In this interview, we hear from Jared Klegar. Jared is working as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in the Philippines. What Jared 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. Jared talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Jared’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
- Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as an Education volunteer in the Philippines?
In the Philippines, education volunteers are usually placed at the Department of Education’s public elementary and high schools. There, we are assigned a counterpart—a Filipino teacher with whom we closely collaborate.
I love this setup, not just because my counterpart is awesome and immediately made me feel welcome in my community, but because it’s a configuration that really allows for exchange: of pedagogical strategies, of cultural knowledge. Since the work I’ve done at my school is collaborative and community-driven in nature, I can feel confident about its continued implementation long after I’ve finished my service. That’s the hope, at least!
My site is a public high school in the province of Bohol, where I co-teach Grade 8 English to five sections of 40+ students each. (High schools in the Philippines typically run from Grades 7 to 12.) School starts at 7:45 a.m. and lets out at 5 p.m. What happens in the interim can vary widely depending on the week—maybe I am teaching back-to-back classes the whole day, maybe students are out of the classroom entirely for an all-school dance practice; such is the unpredictability of Peace Corps life—but in general I’d say I keep quite busy.
While co-teaching is my primary duty as an education volunteer, I am involved in a number of other activities at school, whether that’s helping to advise the journalism club or choreographing routines for the gymnastics team.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose the Philippines?
In college, I’d had very formative and fulfilling experiences living abroad and working with local communities, but never both at once, and never for a period lasting more than a few months. I knew, as well, that I was interested in exploring education and public service post-grad, and that I wanted to do something with real-world impact. Peace Corps seemed like an excellent fit.
To get more information, I spoke with two returned Peace Corps volunteers—a family friend and an official recruiter—who gave me valuable and realistic insight into the many dimensions of Peace Corps service: connection, immersion, isolation, illness. I appreciated their honesty and the lack of sugarcoating, which enabled me to decide, clear-eyed, whether the Peace Corps was right for me.
I applied to serve in the Philippines because the program here is one of the longest-running Peace Corps posts. With such longevity come certain advantages—a proven track record of successful partnerships with Filipino organizations, established procedures to support volunteers’ health and safety—and these safeguards gave me the confidence and peace of mind to dive into service. This isn’t to suggest that other Peace Corps programs have underdeveloped infrastructure, but it’s a vastly different experience, I imagine, to be among the first cohort of volunteers in a country versus the 281st (as I am in the Philippines). Neither is necessarily better or worse; it certainly sounds exciting to be the one breaking new ground. For me, though, knowing that thousands of volunteers have already navigated similar terrain here in the Philippines is a great comfort.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation:
In most cases, volunteers in the Philippines live with a host family at their permanent site for the first four months of service, whereupon they have the option to move into independent housing. Many do, but I have decided to stay with my host family, who are kind, supportive, and respectful of my privacy and independence.
The house where we live is a convenient five-minute walk from my school, and the walk itself is gorgeous, bordering a rice field with towering coconut trees and, farther in the distance, a picturesque forested hill. In the house, I have my own bedroom with a bed, desk, dresser, and electric fan—no air conditioning. I have my own bathroom, too, with a pour-flush toilet, a small mirror, and a tabo (dipper) and bucket for bathing. (Hot showers are a luxury I will never take for granted again!) In terms of utilities, I am fortunate to have electricity and running water, with only occasional outages; my cell service can be spotty but is definitely functional.
I would characterize my site as semi-rural. The landscapes in my neighborhood are primarily agricultural, and many nearby residents draw their livelihoods from farming. My area is peaceful and quiet, save for the crowing roosters, clicking, chirping geckos, and taho vendors shouting “Tahoooo!” in the morning. But just a 10-minute tricycle ride away is our town center, where I can access grocery stores, convenience stores, community centers, banks, cafés, local restaurants, and even national fast food chains. To paraphrase one of our greatest living entertainers, I get the best of both worlds: the serenity of provincial life alongside proximity to town conveniences.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
Truly too many to recount here! I could write about journalism competitions, spelling bees, school Christmas parties—but ultimately, when I eventually look back on my service, I think what I’ll remember most are the more everyday joys.
For instance, my students’ last period ends at 4 p.m., and after cleaning up their classrooms and completing any outstanding assignments, they are free to go around 4:15 or 4:30. As a teacher, I’m expected to stay at school until 5 p.m. In theory, then, the final portion of my day should be student-free; in practice, many learners stick around to chat, gossip, play board games, ask questions about the U.S., and discuss their interests and dreams with me and my counterpart. That they choose to stick around means the world to me.
The writer Marina Keegan has a line I mull over often: “When the check is paid, and you stay at the table.” Moments like these, she writes, exemplify “the opposite of loneliness.” That’s how I feel about this interval between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., the after-class conversations, the rounds and rounds of chess and Scrabble and Codenames. A long school day has come to a close; we can go, perhaps we should go; it’s getting dark. But we don’t. We stay at the table.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in the Philippines?
