PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

114volunteer in El Salvador, in her final blog posting wrote, “I told them that I was not goingto be leading a reforestation project with them [sic] part of me had already left and therest of me would be gone in two weeks. I was merely dropping this information in theirlap.... [sic] if they want things to change, they gotta do it themselves. I helped them toform a small group to lead the project. They have the resources to do it; it's just a matterof motivation and getting it done. 198Her last moments as a volunteer found her hopefulbut unsure if the host country nationals would embrace the project as their own.Similarly, Kristen, a teacher trainer in China told stories of an English Association shestarted at the University. She is the only native speaker in the school, and the group washer idea. Initially she had 150 members but after a few months, only 30 were showing upregularly. She began to realize that in order to have the English club continue, she wouldneed to train the members. She wrote, “I'm trying to come up with ways to help themdevelop a more sustainable program through their English Association. I'm thinking someofficer training, and maybe compiling a database of activities, information, topics, basicresources in order to make the weekly two hours most useful and fun for everyone.” 199Volunteers are troubled by the idea that after they leave, their projects will fail.Voluntarism has a personal element; if the idea fails, then the volunteer is a failure.The potential for failure causes great anxiety for volunteers. One volunteer felt asif her memory as a good volunteer would be lost if her project failed. Lindsey wrote,“The other day, I discovered that 4 were eaten [moringa trees], and I got really upset, Ithink because I am putting my legacy in the hands (or should I say branches) of thosetrees. So if they fail, what sustainable thing have I done here?” 200During Peace Corpstraining, the organization reinforces the importance of creating projects with the needs of