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Bailey & Michael became friends in High School and remained close throughout college. Their friendship was solidified for the rest of their lives when Bailey came to visit Michael during his Peace Corps service in Madagascar. Since then, the two have been on several worldly expeditions together, and hope to remain travel buddies for many more adventures to come.
About Bailey
Hiya! My name is Bailey and I'm a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Fiji. I served in Vadravadra, a rural remote coastal village on the island of Gau, from '18-'20. My time in Peace Corps was spent at the community school, Narocake District School, working with the village Youth Group, and just living my best life (or at least trying to).
My PC house and I are featured to the right. The only living space on the ground was my bathroom and shower, positioned right below the deck. Upstairs was the rest of my home which was furnished with a functioning kitchen sink, counter space for my cook stove, a bed in a separated bedroom, a desk & chair, a giant woven mat for my floor, and an incredibly comfortable plush chair. My deck even had a small couch for enjoying the outdoors.
My two favorite PC accomplishments are the GGLOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World) camp I co-hosted with other PCVs at the island's secondary school, and the Primary School Art & Science program I co-created and received funding for with a local primary school teacher.
Since returning home from service I've been excited to start a PC packing list & stories blog to share tips and insights to future PCVs, so thank you for being here!
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About Michael
Heyo! My name is Michael and I'm a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Madagascar. Andranovorivato, a small Betsileo town in the Southern Highlands, is where I served from '16-'18. I was a health volunteer that supported with senzitization campaigns, but thanks to my host dad Remi (Directer of the Elementary School) a lot of my service revolved around the school and youth development.
As far as volunteers in Madagascar, I was lucky to have weather-dependent electricity in my home and running water about a 1/4 mile away. In town, we had water runners who you would pay per gerrycan of water. I tried once.... LOL. I wasn't strong enough and really appreciated the water runners on a new level.
I lived in a brick home that used to be an extra office at the school. It had my bed in one corner, a dresser in the second, my dining room table and water filter in the third, and my kitchen and gas tank run stove top in the fourth corner. A single room, I spent a lot of my time outside on my porch steps which opened up into the elementary school playground. I was always surrounded by kids and it was KEY to integrating into my community.
My favorite PC accomplishment is the Community Led Total Sanitation program that my town implemented alongside the local non-profit Ny Taninsika. The local community health volunteers from each community went through a three day training on how to teach about sanitation and proper latrine building. With this new knowledge, they started to lead workshops in their communities and encouraged the collaborative building of 500+ new latrines using sustainable local resources!
Since returning home from service, I have been working with a non-profit for the past 5 years and continuing to work with youth leadership development across the Americas. Huge shout out to Baily for starting this blog, and excited to share some insights :)
Contact Us
Are you a current or returned PCV and would like to have a story featured on our blog? Contact us below and we will be in touch!
PC Packing Lux Item
Are you a current or returned Peace Corps Volunteer with a "luxury" item you packed and valued during your service? Do you want to share this item with others and be featured in a blog post? Then fill out the below!
