In this interview, we hear from Elyse Pickering. Elyse is working as a Peace Corps Health volunteer in Albania. What Elyse 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. Elyse talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Elyse’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Secondary Projects
- Advice and Support
- Language Learning
- Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as a Health volunteer in Albania?
In Albania, Health Education volunteers are school-based and take on the role of a teacher at their local school. While we have one assigned counterpart to help us acclimate to the school, organize our schedule, and answer questions, we are encouraged to work with multiple teachers. Together, we can plan and implement lessons related to youth health or well-being.
Some examples of lesson topics can include: healthy eating, physical education, sex education, life skills, mental health, personal hygiene, or anything else related to health and well-being. In the afternoons, many volunteers have started extracurricular activities, such as clubs at the school or organized sports and other activities, like walking and running groups. These clubs are based on community interest and can range from a chess club to an English club, or even a movie club!
During the summer, while school is out of session, Health Education volunteers are encouraged to run summer camps to keep kids active and engaged. Many volunteers are able to collaborate with community members, such as local teachers and religious leaders, who can help organize and run the camp. Some activities that might occur during these summer camps may include: arts and crafts, meetings with police officers or firefighters, puzzles, or games.
Another objective for HE volunteers in Albania is to connect our communities with local resources and to help them collaborate. There are many organizations, such as the Red Cross, for example, that will come to the schools to do outreach and education on various health-related topics. Volunteers often collaborate with local dentists, firefighters, police officers, and health workers to plan and run school or community-based events as well.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Albania?
I was motivated to join the Peace Corps, and more specifically Peace Corps in Albania for a few different reasons. During my last year of high school, I was speaking with one of my teachers about my plans, short-term and long-term, after high school. At the time, I was very interested in becoming a doctor and serving with Doctors Without Borders. During this conversation, my teacher asked if I had ever considered the Peace Corps. At the time, I had never heard of this organization and did not know much about it, so I brushed off the idea.
From my time in high school and university working as a swim instructor and later as a camp counselor, I knew that I really enjoyed working with children, particularly as a mentor. Fast forward to my last year of university, I would be graduating with a degree in Epidemiology, and I was looking for opportunities after graduation. During my time in university, I became very interested in the international health sector and wanted to pursue opportunities related to global health after graduation.
While researching different options, I came across the Peace Corps and saw that they had health-related positions, some of which were focused on youth health and well-being. It just seemed like the perfect fit for me, integrating my interest in serving others, living in a new place and learning about another culture, working with children, and being in the health sector! While I did not know much about Albania at the time, I researched the country and read information on the Peace Corps website about service in Albania. I decided to apply and see what came of it and, after an interview, I was offered a position to serve in Albania. Now the rest is history!
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
Living with a rural family
I live in a rural village in the north of Albania, where I am still living with my host family (about a year and a half into my service). Different posts have different homestay requirements, but here in PC Albania, it is required to live with a host family during the three months of pre-service training (PST) and for at least the first six months in your site, after swearing-in. After six months of living with a host family at your site, volunteers are able to move into independent housing, if they are able to find somewhere in their site. For some volunteers, particularly in rural areas, this might not be an option as there are no places to move to.
Extended host family
My homestay experience has been very rewarding and has given me the opportunity to find a family here in Albania. The two brothers of my host dad live in houses next door to ours with their families and kids. When it comes to birthdays, holidays, or Sunday morning coffees, there are always plenty of opportunities to gather with the extended family! My host family raises livestock, grows plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and even makes their own milk and yogurt. Our diet consists of a lot of meat, potatoes, and vegetables for the main meals, and there is always fresh fruit around to snack on.
As for the village itself, it is quite rural as it is a 30 minute drive from the closest city, with a very small population as well. The population tends to be on the older side; there are hardly any people my age who still live in my village, as Albania, like other countries in the area, has been dealing with mass emigration, particularly of the youth.
Running for exercise
To get my exercise in, I like to go for runs around my village, though this is not common to see. My host family and many other residents of my village are very encouraging, and on various occasions, I’ve been offered fresh fruit, coffee, water, or Coca-Cola by people I have passed. I’ve even been told that “I know the village better than many of the locals” because I often run through different areas of the village. Of course, there can be stares as well from people who are curious as to what I am doing because, like I said, running as a form of exercise is not a common activity in this area, but there are also words of affirmation and plenty of “bravo’s along the way.
