On March 15, 2020 Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen announced the suspension of all volunteer activities, due to COVID-19. This was the first time in the Peace Corps nearly 60-year history, that the organization temporarily suspended all of its operations globally and I was one of the more than 7,000 volunteers evacuated because of the pandemic. We were all to be sent back to our “home of record.”
The week prior to the evacuation the situation was quickly evolving, with airports around the continent closing at a rapid pace. In my corner of East Africa things were business as usual. At the time there were no confirmed cases in Rwanda. On March 6th our country director told us not to worry about having to evacuate. “…I’m guessing that some of you are worried that if we have a case or cases in Rwanda we will be evacuated. I know the thought of being evacuated is stressful as you are very committed to your host communities and your PC service. We currently have COVID-19 cases in quite a few PC posts (not going to list them all as the list changes rapidly), and we are continuing operations in those posts.”
This reassuring email was soon drowned out by a tsunami of concerning information. South Africa and Morocco closed their airports. The United States closed its airports to foreigners. On March 14 the Rwandan Ministry of Health sent out a memo closing all schools and places of work.
A few hours later I got a call from my friend telling me to check my email. “As you know, we recently evacuated Volunteers from China and Mongolia due to the COVID-19 outbreak and related travel constraints and school closings. Further evacuations are now underway at several posts. Unfortunately, it has become clear in the last 48 hours that numerous posts must follow suit. It is against this backdrop that I have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend all Peace Corps operations globally and evacuate all of our Volunteers. As COVID-19 continues to spread and international travel becomes more and more challenging by the day, we are acting now to safeguard your well-being and prevent a situation where Volunteers are unable to leave their host countries.”
Reading that email made my mind run a million miles a minute. When one is told to pack up their life in a matter of days asking a million questions is natural. How will we leave? What flights will we get on? What happens if we get sick at the airport. How will I afford to live? Where will I go? Will I have to self-quarantine?
While I had many questions (most of which were not able to be answered), I was able to capture this anxiety and transfer it to the task of packing. Using the MariKondo method I began folding and stuffing the last eighteen months into one suitcase. While it seems like one would have tons of stuff after living over a year and a half in one place, the harsh realities of living in a developing country meant there wasn’t much to keep: baskets, photos, and the few articles of clothing that were not ruined from the violent hand washing needed to keep clothing clean in the land of a thousand hills.
To make my life easier, I gave everything that I did not need to take home with me to my friends that lived in the compound. The next day I told me school, over WhatsApp that I would be going back to America. “Mwiriwe! nakiriye amakuru yo muri "Peace Corps." Ngomba kuva mu Rwanda kubera virusi ya Corona. Ndababaye cyane.” I was not able to say goodbye in person to most of my coworkers because everyone was beginning to shelter in place. As I was packing up to I was surprised by a knock at my door.
All of my coworkers showed up to say goodbye. While it may have not be inline with social distancing that was were supposed to be practicing, it was one of the best things that happened to me in the country. I thought I was going to have to leave without saying goodbye but I ended up getting a traditional farewell. My coworkers even managed to learn a song in English for me. This may not have been the way I wanted to say goodbye, but it gave me some sense of closure.
If this ending this feels abrupt, it is because the evacuation was. If there is one thing I have learned in the Peace Corps it’s that life doesn’t always follow traditional story arches. While we don’t always get the ending that we want it doesn’t mean that it’s any less meaningful.
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