I've been trying to find some juicy Peace Corps statistics for a while now. There does not seem to be many sources of said statistics.
With that said, I have found a few interesting stats. Here they are, in no particular order:
Application Statistics (compiled from a variety of sources):
- The Peace Corps receives over 120,000 inquiries each year from people interested in applying.
- The Peace Corps receives approximately 11,000 applications each year.
- There are approximately 4,000 volunteer positions available each year (36%).
Electricity availability (from a 1997 survey)
- 50% of PCVs always had electricity
- 25% of PCVs lived with electricity sometimes
- 25% of PCVs lived with no electricity
Water availability (from a 1997 survey)
- 42% of PCVs had reliable sources of running water
- 30% of PCVs sometimes had running water
- 28% of PCVs had no running water
Email availability (from a 1997 survey)
- 7% of PCVs always had access to email
- 8% of PCVs sometimes had access to email
- 85% of PCVs never had access to email
Weight gain/loss
- Most men lost weight while serving
- Most women gained weight while serving (just a few pounds)
Sources
- "So You Wanna Join the Peace Corps..." by Dillon Banerjee
- The Princeton Review
- Adventure Divas
1 comment:
My PC assignment was in the Eastern Caribbean, back in 1998. I can remember not being happy with the foods at the time -- our training group even performed a fun skit/song with the chorus, "Dasheen, Rice and Beans!" Everything we ate was starch, starch starch: breadfruit, fried plantains, dasheen (taro), rice and peas, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, you name it. Even though I'm a vegetarian, I decided to include fish in my diet because otherwise my choices would be dismal. I ate fruit sometimes, vegetables almost never (in the Caribbean, "salad" means "cole slaw"). Nevertheless, and this might come as a surprise to hardcore Atkins-dieters, I lost TEN POUNDS IN ONE MONTH. Granted, I was walking daily in blistering heat and exerting myself physically and mentally more than usual. But still. Ten pounds?
To the previous poster, most of the others I was with also lost weight. Maybe you gain some back once training is over and you settle into a home. I dunno -- I never made it that far. But certainly Peace Corps life isn't as cushy as American life. No cars, no malls, just hot crowded buses and markets. You should be okay.
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