March 2025 Round-Up

New Beginnings, Big Changes, and Bold Conversations

March has been a busy month for Peace Corps Colombia. In Atlántico, volunteers are finally starting school after Carnaval consumed the entire department for months. In La Guajira and Cesar, volunteers were evacuated due to ongoing violence in the nearby Catatumbo region and are now settling into their new sites in both the Coast and the Interior. In Bogotá, volunteers are convening this weekend for Festival Estéreo Picnic – an annual four-day music festival featuring the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes, Tool, and Rüfüs Du Sol. Finally, throughout Colombia, members of our newest cohort, CII-21, are starting at their schools and adjusting to the flexible Colombian school calendar (“Getting Used to Uncertainty”). Good luck with that!

Big changes are happening at OÍSTE too. We brought on seven new staff members from CII-21. They are smart, talented, and eager to make a mark on this publication and in their communities. Check out our About Page to meet them. With this latest cohort, we’re excited to increase our Costeño representation, which got down to one last year (Page, you continue to be a rockstar!). Expect more stories and content from life in la tierra caliente.

After President Trump’s executive order prohibiting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in federal workplaces, Peace Corps Colombia’s official DEI committee, Bridge Council, was forced to shut down (“What Even Was Bridge Council?”). However, as an independent publication written and run by volunteers, we are stepping in to fill that gap. OÍSTE is committed to covering DEI topics and providing a platform for volunteer voices. Last week, our first DEI roundtable opened the floor for volunteers to share their experiences and the unique – or not so unique – challenges they face as minorities serving in Colombia (“OÍSTE Roundtable: Volunteer Voices in the Absence of DEI”), bolstering a dialogue we are committed to continuing.

We at OÍSTE know our diversity is something to take pride in. Volunteers come to Colombia from all over the U.S. – packing with them our nation’s characteristically diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. When we land in Barranquilla, our only common trait is a commitment to service and a passion for cultural exchange. From there, we learn from each other, we support each other, and we grow together (“What’s the Best Piece of Advice You’ve Gotten From Another PCV?”). There is beauty and strength in that, and it will happen with or without official sanction.

We have a lot of wisdom for you on this edition of “No One Asked, We Answered!” Continuing with the theme of advice and tips for new PCVs, today we are talking about the most important lessons we learned from other volunteers. For more tidbits of knowledge and in-depth explanations from our writers, check out the full article here.

(Artwork/Annabel Hofmann)

Because the topic of DEI initiatives is so important and we didn’t want anyone to miss Shaleena, Matthew and Catherine’s extremely well-written articles, we have included them right here in this email.

What Even Was Bridge Council?

By Matthew Lemay and Catherine Martinez

Due to President Trump’s executive order banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in federal workplaces, Peace Corps Colombia’s Bridge Council disbanded last month.

If you’ve barely heard of Bridge Council, you’re not alone. If you know what we’re about, but not what we do, we understand. To many, it's mysterious, mentioned for ten minutes in PST and alluded to in the occasional staff email.

Bridge Council was created in 2023 to bring volunteers and staff together to design training and implement institutional reforms that address diverse volunteer backgrounds and interactions and promote cross-cultural communication across our organization and in our communities.The goal was to facilitate conversations across Peace Corps Colombia about how we support diversity, strive for equity, and foster environments where all people feel included.

Our core belief is that when individual differences are valued and everyone feels welcome and supported, we thrive as an organization. There’s so much to learn from one another. Volunteers come from so many different parts of the country – carrying with them different backgrounds, understandings, and experiences. At the same time, we recognize that bias – both personal and institutional – can lead to some voices going unheard. Systemic bias and racism can put people at a disadvantage, often leaving their experiences undervalued or unsupported. The Bridge Council aimed to bridge gaps in understanding between people of different backgrounds and highlight how identity shapes service. Strengthening this awareness ultimately helps us work more effectively toward the Peace Corps’ mission of successfully serving our communities, learning from Colombian culture, and reflecting the best of our country’s backgrounds, heritage, and experiences.

