The Peace Corps

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The Peace Corps

The Peace Corps was established on March 1st,
1961 by President John F. Kennedy. Over 161,000
volunteers have served in 134 countries in the 40
years since JFK created this remarkable
government- sponsored organization.
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Peace Corps Mission

• To help the people of interested countries in
  meeting their need for trained men and women.
• To help promote a better understanding of
  Americans on the part of the peoples served.
• To help promote a better understanding of other
  peoples on the part of Americans.

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Guinea

• A Peace Corps Journey to this West-African Country

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Guinea Economy

• Despite mineral wealth, Guinea is one of the
  poorest countries in the world.
• Leading crops are coffee, bananas, palm kernels,
  and pineapples.
• There are rich deposits of iron ore, gold, and
  diamonds, but Guineas underdeveloped
  infrastructure has not supported
  industrialization.

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Guinea Geography

• Guinea has four geographical regions
• Coastal region, where the capital lies on a
  peninsula
• Highland region of hills in the northwest
• Dry lowlands in the north
• Hilly, forested areas in the east
• The capital receives up to 13 feet of rainfall a
  year, but the rest of the country receives
  significantly less than that.

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Guinea Colonialism

• France colonized Guinea from the mid-19th century
  to the mid-20th century.
• Guinea became independent in 1958.
• Although French is the most common language,
  native languages Malinke, Fula, and Susu are also
  widely spoken.

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The Meaning of Time

• In The Meaning of Time, author Kimberly Ross
  Camara describes five important cultural traits
  that are true of life in Guinea.
• Reread the text and try to find these five
  important cultural traits.

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Guinea Important Cultural Traits (1)

• Greetings cannot be hurried social obligations
  are most important.
• Punctuality is not important.
• What happens in every day life is beyond the
  control of an individual person.
• Climate, in the form of extreme heat or heavy
  rain, often affects peoples routines.
• People have to be highly resourceful in
  practical, everyday matters.

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1. Greetings cannot be hurried social
obligations are most important.

• Is there anything like this strict greeting
  protocol in our culture? (2)
• Physical greetings Handshakes, hugs, high-fives,
  etc.
• Verbal greetings
• Hows it goin?
• How are you doin?
• Wassup?
• What are some questions people ask each other
  during greetings to which they do not expect to
  get either a full or even true answer?

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1. Greetings cannot be hurried social
obligations are most important.

• How are greetings in Guinea similar to those in
  the United States? (3)
• In what ways are they different? (4)
• What might account for these differences? (5)
• What cultural function do you think greeting
  protocols serve?

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2. Punctuality is not important.

• Camara illustrated this trait best when she
  reported that being on time was actually being
  earlyand that everyone else, who she thought was
  late, was on time.

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3. What happens in every day life is beyond the
control of an individual person.

• How was this trait shown in the story?
• What does inshallah mean? How is it used in
  Guinea? (6)
• Inshallah, meaning God willing in Arabic,
  defers responsibility for things to Allah. Allah
  is the Muslim name for God.

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4. Climate, in the form of extreme heat or heavy
rain, often affects peoples routines.

• In what way did author find climate affecting
  peoples routines?
• Does climate affect culture in the U.S. in
  similar ways? Why or why not? (7)

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5. People have to be highly resourceful in
practical, everyday matters.

• How was this trait shown in the story?
• Why do you think this is often necessary in
  Guinea? (8)

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Two More Traits

• Camara, in confronting these different cultural
  traits, concluded that she needed two specific
  traits of her own to adapt to life in Guinea.
• What were these two traits? (9)

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Patience and Tolerance

• Patience and tolerance are probably the two
  traits most widely exercised by Peace Corps
  Volunteers in adjusting to life in their host
  cultures.
• How are patience and tolerance useful in your own
  lives and our own communities? (10)

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Time

• How do people in different cultures view time
  differently?
• What can we learn from the way people in other
  cultures view and spend time?

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Monochronic vs. Polychronic Time
Monochronic Time
Polychronic Time

• Monochronic can be divided into mono (one) and
  chronic (time).
• In monochronic cultures, punctuality is valued
  because time is observed in just one way.
• Polychronic can be divided into poly (many) and
  chronic (time).
• In polychronic cultures, punctuality is not
  important because time is viewed in many
  different ways.

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Monochronic Time

• Time is a fixed commodity, and people are
  clock-driven.
• Often, the needs of people and relationships are
  secondary to the demands of timeschedules,
  deadlines, punctuality.
• Schedules are considered important, being late is
  viewed as rude or discourteous, and interruptions
  are annoying.
• Individuals in these cultures believe that a
  limited amount of time is available. They are
  often more task-oriented and value getting the
  job done quickly and efficiently over taking
  time to smell the roses.

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Polychronic Time

• Time is not a fixed commodity. It is fluid and
  can be adjusted to suit the needs of people.
• Plans frequently change, and being made to wait
  is viewed as normal its even expected.
• Individuals act as if more time is always
  available they are never too busy to stop what
  they are doing to talk with, greet, or help
  people.
• Individuals value establishing and maintaining
  personal and social relationships above being on
  time.

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Monochronic vs. Polychronic Time
Monochronic Time
Polychronic Time

• Where would the U.S. fall on this continuum?
  Guinea?
• Do you know of other cultures that might be
  similar to the U.S.? Guinea?
• Where would you fall on the continuum? Explain.
  Provide at least one example. (11)

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Guinea and Time

• Why is time viewed one way in Guinea and another
  in the United States? (12)
• How do you think these differences may have come
  to be? (13)