In this interview, we hear from Thomas Roberts. Thomas is working as a Peace Corps Health volunteer in Peru. What Thomas 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. Thomas talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Thomas’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Tell us more about serving as an Health volunteer in Peru
Hi there! I’m a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Facilitator in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru. In my day-to-day, I work with the local government, the health post, rural water and sanitation committees, and schools to promote the provision of safe, reliable drinking water services.
I also do community outreach activities related to safe hygiene and sanitation practices and teach environmental science classes in the schools in and around my site. I do these activities with the goal of improving community access to and use of safe, reliable drinking water and sanitation services.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Peru?
I’ve wanted to join the Peace Corps since I was in middle school. I first heard about the organization through my sister’s college friend, who served in Vanuatu, and thought it would be a neat experience. I went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and got a B.A. in Economics, B.S. in Civil Engineering, and M.S. in Environmental Engineering. I had originally applied to a WASH position in Panama that was set to depart in 2021 after I graduated from undergrad, but the COVID pandemic prevented that from happening.
During and after grad school, I worked on water and sanitation projects throughout the U.S. Northeast, coastal Alaska, and Nairobi, Kenya. Applying to the Peace Corps seemed like a logical next step for me since I wanted to use my experience in a way that would help others while I gained experience working in international development. I also really wanted to learn Spanish, and I thought the program in Peru seemed neat.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
My site is rural, located about an hour and a half outside of the regional capital of Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru. My town has a population of about 500 people and is located on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains, right where the landscape turns into the Amazon Rainforest.
I go running a couple of times a week and play lots of volleyball with friends from town. The elevation is about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), and daytime temperatures hover around 65-70 degrees. At night, it gets to around 40 degrees.
My house is made of brick and reinforced concrete with no insulation, so it can get pretty chilly at night. I usually spend my evenings in the kitchen since it’s usually the warmest part of the house!
Volunteers in Peru are required to live with a host family during pre-service training and for the entire two years of service. My host family is fantastic. I live with a couple in their 40s, and I really enjoy spending time with them. My host mom owns a small restaurant, so I get to meet people from all over town when they come to eat here. My host mom is a fantastic cook, and I get to enjoy all sorts of typical Peruvian foods, such as ceviche, lomo saltado, or chicharrón, cooked over a traditional open fire called a tuchpa.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
One of my most memorable experiences was when my host family threw a surprise birthday party for me. By this time, I had been at site for about 7 months, I was missing my family and friends back home, and I wasn’t even sure if my host family had remembered it was my birthday.
That afternoon, I walked downstairs from my room and found the whole (extended) family decorating the restaurant with balloons and streamers. We enjoyed cake and wine, and my host mom made potato and cheese pierogi, my favorite Polish dumplings I had taught her how to make a couple of months earlier. I felt very loved in that moment, and I know that day will stick with me for a while.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in Peru?
Hmmm… a lot of things have surprised me about Peru, and truthfully, I’m still surprised every day, even after having been here over a year. There are some good surprises (the national bus system is impressive, Peruvians are some of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever met, delicious food, etc.) and some not-so-great surprises, such as the way people treat their pets.
One of the biggest challenges that surprised me, though, is with regard to food. Folks here eat a LOT of carbs. Sometimes, my entire meal is a plate of carbs. Just the other day, my dinner was a plate of boiled potatoes, rice, cassava, French fries, and a slice of bread, served with a spicy sauce called ají. It was delicious, but I wish I had something a little more substantial, and I never feel great after eating a meal like that. Most of the time, though, the food is delicious. Just culturally here, it’s totally acceptable to eat a plate of carbs!
6. What challenges did you face while working on Health projects?
As a WASH Volunteer, I work with water committees to encourage proper drinking water chlorination in rural areas so that the water is safe to drink by the time it arrives at people’s homes. One water system I work with does not currently chlorinate its drinking water due to preconceived notions about the dangers of chlorine and taste and odor concerns. And honestly, I get it. It’s a big request to ask a community to start chlorinating their water system when they have this idea that it’s dangerous.
My biggest challenge is convincing folks in town that adding small amounts of chlorine to their drinking water is perfectly healthy and will improve its safety. I’m still overcoming this challenge, but I’ve started integrating water chlorination and diarrheal disease lessons into my classes at that village’s school. Soon, we’re going to clean and disinfect the town’s drinking water tank, and I think the next step will be slowly introducing the idea of chlorinating in very small doses, gradually building up to the appropriate dosage. I guess we’ll see how that goes!