Shutting down Bridge Council was difficult for us, as we were finally getting a grip on our identity and mission. But, at the same time, it lit a fire in us – forcing us to reflect on the resistance against public conversations on understanding, inclusion, and equity. It's more important than ever to lift up underrepresented voices and consciously include and consider everyone, not just institutionally but personally. Separating ourselves from the institutional context has helped us double down on the belief that what we’re doing can’t be undertaken just in a closed council. We must invite and welcome everyone to participate in difficult conversations, uplift lesser heard stories, share our experiences to build understanding, and collectively fight for responsive solutions.

What We Did

When Bridge Council first got underway, we decided to conduct a survey of all volunteers to establish a baseline of volunteer experiences and attitudes toward Peace Corps’ approach to DEI. This study helped us identify what volunteers care about most, where to focus our efforts, and which groups within our community feel less seen or supported. From this starting point, we were able to determine volunteers’ general perceptions of Peace Corps’ culture and the actions we’re taking as an organization to make Peace Corps Colombia fertile ground for diverse perspectives and experiences. The survey also helped us realize the unique difficulties facing certain sub-communities, in particular women of color.

The report on the survey results can be found at this link.

We also constantly updated the pre-service training materials related to gender, implicit bias, and the navigation of single stories that involve challenging social assumptions. One of our main goals was to develop materials that help trainees reflect on their own experiences, recognize single stories and biases, and learn to express them. This strategy allows volunteers to learn both from their own reflections and from the experiences of others. Another key part of our efforts was engaging staff with ideas for specific training exercises that would highlight the impact of difference in various contexts, though we often reached impasses where HQ had already prescribed narrow instructions.

What We Wanted To Do

We imagined Bridge Council would become a hub for the input of various Peace Corps affinity groups. On the institutional reform committee, we hoped to gather data through focus group sessions and volunteer and staff surveys in order to work closely with the Colombia Service Improvement Committee (COSIC) and staff to address problems unique to certain communities. Through our focus group sessions, we hoped to create spaces for different communities to discuss their experiences, difficulties, and to share solutions, giving everyone practice in communicating across differences. On the training committee, we planned to continuously engage staff to update training materials to stay politically aware as social themes evolve. We also hoped to facilitate training on topics to complement the humanitarian nature of our development work.

Where We Stand

Bridge Council has shut down, and Peace Corps staff are prohibited from participating in conversations that discuss DEI or addressing the experiences uniquely faced by volunteers of minority backgrounds. While we no longer have institutional support, we remain committed to research, reflection, and the discussion of DEI-related issues and successes within Peace Corps Colombia.

Where We Want to Go

Our vision for the future includes ongoing conversations across the volunteer community – particularly with focus groups we’ve identified as facing more difficult experiences, such as our people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. We hope to uncover both successes and areas for improvement while sharing what it’s like to walk in someone else's shoes in this unique context we find ourselves in. We’ve also been working with OÍSTE to discuss how we can continue to use their platform to publish highlights from these conversations – allowing everyone to contribute, learn, and advocate for meaningful organizational change. We want to encourage everyone to speak up and share their voice because that’s how we learn and move forward.

We know everyone is tired and overwhelmed – both with their jobs as volunteers and with the world at large. But we encourage everyone to stay as involved as they can and to recognize that while not everyone’s Peace Corps experience is the same, we all have the shared responsibility of mutual support and encouragement among volunteers. Let’s keep the conversation going and stay actively involved over the course of our service – speaking up, sharing our experiences, and reflecting together on how we can foster diversity in every sense, push for more equitable support, and build a truly inclusive environment.

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OÍSTE Roundtable: Volunteer Voices in the Absence of DEI

By Shaleena Brooke

Background

Following the Trump Administration's termination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, Peace Corps Colombia’s Bridge Council, a board of both volunteers and staff that worked on DEI issues and training, was disbanded at the end of February. Several other DEI policies and language have also been removed or reworked to comply with President Trump's Executive Orders.

In response to this termination, previous Bridge Council leadership and OÍSTE joined forces to ensure that the voices and ideas advocated by DEI have an outlet to be heard. On Thursday evening, March 20, those Bridge Council members and OÍSTE co-hosted a virtual roundtable to discuss a report published by Bridge Council just before its disbandment. Based on a survey of volunteers which was conducted in July 2024, the report examined opinions about working and living as a volunteer in Colombia, with a focus on gender, queer, and racial identities. Held seven months post-survey, the roundtable gave new cohorts – who were not part of the original survey – an opportunity to share their insights and allowed veteran cohorts to re-examine and expand on their opinions.

