Peace Corps Evacuation

Hello everyone, 

This week has been non-stop because all Peace Corps countries are being evacuated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It looks like my Peace Corps service is coming to an abrupt end. Early Monday (3.16.20) morning, we got an email from our Country Director that Peace Corps Washington DC is ordering that all countries must evacuate their volunteers. As I am writing this concluding entry, I want to ensure you that I am safe in Washington D.C. and will be on a flight to Chicago tomorrow morning.  

Though they evacuated three countries in West Africa in 2014 because of Ebola, this is the first time in program history when everyone is being evacuated. Some countries were already in the process of evacuation before it came from Peace Corps Washington, but now it’s mandatory. 

The straw that broke the camel’s back was South Africa closing its borders. South Africa is where all volunteers in the continent would get sent to in medical emergencies. Since their borders are closed, we would have nowhere to go in case of an emergency, thus putting us in more danger. Out of the 7,000 volunteers serving world wide, 46% of us are in Africa. 

Rwanda also had its first confirmed case four days ago, on March 13, but it will spread very quickly despite the proactive measures the government has installed. From a public health perspective, COVID-19 will spread incredibly quickly in Rwanda because it’s the size of Rhode Island and has over 12 million people, making it the most densely populated country in Africa. The government understands this threat and has, quite literally, shut everything down within 24 hrs. All social gatherings were discouraged – no weddings, church, funerals, concerts, and schools were closed. Stores, restaurants, and markets have hand-washing stations in front of their entrances and a security guard who ensured that everyone used it. This all happened within 24 hrs of Rwanda confirming its first case. 

It’s quite shocking how differently the Rwandan people have been acting since the first confirmed case. Before March 13, everyone was very relaxed about COVID-19, but once we had our first confirmed case, everyone started to take it more seriously and began treating me differently.

To them, I am Chinese, while my American identity is secondary and my Korean one is invisible. The amount of staring, COVID-19 comments, and racism has skyrocketed. But it’s not only Asians, any “umuzungu” or foreigner is being accused of having the virus and spreading it. My friend, who is a white, blond haired, and  blue eyed male had an entire row on the bus to himself because nobody wanted to sit next to him. Any other time, people approach him and want to be his friend because he’s an American, but now people avoid him. 

Evacuation happened so quickly. 

There are 700 volunteers in Peace Corps Africa who needed to get home, which became increasingly more and more challenging as borders were closing and flights became more limited. As the situation became more dire, commercial flights were no longer an option and Peace Corps chartered flights for us. 

PC Rwanda was evacuated Friday night with a chartered plane, merely hours before the country shut its borders. We were “picked up” by PC Uganda, and together we went to get PC Malawi before going to Ethiopia. Addis Ababa was the meeting point for all of Peace Corps Africa to be evacuated to America. We arrived at ~5am and were on another chartered flight with PC Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Cameroon, Malawi, and Madagascar at 1a the next day/night. I have to say, it was fun meeting the other volunteers and exchanging stories about our countries. I wish It had been under different circumstances, but as we say in Rwanda, “bibaho” or “it happens.” 

The evacuation has been a very stressful time for everyone. We’d get emails notifying us if we’d be on a flight that day, be on standby, or wait another day to be evacuated. We were always on our toes, ready to move, and so caught up with the entire evacuation process that it never occurred to us that these would be our last moments together. With everything that’s been going on, it didn’t even occur to me that I’d have to say goodbye to everyone. My friends and I enjoyed one, final night together in DC before we all fly out to our respective homes in the morning. It’s sad that this is how our stories end.

With that, it looks like my Peace Corps service has come to its final moments. Thank you all for joining me on this adventure; it was a pleasure to share it with you. 

Evacuation Timeline

• 

Monday  – Email from our Country Director that we will be evacuating

Thursday – Left site 

Friday – Flight from Rwanda to Malawi to Ethiopia 

Saturday – Flight to DC from Ethiopia, refueled in Togo

Sunday – Arrival in DC

Monday – Fly home to Chicago