VAC and Waterfall

Written on 9/19/09

So, the last few days have been great! I had an awesome English club and my first English class went really well. Then it just got better…

On Wednesday night I found out the in every Peace Corps country there is a Volunteer Action Committee (VAC). The VAC is made up of 10-12 current volunteers serving in country and its purpose (as I understand it) is to allow volunteers to have a voice, address concerns to PC (Peace Corps) staff, and try to influence country PC policies. Well, the Kaz 21s we were told that we needed to have an election to add 4 more members to the VAC. The elections were to be held on Friday. Before the election we had to pick nominees. There are 6 training groups divided into 5 villages. Nominations were organized by village and assignments, i.e. Education volunteers had to run against each other, and OCAP volunteers had to run against each other to unsure that both groups had representation. So my village had to nominate one person from Education and one from OCAP (since we have both here). After each village completes their nominations, all 6 nominees have to compete for 4 vacant spots.

When I initially learned about this, my interest was sparked for a second, but then subsided a little because I wasn’t sure if I would be elected, and the information I received about the VAC was brief and unclear. So I just put in the back of my mind and decided not to run. 

The next day (Thursday), even though I tried not to, I kept thinking about it. I really can’t explain why (well, there is always the GOD factor ). Anyway, I guess at first I thought that I couldn’t get it off my mind because I wanted more clarity, just in case this committee was going to impact my service in any way. So I called Kyle (a Kaz 20 who lives in my village) to ask him for more info about it. It turned out that Kyle was actually on the VAC! The more he told be about the responsibilities of the VAC and the benefits of being on it, the more I realized that I really wanted to be a member. (Thanks as usual Kyle!) But…

After that self-revelation, I remembered that, earlier when I was talking with a few people in my village, most people had already decided that they were going to vote for someone else. So at that point I was a bit discouraged. I knew that I wanted the position, however I hadn’t told anyone so I wasn’t being considered, and worse yet it seemed the nomination was already decided before I had a chance to say anything. And the last thing I wanted to do was run for something, when I knew that I was going to lose. But for some reason…I couldn’t let it go. I really wanted to be on the VAC, and I had no idea what to do.

So…I prayed about it.

After prayer, honestly, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I felt peace that it was meant to be, then it will be.

So the next day (Friday) was Election Day. Our village (education group, only 15 people) met @ 8am to make our nomination and then @ 8:30 would be the elections. I was so nervous because at the point I still wasn’t sure if I was going to run. 

At 8am the call was made for anyone who wanted to be nominated to raise their hand.

And I did…(don’t ask my how or why, I didn’t think, I just did)

But so did the other person that everyone said they were going to vote for yesterday…

Next came the speeches…it was just the two of us

he other person went first…

Then it was my turn…I was sooo nervous, but I did my best to sell myself.

Then came the secret ballot.

And the nominee was…….ME!!!!!! I was soooo surprised.

So I made it past the first round. Now I had to compete against the other villages for a spot. Remember, there were 6 of us and only 4 could be elected, so my chances weren’t that bad. (And actually of that six, two of them weren’t competing bc they were OCAP and they are required to have representation…so it was really 4 of us competing for the 2 leftover spots)

Each of us had to do a short speech as to why we should be elected in front of the entire Kaz 21 class (65 people). So they started from left to right and I was last. The speeches were really good. And to be honest, I hadn’t even thought of what I was going to say. I just said a little prayer and reverted back to my public speaking mindset that I acquired from 5 years of Campus Recruiting @ Credit Suisse, and spoke from the heart. My speech went well…

Then came the secret ballot…

Then, 3 hours later (we had workshops), came the results…

I MADE IT!!!! I WAS ELECTED TO THE VAC!!!

I couldn’t believe it. A few hours before I was wrestling with the thought of running, and now I was actually elected!

After I was elected, so many people came up to congratulate me and they told me that they were really impressed with my speech. I felt like telling them, that it wasn’t me at all, but GOD gets all the praise!!! (But I didn’t, only a few people would understand)

I’m so grateful. I’m so excited. And I’m still in awe at how great my GOD is. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

After elections, the group hopped on a few busses and drove to mountains to hike and see the waterfall. It was absolutely amazing! I had a great time! And throughout the whole trip I kept receiving congrats and well wishes. I took some great photos and had great convos with everyone.

When we got back to our village, Roshon and Charile suggested we get a bottle of wine, have a drink, and look @ the sun set over the Kazakhstan steppe. We stayed out there for about an hour and then went home. Thanks Roshon and Charlie for always being so chill! Luv you guys! Today was one of my highest moments in Kazakhstan thus far. It’s really true when they say that you will have your lowest lows and highest highs during your Peace Corps service. Today was truly a great day. Thank you GOD!

Be Blessed

Erica