The three main goals of the roundtable were: (1) to reinforce community after the change in Peace Corps Colombia’s approach to DEI, (2) to create space to connect the Bridge Council survey to individual experiences, and (3) to brainstorm how training and overall management can better serve volunteers.

A total of 28 volunteers participated in the roundtable. During the presentation, time was taken for public comment and a Padlet board allowed for anonymous comments. This was followed by an open discussion period. The following paragraphs are organized into topics based on the major conversation points from both the survey and the overall meeting.

Support from Volunteers

Volunteers generally felt supported by other volunteers. This was one of the highest-scoring survey questions. That said, the report found a negative divergence for men of color (MOC). While there was no public comment on this divergence, it was noted that MOC make up the smallest percentage of volunteers in Colombia, so this may speak for itself regarding feelings of isolation. Furthermore, while feelings of support between volunteers remained high, that data did not predict the over 56% of volunteers who witnessed bias from other volunteers. In this instance, women of color (WOC) were more likely to report witnessing bias. A few volunteers accounted for this divergence due to an absence of open and safe conversations surrounding the different experiences of people of color (POC) volunteers and how others can support them. Proposed solutions were varied, but the common denominator was that volunteers need to know the tools required to speak up for themselves (especially in a Colombian context), and, most importantly, volunteers learn how to speak up for others when appropriate. These skills are not easy to learn, but improving training and communication around the topic is a first step.

As someone who took this survey back in July, I do feel like my answers have shifted in regards to support from volunteers (positively).

Support from Staff

Volunteers felt supported by staff, with 54% agreeing or strongly agreeing. LGBTQ+ and POC volunteers were even more likely to feel supported by staff. Further, only 38% of volunteers reported witnessing bias from staff. However, WOC were more likely to report witnessing bias, and when the conversation opened up to the floor, many volunteers expressed opinions of disillusionment with this survey result, primarily POC volunteers. Volunteers spoke up about noticing that often the concerns of POC volunteers were not being taken seriously, both in training and at site. Comments left on the Padlet agreed that staff assumed volunteers' identities without confirmation. In all, the disconnect between the support felt by staff and the witness of bias may be due to individual positive interactions with staff members; however, the systemic treatment of POC volunteers seems to be falling short in our volunteers' experiences. This theme was connected to poor sentiments regarding the quality of training and management recorded in the survey.

In training it felt that certain members of staff assumed things about me without asking and confirming whether or not they were true.

Training and Management

Of all the survey and roundtable conversation points, issues surrounding the Peace Corps’ approach to training and management were some of the most controversial. Volunteers talked about how training often felt directed at white, middle-class demographics. One example given was that staff typically assumes that volunteers will stick out at site because they are American. However, some POC volunteers frequently feel they come off as Colombian until they are spoken to. Even then, having to “prove” you're American regularly comes afterward. POC volunteers also have to navigate new forms of racism and colorism, which vary dramatically in Colombia versus the United States. It is important for all volunteers, of all racial presentations, to know how to navigate all types of commentary and anticipate the experiences that may result from how they look. A key solution discussed was increasing the communication opportunities between new and veteran volunteers of similar backgrounds. Feeling prepared to deal with homophobia, racism, colorism, etc., and having someone to talk to about it could ensure that volunteers are mentally and physically able to continue their service to the best of their ability. Further, while communication between volunteers is essential, staff-to-volunteer communication will become even more important after the removal of Bridge Council. The Colombia Service Improvement Committee (COSIC) – an elected board of volunteers who present volunteer concerns and collaborate on solutions with staff – still functions, and staff should anticipate that it will likely take up the concerns previously addressed by Bridge Council.

Staffs’ ability to communicate effectively and in a timely manner has obvious room for improvement.

Professional Development Opportunities

Only 39% of volunteers felt professional development opportunities were equally accessible to all volunteers. WOC once again diverged, disagreeing at higher rates. The general sentiment during the discussion was that professional development was almost nonexistent for any volunteer. A point of inequality is that this fact hurts volunteers of lower-income backgrounds more than others due to the financial difficulties of Peace Corps service. Those with fewer support systems often choose to return to work Stateside. Low-income volunteers were more likely to identify as non-white, which may point to why WOC diverged more than the other groups. This may also explain the lack of retention of volunteers for the full two-year service, especially of POC volunteers. While the Peace Corps is founded on volunteerism, volunteers still need financial stability, if not, at least, the prospect of professional networks and support post-service.

