In this interview, we hear from Mark Leggiero. Mark is a Peace Corps volunteer working as a Education volunteer in Kenya. What Mark 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. Mark talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Mark’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 Kenya?
Being an Education volunteer in Kenya is hard work during the school year, but very fulfilling. For STEM Education PCVs in Kenya, our main role is teaching classes alongside local teachers. For me, working with and seeing students succeed or gain confidence in their abilities is rewarding. I am currently working with an NGO that has me stationed at a large-ish (1,200 students) secondary school, where students are aged 14-20, generally.
Given the structure of the school calendar, most days I am in school by 6:30 – 8 am. Afterward, I teach math and physics classes, and I’ll typically teach 3-5 classes per day.
My site is about a 10-minute walk from the school. This is actually my second site, as I was moved a few months ago due to security concerns, and they gave me a huge housing upgrade when I moved (typical PC Kenya sites don’t have hot showers, so I count myself very very lucky). When I’m off of work I might go to the market, or local library, or hang out with friends and coworkers. The nearest PCV is fairly close, about 10km, so we’re a 30-minute bike ride apart, although the next closest after that is an hour by car.
On weekends I might go to a local function, go into the nearest town to shop, or just hang around my site and work on personal projects.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Kenya?
I joined the Peace Corps pretty much right after I graduated college. My degree was in Mechanical Engineering, but in my later career, I was hoping to work on engineering projects focused on international development. Think of low-cost water filters, sanitation systems, etc.
I was fortunate to have really great mentors to talk to about this, and they all pointed me toward the Peace Corps. They would say something along the lines of: “If you don’t have any real experience being in a low-resource setting, you probably won’t be very effective in developing solutions for those communities.” Given that advice, the Peace Corps was a natural next step. I chose the option for Peace Corps to place me wherever I was needed most, and I was very happy when Kenya was the first country offered to me, so I went ahead with it.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation:
My first site was a nice little rural home, built to be only one room but before I moved in they added a small kitchen/bathroom extension. I had to fetch all of my water from a borehole pump, and when it occasionally broke I hauled it up from a nearby river. I had one outlet with semi-stable electricity, so I bought a small fridge as a luxury item and kept that next to my bed. The kitchen space was a small hallway-sized area and I used a gas burner to cook on. The adjoining bathroom sported a pour-flush pit latrine, which is a classier version of the pit latrine that doesn’t smell (when maintained).
I lived on the same compound as my host family, but they had a separate larger house for themselves. They would often invite me to eat dinner with them (local food – which is usually very lean and healthy), which I was always grateful for, as I quickly discovered how little energy I had to cook a decent meal for myself.
After a site change, my new house is, in a word, different. It has two bedrooms, a big living room, a full kitchen with a sink, a bathroom with a Western toilet, and even a hot shower. I believe this is supposed to be a Response PCV site, and I will only be located there for a few months until I COS. No complaints.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
Kenyan culture is very friendly to visitors – people really go out of their way here to make you feel welcome, and it’s a really heartwarming thing, so I felt comfortable really quickly. The kids I meet on my way to work or the market are the best interactions, generally. I’m a tall white guy, and the word for white people in Swahili is “mzungu,” which of course I am called many times daily, especially by small kids who are excited to see you.
My favorite greetings from kids have been when I’m biking into the market from my first site on a road that passes through a large valley, and small kids living within the valley try to greet me by screaming “MZUNGUUUUUU”. The only problem is, this is a big far-reaching valley with a ton of tree cover, and you never can pick out where they are, so it’s always a fun guessing game on where to wave back to. I probably look insane to them every time, waving in the air in likely no one’s direction.
Surprises and Challenges
In college, I was trying to set myself up for a very career-oriented, money-oriented lifestyle. God am I glad that I changed course – there is so much to learn from Peace Corps service, and I cannot recommend it enough for people.
5. What has surprised you most about Education challenges in Kenya?
Kenyan education is quite good, especially for the region, and even more so if you compare it to what an American might think Kenyan education is. A big challenge is that it is a tiered system and not friendly to financially struggling families.
Once you finish primary (elementary + middle) school, you take a nationally-recognized exam. The scores of this exam will then determine what level of secondary (high) school you can qualify to attend. The best schools are well-funded, well-staffed, and well-trained; they churn out world-class graduates. However, if you didn’t score well on that exam, or if you can’t pay the school fees (even if you qualify to attend), or if you’re stuck caring for your family on the farm, you might go to one of the small, rural schools. These small, less well-resourced schools are where Education PCVs are placed.
In secondary schools, all of the emphasis is put on passing a final nationalized exam at the end of your four years (called the KCSE). If you get a good score, you market this to a university, your job, your family, etc. This score is everything to your life – a good score will make a person successful in almost every part of their life. Unfortunately, getting a good KCSE score while in a small rural school is almost impossible.
So, going back to the beginning, if you don’t start performing well academically as a small child, you are basically set up for failure. It’s a big challenge that is institutionalized nationally, so as a PCV you can’t really touch it, other than making sure that your students are learning more, performing better, and staying healthy.
6. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
The secondary project I enjoyed the most was setting up and mentoring a small Science and Engineering Club at my school. We did small hands-on-projects, which was a first for this school; mostly little engineering challenges like model rockets, DIY wind turbines, etc. We took some of these projects and a few students and competed in the regional science fairs. Seeing the students light up talking about what they had accomplished and built was really fulfilling.
A larger project was a water tower for my school. The school only had access to water via a small manual borehole pump, so we upgraded it with a solar-powered pump and added raised storage tanks and distribution points. I went through PC’s USAID small project assistance grant process and the community contribution came from the local government. Almost everyone in the school and surrounding area contributed their small bit too, which was really encouraging. It was a fun thing to be involved in, although I probably get too much credit for it.
Advice and Support
7. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Education volunteer in Kenya?
Do it! I came from an engineering background, so being a volunteer teacher with the Peace Corps provided virtually no direct career benefit for me, and I feel that this was still the best decision I could have made. I have gained, learned, and grown so much while in Kenya, and I will leave Kenya a more fulfilled and complete person.
Also – one caveat I would add is that not every country is right for every person. Kenya is wonderful, but it is possible that you might operate better in a different post.
8. What skills or qualities do you think are most important?
Fortunately, skills can be developed in PST. I’ll give 3 qualities which I think are the most important:
- Patience. You will need an abundance of it, although I suspect this is needed for any PCV in any country. School days are long, school meetings take forever, and two years isn’t short. But, once you get through it all, it’ll be soworth it.
- A Continuously Open Mind. An open mind is good, although you’re going to meet people or situations that start to challenge you at your core. Continually opening up to whatever situation to turn it into a learning experience is important.
- Stubbornness (in Moderation). If you meet a PCV who says that they never once thought of ET’ing during service, they might be the first. Peace Corps service is not easy, so you have to stick to your pride in that you signed up for this and finish your term. Now, you can’t be stubborn about everything, flexibility is also important, and sometimes a site just isn’t a safe place, but you know what I mean.
9. How has the training helped you during your service?
Overall, I don’t have much to comment on my own training. My cohort was the first in the country after a 10-year absence, so every program and training has to be designed from the ground up. We were the guinea pigs, so training could be a bit ‘experimental’ at times. We are lucky to have a really solid Training Manager though.
If I could give advice, I’d say to try to use any training as a time to reflect and step outside of what has been right in front of you. Just asking “How are you doing now that we’re at IST/MST/COS?” may lead to people relaying and complaining about their service.
During training, it’s a good time to collectively reflect. Take a step back. Ask more about “Have we made an impact?” or “How can we better serve our communities?” or “What can I do to better integrate?” or “What am I going to do to maximize my last 20 months / 1 year / 3 months?”
Also – IST will be a different vibe from PST, MST will be different from IST, and COS different from MST. Cohort dynamics were a little tense during my PST, but by COS we were all friends. So if you’re feeling like things are bad during training, sessions aren’t helpful, people aren’t your friends, service is knocking you down, the situation will change.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Kenya volunteers?
I packed SO much stuff that I didn’t need. I did a bit of hiking back in the US, so I brought over way too many of my hiking supplies (water filters, hiking boots, sleeping bag, etc). It’s not that this was a total waste, as I’m sure I could have used most of what I brought at one time or the other, I just never needed to. I’ve sent back pretty much all of that stuff to the US since I’ve been here.
I am super glad I did bring enough quality leather shoes to Kenya. I wear a size 12, which is super hard to find in Kenya. As an Education volunteer teacher, we are expected to wear business casual most days, so bringing my own shoes to fit this standard was the right move, and I’ve used the same few pairs my whole service.
The one thing I wish I had brought was a ton of high-quality Duct Tape – it’s useful in the US, it’s useful in Kenya. They have Duct Tape here but it’s just not the same quality, so I wish I brought some.
11. How has learning the language been?
Education volunteers have a terrible habit of not using their Swahili, and I am no exception to this. Because we are expected to teach in English, I have definitely let my language learning go by the wayside, although I am not unhappy with my LPI scores. All in all – it’s been alright.
Final Thoughts
12. Any last recommendations you’d like to pass on?
Overall I’d just recommend that if someone is considering Peace Corps Kenya or Peace Corps service in general, go for it! In college, I was trying to set myself up for a very career-oriented, money-oriented lifestyle. God am I glad that I changed course – there is so much to learn from Peace Corps service, and I cannot recommend it enough for people. Expanding your mind, maturing your worldview, and helping out a community that is requesting you can never be a negative thing.
If you have pulled the trigger and are joining Peace Corps Kenya, I’d just recommend you start your service with a really open mind. You’ll be constantly learning and your situation constantly changing.
I was worried that I would be too bored and not have enough variety in my service. Between challenges at school, constant influxes, and outfluxes of community members, political protests, Peace Corps events and committees, etc, there is more than enough to keep me occupied.
And, because there is so much to do, see, and experience, don’t let yourself shy away and huddle up inside your home. Try to go out into the markets, take a seat, hang out with your new friends, and be ready for whatever experiences come your way – it’ll be great.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Mark’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 Kenya Government.