Coming into service, I would say one of my largest concerns was how I’d fare in the Philippines’ climate. This country is hot. It is humid. And I’ve never done well in the heat. So I was surprised when, only a few months in, I found that my body had adapted, and not just to this new climate, but to a new diet and hygiene regimen as well. (I lather my limbs in mosquito repellent every night.)
I quickly realized that the psychic adjustments, rather than the physical ones, would be most challenging. If you’re sweaty, you can take a cold bucket shower. If you’re experiencing digestive issues, you can take medicine to soothe those tummy rumbles. But the playbook is less clear for dealing with isolation, or homesickness, or feelings of futility. What do you do in those early stages, when your language skills are too rudimentary to understand what people are saying to you, so you just nod and smile, hoping the utterances at hand aren’t open-ended questions? How do you cope when friends back stateside start reaching out less, when important milestones at home transpire in your absence?
Over time, I’ve learned to take these things in stride. When I mess up my Bisaya (the local language used in Bohol), my students feel more emboldened to take risks and make mistakes while speaking English. Fewer texts from friends mean less screen time, and besides, keeping in touch need not be a weekly or even monthly practice with everyone in my life. As for the missed milestones—well, sometimes there’s no grand, redemptive other side of the coin, and that’s okay, too.
6. What challenges did you face while working on Education projects?
My school does a lot with limited resources, and I greatly admire the creativity and resourcefulness of the teachers I work alongside. Say there’s a power outage—they’ll be ready with a plan B. Still, our resource constraints can be a challenge. Without many age-appropriate books in stock, it can be difficult to assign literature in classes and get learners excited about reading. Without air conditioning in most classrooms, students struggle to focus in the stuffy and sweltering conditions. I try to work within and around these limitations—I’ve been able to secure book donations for our library, I can move a lesson outdoors for fresh air—but sometimes I just have to accept that an activity won’t run as seamlessly as I would like.
I wanted, for example, to use Kahoot quizzes with my students. But while Kahoot, a game-based, interactive platform, is practically catnip for anyone seeking a little competition—and my students can be so competitive—it requires an internet connection, and the overwhelming majority of my students don’t have data on their phones (if they have phones at all). So we do our best: everyone tries to connect to my personal hotspot, which, regrettably, can accommodate only so many devices. If a student can’t connect, she teams up with a friend who can. There’s buffering, lag, freezing. Is it perfect? Far from it. But I have learned not to let perfection get in the way of good enough. My students love Kahoot.
But pardon the digression—let me return to the topic of focus. It’s a hard thing to maintain. In my first year co-teaching at my school, my counterpart and I would meet with each section every day for a 45-minute block. In my second year, the schedule changed; now, we have each section twice a week for a two-hour block. Aside from the fact that language acquisition benefits from shorter, more regular exposure, managing the attention of 40+ thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds for two hours—even with movement breaks built in—is not easy.
And this is all assuming that my day is, in fact, proceeding as scheduled: classes are frequently cancelled due to typhoons or earthquakes. But when I do manage students’ attention for the duration of the lesson—when I’ve planned extensively and adapted on the fly, and I can see that they’re understanding the material—there are few feelings more rewarding.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
I’m lucky to be part of several initiatives and extracurricular opportunities at my school. I’ve taught afternoon small-group classes and coordinated book donations for our remedial reading program; observed student-teachers from the local state college, providing constructive feedback on their lesson plans and teaching styles; run practice and conditioning sessions for our gymnastics team, relying on my background and professional training as a dancer; and prepared high-achieving scholars for academic contests in writing and oration.
A particularly memorable competition was called the “Advocacy Pitch”: in two hours, a team of two students was expected to read a set of informational texts discussing an issue in the Philippines, outline and create a slide deck and tri-fold brochure proposing solutions to said issue, and deliver a five-minute extemporaneous presentation (in which slides automatically advanced every 20 seconds)—all in English. This is a formidable task for anyone, let alone an eighth grader and a ninth grader for whom English is a second or third language. Furthermore, the students I worked with for this contest had little prior experience using computers, to say nothing of Microsoft PowerPoint, but they worked so diligently and improved so much. The whole preparation process has been one of my proudest moments as a teacher to date.
College Guidance Program
I also recently wrote a grant proposal for a college guidance program at my school, in collaboration with returned Peace Corps Philippines volunteer Angel Padilla and his organization Project: Gabay. After raising the full ₱200,000 needed for the project, we’ve begun facilitating teacher training workshops, providing college entrance test materials, and organizing mentorship sessions to guide 50 Grade 12 students through university applications. Although many students want to pursue higher education, they face financial barriers and lack access to information about scholarships that could award them tuition-free entry to top Philippine universities. This program addresses those hurdles, and I’m hopeful it will create a sustainable model—trained teachers, established resources, and a mentorship network—that my school can continue independently.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Education volunteer in the Philippines?