I feel like there just aren’t many professional development opportunities.

Volunteer Priorities

For all volunteers, the top three priorities were: (1) support & safety at site/school, (2) support, inclusion, and retention of marginalized volunteers, and (3) medical & mental health support. Support and safety within housing/host families rose to the number one priority when POC volunteers were analyzed separately. This reinforces the idea that POC volunteers live and work different experiences than their white-identifying counterparts, and therefore prioritize and think differently. It also echoes the previously mentioned critiques about the lack of consideration for POC experiences in training. One participant noted that the training for host families they had witnessed discussed tolerance of religion and sexuality as well as mental and physical health, but did not discuss how to respect and talk about different racial backgrounds. Revamping host family training specific to the volunteers they will be hosting could be an effective first step in ensuring better experiences for POC volunteers.

I have seen a trend of POC volunteer concerns in site, whether it be host families/work relationships/general security or health concerns, be ignored or belittled.

GLOW

The roundtable closed with a conversation on the state of Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) after the changes in DEI policies. GLOW will continue as a Peace Corps program; however, the goals of GLOW will no longer include gender-based language, instead solely focusing on sex (male and female). David Paulino, the driving force behind GLOW’s post-pandemic resurgence, talked about the stress of thinking GLOW might be shut down. However, he expressed that GLOW ideals are always something that volunteers can promote, regardless of future policy.

Conclusion

As volunteers around the world navigate changes in federal policies, they must remain committed to the principles that brought them to Peace Corps service in the first place. While our work exists because of the federal bureaucracy, we still have the power to navigate our own lives outside work hours, whether that's writing a blog post, running a girls’ club, working with senior citizens, or simply sharing our experiences and supporting our fellow volunteers.

The elimination of formal DEI structures like Bridge Council does not erase the very real and ongoing challenges volunteers face – especially POC volunteers, queer volunteers, and those from lower-income backgrounds. The survey and roundtable demonstrate that the experiences of POC, and in particular WOC, often diverge from the broader volunteer population. These divergences are not anomalies – they are reflections of deeper systemic issues that were present long before the Trump administration removed DEI policies and have persisted despite efforts from groups like Bridge Council and COSIC.

OÍSTE is committed to filling the gap left by the shutdown of Bridge Council, revealing the rougher realities, and supporting initiatives that center the experiences of marginalized volunteers. Whether through roundtables, peer mentorship, or at-site initiatives, the effort to build a more inclusive and equitable Peace Corps experience is always in the works.

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And last but not least, we can’t forget about all the rest of the amazing content that’s been produced by OÍSTE staff this past month:

Getting Used to Uncertainty
By Sofia Heartney
From last-minute class changes to spontaneous invitations, adjusting to life in Colombia hasn’t been easy. Read about how letting go of rigid plans made way for new opportunities and a fresh perspective on daily life.

(Photo/Sofia Heartney)

Kickflipping My Way Into the Community
By Mateo Rodriguez
What started as a personal hobby quickly became a bridge to community and connection. Read how one volunteer turned skateboarding into a thriving club, inspiring local youth and building something that will last far beyond their time in Colombia.

(Photo/Mateo Rodriguez)

Don’t Panic, You’re at Panic
By Sidney Marr
Finding a good panadería in your site is an essential step in every volunteer’s integration. A good one can make a place feel like home. At Panic in Santa Rosa de Viterbo, one volunteer finds comfort, friendship, and the perfect cup of coffee.

(Photo/Sidney Marr)

Panadería Carmelita
By Mateo Rodriguez
Behind the warm aroma of freshly baked bread in Úmbita, Boyacá, is a family business with decades of history. Meet Humberto and Dayana, two bakers keeping tradition alive, one pan cacho at a time.

(Photo/Mateo Rodriguez)

Mini Crossword
By Ian Lane
Follow this link for an interactive version of this puzzle.

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Hasta luego,

OÍSTE staff

Disclaimer: The content of this publication is generated by individual volunteers. The opinions and thoughts expressed here do not reflect any position of the United States government or the Peace Corps.