Safety and Security & Cross Cultural Training Intern

Last year marked the first year that PC/Cambodia had a PCV intern for PST (K4 PST). There were two interns (out-going K2 PCVs). One was the Safety and Security & Cross Cultural (SSCC) Training Intern while the other was the English Teacher and Teacher Training (ETTT) Training Intern. This year, there is one additional intern: Community Health Education (CHE), as the K4 group marked the first year of full-fledged health volunteers. I was selected to be the SSCC Training Intern

What is this position, you might inquire?

During PST, there are a myriad of sessions (there’s that word, “myriad” again) that focus on the cultural norms of Cambodia and how they differ from the United States, i.e. celebrations, clothing, gestures, body language, gifts, what it means to be alone in a room with a person of the opposite sex. That leads me to the second half of the job, Safety and Security, which focuses on what risks are feasible and which ones are not worth taking. When should you head back to your hotel in Phnom Penh? How many people should you be out with? How do you keep safe in your community? Who do you contact in order to make that happen? Should something actually happen to you, what’s the procedure? I’ll be leading sessions alongside our Safety and Security Officer and other Peace Corps staff. The position technically starts on July 7th when the ETTT and CHE interns move to Takeo Province (where training will be) to begin preparing for PST. There are a couple of meetings beforehand, but the Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) will arrive around July 25th, when I will intermittently be in and out of Takeo Province, where training will be held. I would guess that I will be there around 30% of the time. We’ll see how that actually ends up. Because of various (and deep) budget cuts, and my being a currently serving volunteer, my position will be part time. PST lasts from the end of July until the end of September.

Anyhow, I’m very, very excited to be a part of training and work alongside Kristin (CHE) and Greg (ETTT) and the K5 PCTs. I’m anticipating their arrival, and overall, it should be a really fun time.

Talk to you soon,

Garrett