The platitudes are no less true for being platitudinous. Stay curious and open-minded, and come ready with plans for how you will care for your physical and mental health.
On a more concrete note, be prepared to teach some very shy students, and don’t be discouraged if it takes some time for them to feel comfortable speaking English in front of you. I like to think of myself as a friendly and approachable person, but I also recognize that, for the majority of my students, I am the first American and potentially the first non-Filipino they’ve interacted with on a meaningful level.
My pragmatic advice in this scenario is to buy or bring board games for your classroom. I know many students wanted to chat with me after class but initially felt intimidated; having an activity really helps break the ice and offers a starting point for conversation. The bonus is that these board games get learners off their phones!
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
Pre-service training (PST) was crucial for me in two regards: language learning and host family integration. The language teachers that Peace Corps employs are committed instructors and some of the kindest folks I’ve met here in the Philippines—which is saying quite a lot! And I adored the family I lived with during PST—different from my current host family—who taught me everything from the best Filipino snacks (I swear by Oishi Prawn Crackers) to the most water-efficient dish-washing methods. These two components of PST set me up for success at my permanent site.
Our in-service and mid-service trainings (six months and one year into service, respectively), meanwhile, were immensely useful from an education-specific standpoint. At these conferences, I learned techniques for teaching remedial reading lessons (e.g., pre-reading questions to prime understanding, “pause points” throughout a story at which students can predict what will happen next) and participated in sessions on grant design and program sustainability.
What’s more, Peace Corps trainings have been a lovely opportunity to reunite with all the volunteers in my cohort. I’m fortunate to meet up with some volunteers pretty often, as their sites are close to mine, but others are placed far away, and I don’t get to see them very much. But regardless of how regularly we see one another, there’s a camaraderie that develops within a cohort, this sense of fellowship from knowing (please forgive this second Disney Channel reference) we’re all in this together.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Philippines volunteers?
Pack light. You can find most essentials here, with a few exceptions—I’d recommend bringing good-quality dental floss, good-quality roll-on deodorant, extra phone and laptop chargers (replacements can be costly or faulty, especially for Apple products), and whatever cords and adapters you’d need to connect to a TV with an HDMI port.
If you’re an education volunteer, you’ll be expected to dress reasonably formally at work. Dri-fit polos and linen pants are the perfect balance between breathable and professional.
Finally, do not pack anything you wouldn’t be comfortable losing or getting damaged. Humidity can lead to mold. Clothes can get stretched from hand-washing and line-drying. Phones can be water-damaged or stolen. That’s not to say your items are doomed; just be careful with your nicest clothes, jewelry, and electronics.
11. How has learning the language been?
All volunteers in the Philippines begin PST learning Tagalog. Then, after we are assigned to our various sites, we start learning our respective local languages. For me, this was the Boholano variant of the Cebuano language, colloquially referred to as Bisaya. Filipino languages typically follow a Verb-Subject-Object sentence pattern, which took some getting used to, as my tendency was to open statements with their subjects.
In Bohol, I primarily use Bisaya, as Tagalog isn’t spoken very much. I’m not fully fluent, but I’d say I have working proficiency; I’m able to communicate clearly, express my thoughts, go about my day-to-day activities without being misunderstood, and translate for my students when they’re having trouble with a concept in English. In my most recent Peace Corps language exam, I was deemed an advanced speaker.
Of course, just when I think I’ve made a lot of progress, something happens that totally humbles me. Exhibit A: In many of my classroom activities, I like to give my students creative control and freedom. If they ask me what topic they should choose, what title they should give their work, I tell them: “bahala ka,” meaning “it’s up to you,” as in: you have agency, and isn’t that empowering? Or, rather, that’s what I thought I was saying.
One day, in that twilit 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. period, a student approached me and suggested that what I should say instead is “ikaw na bahala.” “Ikaw” and “ka” both mean “you,” so these phrases are theoretically synonymous. But no. “Bahala ka” connotes that the speaker doesn’t care much—“it’s up to you” in the manner of “you’re on your own”—which is not at all what I intended! I’m so grateful that my student recognized this gap between my intention and my grasp of Bisaya nuances, and that he cared enough to correct me.
Final Thoughts
12. Any last comments or observations you’d like to pass on to future Philippines volunteers?
Joining the Peace Corps is the best decision I’ve ever made. The Philippines is a beautiful country, and I’m constantly finding myself in “pinch me” moments. There are dull days, for sure, but then I think—how wonderfully absurd that I can find this dull, that I’ve become so accustomed to life here, that this place has become a home. And there I am, in yet another “pinch me” moment.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Jared’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.
