In this interview, you’ll hear from Katherine McTernan, a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Sri Lanka. Katherine shares what daily life looks like, the work being done, and how service has shaped their personal and professional growth. You’ll learn about housing, cultural differences, project work, language learning, and what it’s like to live and work in a new country. This interview offers a real look into Peace Corps service and what future volunteers can expect.
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
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. What do you do as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Sri Lanka?
In Peace Corps Sri Lanka, I work as a secondary English co-teacher. That means I teach grades 6-10 (or ages 11-16) with a Sri Lankan teacher. I work with two English teachers, but other volunteers can work with about one to five teachers, depending on how big the school is.
Every day, I go to school from 8 am-2 pm and teach regular classes, with a focus on communicative English through games, songs, activities, and practices. Sometimes, I help to teach grade 11 and grade 3, as help is requested and my schedule allows.
After school, I am free to do extra activities with the support of another teacher. Sometimes, I do volleyball, sometimes I do practice for performances or competitions.
In the evening, I have free time for myself, but when I have time, I will do a weekly club for the young students in my neighborhood or go to church events with my neighbor.
2. Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps and serve in Sri Lanka?
I joined the Peace Corps after finishing my master’s degree in International Affairs. I felt very educated but under-equipped in experience. Also, I have always been a passionate volunteer and felt more complete when helping others. So, I decided to pair both of my passions and pursue the Peace Corps. I also had many role models who had done the Peace Corps when they were my age. One of my good friends’ moms and one of my professors both did the Peace Corps and highly recommended it.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. What is your housing like in Sri Lanka?
I live with a Tamil host family in a rural village in the mountains and tea fields of Central Province, Sri Lanka. I have my own room, bed, desk, and cupboard. It is a very comfortable space. I have a host mom, dad, and three sisters. I wash my clothes twice a week by hand and leave them outside to dry. I have a squat toilet, and I am super lucky to have a water heater to take showers!
My family takes really good care of me. We always have tea and watch Tamil dramas at 6 pm every day. My Amma (host mom) makes the best curries like chicken, pumpkin, plantains, fish, and much more. We always have different types of carbs for lunch and dinner, like string hoppers, bread, roti, or pasta. And of course, we have rice at least once a day.
4. What moments or interactions stand out during your service?
I love how normalized this version of my life has gotten. I am comfortable understanding and speaking the language. Whenever I go somewhere, people make me feel welcome and even go out of their way to invite me in. Especially because I am a teacher, people treat me with the utmost respect. But mostly, the most important thing in my service is interacting with the students. It’s amazing to see students, one: come out of their shell and show their amazing personalities, and two: grow so much in the language skills that they CAN show me who they are and what they like.
For example, one of my favorite students is a neighbor kid of mine. He is in grade 8, but sometimes comes to my primary club with his little brother. He is hilarious and passionate about learning English. So, when I give instructions to the little ones, and maybe they don’t understand quite what I am saying, this student volunteers to “translate” to the “local English” and basically paraphrases what I said to a bit simpler language with more locally used words. Then, the little ones can understand. What a creative student!
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about living or working in Sri Lanka?
What surprised me most is that the things I was worried about or scared of before coming here are either not a problem or not even close to as bothersome as I thought they would be. I have a few examples.
First, before coming here, my biggest fear was getting worms or having really bad stomach problems. And despite one episode near the beginning of my service, food poisoning or stomach diseases have not been a problem at all. We have really good medical service here, and they take a lot of time to train us on how to stay safe.
Second, I was terrified to use a squat toilet, as I had never used one before, and it just seemed really gross to me. But actually, I found that it was no sweat and was really easier to use in most cases.
Finally, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be fluent enough in a language to survive or live with a family that speaks another language. But at some point, it just hit me that I understand and can speak this language! It just takes being consistent and practicing, but it’s not super hard to do.
6. What challenges have you faced in your Education work, and how did you respond?
There have been a few issues with working in a school in a different country. For one, the culture and expectations for teaching and working with others are really different. There is a hierarchy here between the principal and teachers that I wasn’t used to. If the principal says something, his word is law. There is not really a lot of room to negotiate, or it can be taken as disrespectful.
So, if he or she asks a teacher to come do admin work during a teaching period, they will have to leave you alone to do that class. In that case, I have had to be confident in my ability to teach alone and work with students, which I have gotten a lot better at.
I also had a few situations in which I got caught up in miscommunication with other teachers. For example, I wanted to have an after-school club but needed the support of a teacher. After getting approval from many people, having it be delayed, and then having the teacher unable to support the program, I tried to accomplish the club individually. But due to poor timing and misunderstanding of the mindset regarding the weekly schedule, the club was cancelled.
In the end, I understood that I have to be aware that one, what is said should not always be taken at face value, because people won’t want to disappoint you to your face. And two, if there’s a function at the school, nothing is going to happen after school that day. And in the end, I was able to work it through with the principal and vice principal to get a supervising teacher, and told the students we would decide on the club on a case-by-case basis. That worked a lot better.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
As this is a relatively new program, we have been encouraged to focus on our primary teaching project in order to establish a consistent expectation for stakeholders. But on the side, I will do clubs with younger primary-aged students because they love to play and practice with language.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to future Education volunteers in Sri Lanka?