Secondary Projects
4. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
A secondary project that I have been involved in is the project Girls Leading our World with Code, or “GLOW Code”. This project was started by A24 volunteers in 2023, when they were looking for a way to address geographical and gender barriers to the tech field by creating a free summer camp for middle and high-school-aged girls. As the name suggests, the girls complete lessons in coding, culminating in them building their own personal website!
When I first heard about this initiative, I was hooked from the get-go. My whole life, I have been interested in STEM fields, and I wanted to do anything I could to help young girls around me be encouraged to pursue STEM as well. I helped run a summer camp in 2024 with another volunteer in my area for our students to attend, and have spent the last year since the camp working on expanding the program. In collaboration with a few other volunteers, I created a curriculum for an after-school club focused on digital literacy and community involvement.
This summer also marks the pilot of our “GLOW Code+” camp, a more advanced camp for students who have completed the traditional “GLOW Code” camp. I had the opportunity to work with a group of Albanian tech professionals and Peace Corps volunteers to create a curriculum for this camp as well.
Having worked at a summer camp back in the US, it’s so rewarding to be able to bring a similar experience to these girls in my community, most of whom have never had an opportunity to participate in a project like this before. Even in just two weeks of the camp, you can see the girls grow so much as they learn not only coding but also how to be leaders in their communities. There is a website for this project: Glowcode.org if you are interested in learning more!
Advice and Support
5. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
PST – Pre-Service Training
There are a few trainings or conferences throughout your service in the Peace Corps, the first being a 2-3 month pre-service training or PST. This training takes place after you have arrived in your country of service, and before you are sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer.
During this time here in Albania, we spent four weekdays focused on learning the language, and one dedicated to sector-specific training. As a HE volunteer, this meant that every Tuesday, we would be meeting with our Program Manager, Program Assistant, and other HE volunteers to discuss common health problems in Albania, how to work collaboratively with our communities, and technical skills related to teaching. It was particularly important for us, HE volunteers, to have these technical training sessions as the majority of us had a background in health or biology, with limited teaching experience.
I personally found PST very helpful, as it is time to get adjusted to a new country and culture while also learning the language and technical skills to prepare you for your service. My biggest recommendation in terms of Peace Corps training is to learn as much of the language as you can, as that will help you unlock more opportunities and connections with your local community.
PDM – Project Design and Management
During service here in Albania, we also had in-service training a few months into our service as well as a mid-service conference and training halfway through our service. For the in-service trainings, we had conferences related to language learning, technical trainings, as well as project design and management (PDM). During the PDM training, all volunteers brought a local counterpart from their school, organization, or municipal office to attend with us. Together with your counterpart, you learn how to design and manage projects, and even how to apply for grants.
This training was also quite helpful for me as I had no grant writing experience, so it allowed me to learn a new skill. Not only does it benefit the volunteers on a personal level, but it also can strengthen the skills of a local counterpart, and encourage collaboration on designing and implementing projects.
Language Learning
6. How has learning the language been?
Here in Albania, the national language is Albanian, which can be a tricky language to learn! While I personally did not learn any of the language before staging, I know some fellow volunteers who had started learning the language to varying degrees. If you want to get a head start, you can try learning the language before staging from various youtube videos, but it is not necessary to know before you arrive.
During PST, I really enjoyed learning the language, and our language teachers (LCFs) made it engaging by introducing different activities and games to help us practice. After moving to site, it was definitely harder to “study” the language; I rarely had the energy or motivation after coming home from work, but you are able to improve your language even passively. Living with a host family and being in a rural village means that many of the people in my community–host parents, school director, fellow teachers, and even students–have not learned English, meaning I would speak with them in Albanian.
We were also required to complete a few months of tutoring in the Albanian language after moving to our site, which I was able to extend for another few months to continue improving my language. My biggest piece of advice (coming from a fellow perfectionist) is don’t be afraid to speak the language! You are going to make mistakes (A LOT!) and that’s perfectly fine. Many people have been impressed that I could say anything at all in the language, or have told me that they feel very grateful that I am trying to communicate with them in their native language.
Final Thoughts
7. Any last comments or observations you’d like to pass on to future Albania volunteers?
Try not to have any expectations for your service in Albania. You will probably hear this phrase a lot throughout pre-departure and pre-service training, but it is worth mentioning again. No two volunteers will have the same service, and your experiences can vary so much from one another. It can be easy to play the comparison game or feel like you’re not “doing enough”. It is not a typical 9-5 job; there will be successes and there will be learning moments, but what matters more than what you do is how you make people feel. There’s a reason two thirds of the main goals of the Peace Corps are focused on promoting better understandings of the respective cultures.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Elyse’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 Albania Government.
