In this interview, we hear from Joseph Bleyer. Joseph is working as a Peace Corps Youth Development volunteer in El Salvador. What Joseph 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. Joseph talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Joseph’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 a Youth Development volunteer in El Salvador?
Serving as a Youth Development Volunteer in El Salvador is a challenging but rewarding experience. We are the first volunteers in El Salvador since 2016 and have been tasked with setting up the program for future volunteers in the country. Early on, we were tasked with reaching out to the community and interviewing as many people as possible to ascertain what was needed and how we as Peace Corps Volunteers could help them accomplish those goals.
My site partner, Nicole, and I then brainstormed different ideas that could help us work through the challenges placed before us by our community members. Since then, we have worked through each of these ideas with our community members to figure out which were feasible and which would have to be put on the back burner for another time.
At the moment, our work is quite simple. 4 times a month, we visit each local school in the area and present an activity we call “English Day”. One of the things we noticed in our community was the desire for English education.
Nicole and I then brought our previous experiences from Colombia and Belize, respectively, to help create an activity that gave the students of these schools ways to practice their English in a fun environment, while also learning a little bit about the culture of the United States as well. We have striven to achieve this by including games around the vocabulary of the theme for the month. So far, we have had months based around Spring and Valentine’s Day.
On other days, we spend our time planning for these days while also tending to some of our other smaller projects and exploring other ways we can help the community.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose El Salvador?
I had a unique experience when joining the Peace Corps in El Salvador. I was coming to the end of my time serving as a volunteer in Belize, in the process of applying for the position of Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, when I heard of the opportunity to extend for a 3rd year in El Salvador. What intrigued me to apply was the opportunity to come in on the ground floor of a Peace Corps post. I also began learning Spanish in Belize and wanted to better my Spanish in a more immersive language environment, as most of my life in Belize was in English.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
Here in El Salvador, all volunteers are required to live with host families. In my house, I have my room. It is not the biggest room, but I have sufficient room for all of my stuff. My host family’s house is in a small town, we have access to everything we need, and we are a 43¢ bus ride from San Salvador for when we want to get to a bigger city. My town is well known for pupusas (a thick griddle cake or flatbread), the national dish of El Salvador, because of this, there are not many options for food outside of pupusas but a couple of restaurants have opened up in my time here.
In terms of food at home, it is a heavy rice and beans diet, with protein mostly coming from chicken or eggs. We don’t have a lot of vegetables, but that may just be the choice of my host family, as there is a local market in our town that sells many different types of fruits and vegetables.
Finally, regarding things around the community, we have two gyms, a pool, multiple basketball courts, and a small turf soccer field. Overall, I would consider our site a more urban site, and because of this, we have access to many things we need. My site is one of the bigger sites in El Salvador, and the site is the most urban of the sites.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
I don’t know if this necessarily counts as a memorable experience or interaction, but it does give me a little bit of a chuckle when I think about it. For the last month and a half, a man has been riding past me on a scooter. Every single time he passes, he yells out my name. The first couple of times I heard it, I was convinced I had heard him wrong, but now I am sure, as a couple of times I have looked and he was looking directly at me. The only problem is that I have no idea who this person is. This has really made me chuckle because it goes to show how much you may stand out sometimes. At the end of the day, he means no harm so I just think it is a funny story.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in El Salvador?
This is not as much of a challenge as it is a huge need of the community that may not necessarily fit under the parameters of Youth Development, especially if you do not have the correct work experience background. In our community, there is a huge demand for English language instruction. Luckily, my site partner, Nicole, had TEFL experience from her time in Colombia. Due to this, we were able to provide some help in this area, however, this can be a real challenge for someone who either doesn’t have a TEFL background or might wish to have projects that do not involve language instruction.
6. What challenges did you face while working on Youth Development projects?
Starting from scratch. The community we are working in has not had a Peace Corps Volunteer there since the early 2000s and the country itself has not had Peace Corps at all since 2016. This caused us to start on the ground floor. This caused some hiccups at the beginning, but at the same time allowed us to really work in a way that allowed us to be creative. It allowed us to define what a Peace Corps Volunteer was for our community. Although some early on thought we may be spies, we were able to quickly get over that. Through working with our community, we were able to get over the early hiccups and really hit the ground running here!
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
Our service is a little different than normal, we were brought as 3rd-year transfers to help build up the program for the first 2-year volunteers. Because of this, we don’t have traditional secondary projects. However, despite this, we do have some other projects besides our English Days.
Over the winter break for schools here in El Salvador, we held English classes for any kids in our community who wanted to continue their English practice. We held these classes in 2 locations to allow as many kids to attend as possible without having to worry as much about the distance to lessons.
We have also spent time trying to help increase tourism to the area. As our area is well-known in the country for itspupusas, the Ministry of Tourism has been trying to use this to drive up tourism. To help the local pupserias in our community prepare for an influx of new tourists, we have been holding English for restaurant classes for their workers so they can communicate with any tourists who may not be able to speak Spanish.
We have more activities planned for the future that we hope to implement, but these are the main other projects we are working on currently.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Youth Development volunteer in El Salvador?
Come in with an open mind. The culture is different, as in any Peace Corps country, communication may not happen at the same level as in the United States, however, people are very nice and welcoming. Be prepared to continue to push on things that are important to you, and sometimes you may have to send a 2nd or 3rd message to get a response. At the end of the day, service is what you make of it. It will not be easy, but that is the beauty of Peace Corps. You have the opportunity to learn about a new culture and make connections that will last for the rest of your life!
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
This question is a little harder for us, as we came as 3rd-year volunteers, so most of our training occurred in another country. However, much of what we learned in our previous service applied here. We learned to be adaptive, an important part of the Peace Corps is that things are not always going to go as planned and that is ok. As long as you can adapt, that is all that matters.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future El Salvador volunteers?
Depending on where you are in the country you may want to bring some warmer clothes. The farther inland you are it can get chilly sometimes due to altitude however close to the coast it is hot year round.
11. How has learning the language been?
I started learning Spanish during my service in Belize, however, I feel El Salvador has helped me. It has put me in an environment where I live in Spanish. Future volunteers will experience this as well.
Final Thoughts
Joseph’s story offers a good picture of what it’s like to be a Youth Development volunteer in El Salvador. From building new programs to leading fun, student-centered English days, his service shows the creativity and flexibility this role often demands. His daily life, complete with host family routines and the occasional mystery scooter encounter, brings to life the small, human moments that shape a Peace Corps experience. For anyone thinking about applying, Joseph’s insights show that Peace Corps service is not only about projects—it’s also about learning, adapting, and finding your place in a new community.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Joseph’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 El Salvador Government.
