer. You never know how serving as a Peace Corps volunteer could change your life.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Philippines Government.
