Peace Corps Host Family – David Hernandez, Ecuador 2013-15

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My Peace Corps Story

121 episodes

9 months ago

Since the establishment of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, more than 230,000 Americans have served 141 countries. The My Peace Corps Story Podcast aims to tell some of the many diverse and rich stories of volunteers, in their own words. This podcast will create an oral history of the varied experiences had by generations of Americans when they devoted two or more years of their life to national service abroad.

While often cited as a positive, life-changing experience, service in the Peace Corps is not easy. This show strives to portray Peace Corps service as it is, both the good and the bad. The host of the show, Tyler Lloyd, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and would “gladly and proudly do it all again.” The difficulties and risks of serving abroad, however, should not be understated or taken lightly.

The My Peace Corps Story Podcast will captivate you with the personal stories of Americans working and living abroad. Each episode, we explore the cultures, communities, and people that make the Peace Corps an unparalleled experience, filled with stories worth telling.

Every volunteer has a story. What’s yours?

All content for My Peace Corps Story is the property of My Peace Corps Story and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

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Peace Corps Host Family – David Hernandez, Ecuador 2013-15

My Peace Corps Story

46 minutes 40 seconds

6 years ago

Peace Corps Host Family – David Hernandez, Ecuador 2013-15

Photos from David’s Service
David Hernandez’s Peace Corps Story
Where and when did you serve? What did you do?
I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 2013-2015. I worked as an Environmental Education/Business volunteer. This sector had me doing many different activities such: recycled art workshops, teaching environmental awareness classes, and best business practices on-site training to name a few. The highlight being that my counterpart and I applied for a grant to fund a museum at the local nature park, received the funding, and created the space.
What is one of your favorite Peace Corps memories?
One of my favorite Peace Corps memories is a series of home videos my host brothers and I created doing different activities to keep us entertained from the summer boredom. We did a monsters series including recreating Bigfoot, a UFO landing, we were supposed to do a Lochness Monster reenactment at the local natural springs, but ran out of time and creative energy. We also did a family, or brothers, Olympics.
What is one of your least favorite Peace Corps memories?
My least favorite Peace Corps memory is the time during tech week, when we visited potential sites and learned about the current jobs at those sites, that my fellow aspiring PCVs and I were robbed. It was around a couple of weeks prior to swearing in as PCVs, so being that it was so early it was a little frightening.
What do you miss about Peace Corps?
I miss my host families. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my counterpart (who also happened to be part of the family) and enjoyed the projects I worked on, but nothing comes close to the friends and family I had then and that I have now. I have been fortunate enough to go back and visit three times since my C.O.S. They cannot get rid of me!
What is something you learned in the Peace Corps?
Always make the best with what you have and spend your time with those you care about.
Do you have a favorite quote or local saying that you’d like to share?
My favorite local saying is, “¡qué iras!” which means, what anger or what fury. It is used mostly when something is frustrating, annoying, or that makes you angry. I still catch myself using it here in the U.S. It’s so easy to say and very applicable in your everyday life.

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