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volunteers work to help Bulgarian youths learn life skills.
Even so, English-language instruction remains a key part of our programs. Our
volunteers who are focused on youth and community assistance also actively help
community members improve their English-language skills.”
    The woman proudly describing the Peace
Corps program in Bulgaria and its accomplishments was Gloria Peters, the
organization’s program and training officer responsible for the Vratsa
operations. Peters, a veteran Peace Corps staffer was originally from New
Mexico , and she had previously served in
Honduras. Having been appointed to lead the training staff in Vratsa six months
before Simon’s arrival, she hadn’t personally known Scott.
    The Peace Corps position Peters was now
filling had a five-year limit, intended to keep the program’s workplace vibrant
and fresh. Peters said that she deeply missed her family and friends back in
the United States, but her work with the residents of other countries—teaching
them the English language and American values—was so rewarding that she would have
difficulties going back to live in the States when her term ended.
    “And I’ve developed a personal
connection to Bulgaria as well,” she informed Simon and Sophia, who sat across
the table from her in the small lounge. She mentioned briefly that she had a
Bulgarian boyfriend, and they were planning to get married.
    Peters was a friendly woman in her
mid-thirties with a pleasant face and a long braid of prematurely gray hair.
She was very eager to describe the training program and the service the
volunteers did once they had been officially sworn into the Peace Corps.
    “We call their initial period with us
pre-service training, or PST. PST lasts about eleven weeks, with much of the
time devoted to Bulgarian language and culture. We also train our personnel in
the technical skills they need to fulfill their assignments. The TEFL volunteers—that’s Teaching English as a Foreign
Language—receive training in teaching methodology. They are actually training
to become teachers and must know how to manage the classroom environment. We
have youth-development volunteers, who learn how to work with at-risk youth.
They get practical skills, learning how to develop short camping sessions and
after-school programs for youth. And our community-development volunteers learn
to manage projects, write grant requests, and organize grassroots community
initiatives.
    “Our volunteers work within the
Bulgarian school system, many of them team-teaching with Bulgarian teachers,”
she explained. “This helps the teachers improve their English competence and
learn new language-enrichment activities, both formal and informal. And of
course, our volunteers work directly with the students themselves, teaching
English through various hands-on projects such as school renovations,
English-language summer camps, after-school language workshops, and community
or sports activities. The volunteers also help run camps for Roma and other
minority children, and help girls and boys develop leadership skills.”
    “Roma?” Simon asked, not familiar with that term.
    “The Roma are an ethnic group spread all
over Europe,” Sophia volunteered.
    “They’re commonly known as gypsies, but
that’s a bit misleading,” Peters continued. “Let’s just say that they’re a
minority group here in Bulgaria, one that needs our special attention.”
    “Everything you’ve said is quite
impressive,” Simon admitted. “What I would like to know are details about my
grandson’s time working with the Peace Corps. Would he have selected Bulgaria
on his own?”
    “Many of our candidates submit a
preference, suggesting a country or a part of the world where they would prefer
to work. But the Peace Corps doesn’t guarantee anything. We send our volunteers
where they are needed the most. Do you know the history of the Peace Corps?”
    Without waiting for a reply, Peters told
Simon that,