Some advice I would give is to be ready for the next two years to be shared with many people, from your community to the Peace Corps itself. It is really a test of patience and humility to be able to collaborate, communicate, and cooperate with a culture that is maybe very different from your own while also being supervised by an outside organization.
But also, be open to doing the things that are a little uncomfortable, at least at first. They may seem like things you have never done or would be really uncomfortable doing, whether that be using a squat toilet or dancing at a Tamil wedding, but after doing it a few times, it doesn’t seem as bad as you initially thought. It’s actually easy and enjoyable. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and what is important to you. You learn to appreciate what you have and become more generous, as Sri Lankans are.
At the end of the day, you should protect your well-being and give yourself space if you need it. But you’ll find you can handle more than you thought.
9. How did Peace Corps training prepare you for service?
During PST, you learn a lot of stuff, from language to culture to teaching. I recommend keeping a few key worksheets from the teaching technical sessions, as they’ll be useful later. But a lot of it is really foundational stuff, and you’ll learn more as you actually teach, look stuff up online, and figure out what works for you, your counterpart, and your students.
The most important thing I took from PST is my foundation language skills. You should take as many notes as you can in the first three months of training because you’ll want to keep those words you hear once or twice and practice them. When you first come to your permanent site after PST, you’ll have some good basic knowledge, but talking with your permanent host family is really where your skills will bulk up. Just keep a detailed notebook, and you will love yourself forever.
IST and MST are great for practicing skills with your counterpart and preparing for the extracurricular parts of teaching and serving, like clubs, camps, and teacher trainings. You should bring the counterpart with whom you work the most to these trainings.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. What would you tell future volunteers to pack—or leave behind?
These are the things I recommend packing:
- A good pair of jeans and trousers
- A pair of sneakers
- A speaker and cheap headphones
- A comfort object, i.e. a teddy bear
- Gifts for family: candy, nuts, bath and body works, makeup, puzzle
- Games from home
- Favorite seasonings/hot sauce
- Laptop with hdmi
- Raincoat
- Favorite bathroom items
- Tampons
- An extra battery bank
- Hobbies to do with host family (crafts, games, etc)
These things you should avoid packing:
- Too many clothing items, like professional wear or a bunch of closed-toed shoes
- Stationery items
- Household items
- Heavy books (there are books in the PC office)
- Expensive technology (watches, iPads, Switches, etc)
11. How has language learning been for you in Sri Lanka?
When I first started learning the language, I thought there was no way that I could become fluent. When I came into my host family after the first week, I knew a few words, so it was a bit awkward. I studied a few hours a day in the classroom and did several face-to-face practice activities throughout the week. I also practiced with other volunteers and used it in my host family when I could. I did this for three months. At that point, when I was headed to my permanent site, I was Intermediate Low (language level). Three months later, I was Intermediate Mid.
Slowly, as I practiced with my host family and community, I increased my skills. By one year, I was Intermediate High. At the end of my service, I am at Advanced Mid. This means, as long as you practice and use the language constantly, you can steadily increase in your capabilities without even realizing it.
Social Identity
12. How has your personal identity shaped your service experience?
There have been two aspects of my identity that I believe have shaped my service experience and also been shaped by my service experience.
First, as a woman living in a rural village, there are a lot of expectations coming from the outside that many people from the US are not used to. Firstly, women are expected not drink alcohol or be heard to have drunk. Also, women and men should not be seen to be too friendly with each other, otherwise they could be assumed to be dating.
Second, I feel my religious identity has grown here, as this country is very spiritual and multi-religious. There are Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians. I was able to find a community in my neighborhood that made me feel a part of the family and welcomed. It was very nice.
13. Did your identity lead to specific challenges or situations?
As a white woman, I have to be very careful about calling attention to myself. It was difficult to realize early on that I should dress modestly. And modesty here is not necessarily what I thought of modesty in the US. Sometimes, you should be careful who you give attention to or talk to, because they may be looking to propose to you or have a worse mindset. It’s all about listening to trusted voices and using our RADAR, as we are taught during training.
14. What advice do you have for volunteers who share your identity?
If you are a woman coming to Sri Lanka, especially the rural village areas, as most volunteers do, be mindful and respectful of the social expectations for women and specifically female teachers. If your host mom says not to wear something, don’t wear it. If you are told not to do something because it can be seen as untoward, listen to those social confidants. You’re not here to change a culture to what you think is correct; you’re supposed to bring peace and kindness through your actions, thoughts, and deeds by listening, learning, and sharing.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
15. If you share content online, how has that shaped your service?
I have a small Instagram page where I share some pictures and videos from my service. I think by doing it minimally, I have been able to share my service with a small group of people while also taking a step back from always being behind the camera to actually enjoy my service. I can see from people’s comments that I am experiencing something very unique, and I should appreciate where I’m at as much as I can.
16. What final advice would you share with future volunteers?
Life is full of uncertainty and fear of the unknown. But you can never realize how resilient you actually are until you try those things that you are afraid of or don’t think are worth it. You can always regret not doing things more than doing them. So, don’t be afraid to make that leap.
Are you thinking about joining the Peace Corps? If you’re curious about service and ready for something new, apply today. Like Katherine, you can live abroad, work with communities, and grow in ways you didn’t expect. Apply to the Peace Corps and take the next step.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Sri Lanka Government.
