Before returning to Nepal I took advantage of my brief time in America to have a few adventures, one of which was that Congressional Inquiry I mentioned…
“Now, why would a Congressional Inquiry be called on my behalf?” you may ask…
Well, it depends upon who you ask.
If you ask me – or if you reference the 50+ page report I submitted to Congress – it was because of some problems and question marks within the US Peace Corps office. While nothing resulted in a completely “black and white” response from the Inquiry, it was interesting that several staff at the Peace Corps office that were named in that report just happened to “resign” on the exact same day that the 3 Congressmen arrived in Nepal for the investigation. What are the odds?
Take it however you want. It may have just been a tremendous coincidence.
Although I was invited to testify before Congress, I decided at that time to use the limited funds I had to fly back to Nepal to focus on the community projects I was involved in. Once again, I wanted to focus my energies on the positive, while still bringing to light the realities and truth of various experiences. So, I submitted a 50+ page report, and also spoke with some of the Senator’s aides who were crafting the new legislature to apply to Peace Corps activities. One of my suggestions was the creation of an Ombudsman’s office to represent Peace Corps Volunteers when things go wrong, be it security, assaults, medical mistakes, corruption, whatever. Not that any of those could occur at Peace Corps, right?
(Here’s a link to a recent Congressional Hearing on these very issues)
While there were several important aspects to the Congressional Inquiry, one specific aspect still affects me to this day. In fact, as I type this up on a sunny Colorado afternoon, I am dealing with its impact on my life, right now, and will be dealing with it the rest of my life:
Waking up in pain on a surgery table in Bangkok sounds like the opening scene to a Stephen King novel, but that’s how this new chapter of my life began on that day, as a US Peace Corps Volunteer…
