Peace Corps: Reality TV

In a recent article from the Peace Corps Times (Peace Corps Headquarters newsletter), there was an interesting article debating how Peace Corps should celebrate its 50th anniversary. Someone had written to headquarters proposing a reality tv show featuring peace corps volunteers. I had always thought a service oriented reality show would be cool. I found the explanation in which the author compares peace corps to reality shows interesting and entertaining, so I thought I´d share parts of the article in my blog.
From the article: “What better way to show the many benefits of serving in the Peace Corps then producing a Peace Corps reality series? Perhaps we could call it Pacific Shores or simply retain the titles Surreal Life or Survivor since volunteers are able to identify with either in some way… Survivor, one of the most popular reality series of all time, actually has nothing on our volunteers. After all, its stars have a network of fellow Americans within close confines who are only asked to live in an unfamiliar environment for a month or so. Some of our volunteers have to travel a day to visit someone else who speaks English and find themselves in another country for over two years. However, after the first few weeks they realize it’s not about being a survivor, it’s about being a contributor.”
In then continues: “[volunteers] have all made it through the casting call, which could be compared to those frustrating months of waiting to hear if you had been accepted to the Peace Corps. [they] then followed that by being an Apprentice during training, and then, in many cases, became an American Idol in their communities.”
“Despite what we have been led to believe by the Biggest Loser, losing weight does not make you a better person. It just makes you a thinner person. So why not devote yourself to good works for a year? Take a trip to Haiti or Sudan, or join the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity. You could help those in need, encourage others, and lose weight all at the same time- you would be amazed how a little hard work, a lot of water, and monotonous diet of normal proportions can take off the weight”
“Regardless of the title, each volunteer can bask in the reality of everyday life that is so much better than any reality television show could be. After all the Peace Corps truly is the best reality series and we have the pleasure of living it every day.”
Since I have a new found addiction to reality tv shows, I found this article rather amusing and pretty accurate. I mean that long one year wait to get that letter saying ¨Welcome to the hardest job you will ever love¨ could very well be compared to a casting call, the only difference is you go in person instead of sending in a video of yourself. Training was its own apprentice filled with ciaos, uncertainty, awkward moments, being constantly judged and watched, having to fulfill certain tasks successfully each week, passing those final tests, and waiting passionately on edge to receive that second letter with your site information. Once in site American Idol is a good way to compare your situation. You live in what is called the fish bowl effect, you are the fish and everyone gets daily entertainment by watching your every move. As one volunteers homemade shirt said: ¨I was once famous… in Ecuador,¨ we are all these gringo idols in our little towns and usually accompanied by our 100 or so little friends. All Peace Corps volunteers at some point get sick, if not all the time, making losing weight an instant side effect of your circumstances. And in the end you have Survived it all, the roller coaster of living and working in a third world country for two years. Although I would say Survivor is the only none accurate comparison, and maybe that’s why it’s one of the few reality shows on the monthly burned disks I receive that I haven’t gotten into. Now, if Survivor were to drop these people in the slums of a major city in a third world country, with little directions, language training, or communication, I think that would be a real reality of survival.