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
Secondary projects are one of my favorite parts of Peace Corps service. The project I’m proudest of is probably organizing my town’s first-ever vacaciones útiles, or summer enrichment program for students during their school break. To do this, I developed a 6-week curriculum that included English classes, geography lessons, music lessons, science classes, and a chess club using donated chess boards. It was a blast.
Besides organizing that summer program, I also teach English in the schools and lead an adult English club, and I’m pretty involved in my town’s church. I’m also connected with a few classrooms in the U.S. through the Reach the World program and the Global Connections program through the Peace Corps. I talk to K-12 classes about my experiences in Peru, sometimes with a focus on Spanish-language learning or water and sanitation. It’s a neat opportunity, and I recommend any Peace Corps Volunteer take advantage of these programs.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Health volunteer in Peru?
My advice is to go for it! For a little background, there are two separate health programs in Perú: you could serve as a Community Health Facilitator or a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Facilitator. Both programs have fantastic staff that will make you feel well-supported, and the work you do is very fulfilling with a tangible impact. A day scrubbing the walls of a drinking water reservoir or hiking 15 miles to the water source will really give you a sense of accomplishment you might not see or feel working in other sectors.
Health Volunteers in Peru also tend to be placed in more rural sites with beautiful mountain landscapes. I never get sick of the views from my site. So, I suppose my advice for applicants is to go for it and keep an open mind. When I thought about what my service would be like before applying, I never in a million years expected it to look like this. And that’s ok!
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
I was very impressed with the quality of Peace Corps training. Volunteers in Peru complete 11 weeks of safety and security, medical, language and cultural, and technical Pre-Service Training. The staff is excellent, and they do a great job of preparing trainees for their work in the field. I also thought In-Service Training was well done.
One thing I really appreciate about the Peace Corps Peru training program (and perhaps it’s this way in other countries, too) is that Volunteers bring a work counterpart from their communities to the workshops. One of my favorite memories from these trainings is showing the president of my town’s water committee how to put together a chlorination system in the mountains of Ancash, and that would not have been possible without the Peace Corps organizing that training session.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Peru volunteers?
Oh, this is a good question. I 100% recommend you pack an e-Reader, such as a Nook or Kindle. I use mine religiously, and I wasn’t a huge reader before coming to Peru.
11. How has learning the language been?
Learning Spanish has been a gratifying part of my service. All Volunteers in Peru are required to learn Spanish, and some volunteers are additionally required to learn Quechua (the Inca language), depending on where in Peru they’re placed. Trainees are required to reach a Spanish level of Intermediate-Mid by the time they swear in.
The ability to speak Spanish is super important in Peru (there’s very low English proficiency, especially in rural areas) so I highly recommend prospective volunteers get a head start before staging. That might mean taking a college class, hiring an online tutor, watching a Spanish-language TV series, or using a language-learning app such as Duolingo or Babbel. Quechua, although it’s important in many regions of Peru, is primarily used by volunteers for simple conversations and greetings, while everyday work is typically handled in Spanish.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
12. How do you think your blog contributes to your overall mission as a Peace Corps volunteer?
I love keeping my blog. I originally started it to update family and friends back home about my Peace Corps service, but it quickly became something more personal. Now, instead of just sharing updates, I’ve started including some more reflections on my service, lessons learned, and memories I’ll want to come back to after I return to the U.S. I know in 10 or 15 years, I’m going to read through my blog and look back on my service fondly.
🌍 Meet Tom: Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru Working on WASH Projects = From researching water quality at UMass to improving sanitation access in rural Peru, Tom brings deep technical knowledge to hands-on community work. Read about his service, projects, and journey from the lab to the field. 🔗 Read the blog
13. Any last comments or observations you’d like to pass on to future Peru volunteers?
The most meaningful part of my experience has been, without a doubt, the people I’ve met here – not just my host family, counterparts, or other Peruvians I’ve met, but also the Peace Corps staff and other Volunteers. I cannot put into words the impact that all these people have had on my experience. I have made relationships that will last well beyond the 2 years of my service.
And my other piece of advice: don’t worry too much about what your service might look like. Each PCV has their own experience, and your service will probably not be like mine or anyone else’s story you read online. Abandon your expectations of what your service “should” be like and embrace the uncertainty of what it can become.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Thomas’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 Peru Government.
