Letters From Volunteers to DC

These letters or emails were sent from current and former Peace Corps Guyana volunteers who disagree with the Peace Corps' decision to send me home. Their support was greatly appreciated.

Dear Rita [Rita Jimenez, Country Desk Officer, South America Desk],

Good morning! I wish this was to be a friendly letter, but it is with deep regret that I must inform of the handlings of volunteer affairs by Mr. Earl Brown, our country director of Peace Corps Guyana. The Peace Corps volunteer Handbook states that "The integrity of the Peace Corps depends on the behavior of each individual associated with the agency." In light of this, I fell it is my duty to notify you, not only of my concerns, but the vast majority of all current volunteers, about the professionalism of Mr. Earl Brown.

Firstly, from the beginning, Earl Brown has avoided all personal and relative interactions with any volunteers. I was recently sworn in so I had several opportunities to interact with him during my training. However, he has eluded contact with any of us by his unapproachable and apathetic manner. He has made it clear that he doesn't wish to be our buddy and that he "gets all the love he needs from Mrs. Brown." Well Mrs. Brown may be a splendid woman, however, his attitude has not been conducive to establishing a rapport with his volunteers. Ask yourself, how would you feel if your boss said that to you? Furthermore, how would it make you feel if you had to report a sexual assault or other serious situation knowing that the person in charge cares very little for your well-being? Even though Earl Brown stated during our security conference that we volunteers are "his job", he seems to want to detach himself from, for a lack of a better expression, his meal ticket. During our interviews with us trainees, he berated us with questions that were demeaning and insulting. The questions themselves may be standard procedure, but it was his TONE that was most disturbing. At that time all of us tried to understand his position and gave him the benefit of the doubt, however as more interviews took place, it was clear that it wasn't his job but his demeanor that bother us. With further interactions, this mood did not cease, it became more aggravated.

I would say one of the last nerves he pierced was with regard to the Peace Corps Guyana web page. In the interviews with the IT volunteers, he said he was "concerned about the content" of the web page, yet he did not give further instructions on what to do. All of us were under the impression that he was going to have a separate meeting with all of us trainees, which was validated when we asked some of our trainers about the issue-if it was so important, Earl would call a meeting, otherwise not to fret over it. FOUR WEEKS LATER, we did have a meeting. At that point "the matter was of grave concern" to him. The web page has breeched security issues and he was "expecting a phone call any minute" from any of the Guyanese ministers. We all offered our sincere apologies-none of us wish to offend ANY Guyanese national or the Ambassador for that matter. That was not our intention when we set up the web page. We asked him for guidance and how we could remedy this situation. His answer was shrugging his shoulders and a cold reply, "I've sought General Council for advice." We all turned to each other and several asked if we could dismantle the site. His answer was the same. Needless to say, it left us in the lurch, uncertain how to proceed; but all of us were wondering, if this was such a sensitive security issue, why hadn't he come to us sooner and why didn't he instruct us to dismantle the site? Maybe you could answer that question. As it stands, one trainee was singled out and sent home due to this mishap. I suppose Earl Brown wanted to make an example of him. But mind you, when Jason Pearce got sent home, despite all his countless efforts, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for us volunteers.

I know I could continue further on this topic, however I have other pressing issues that I feel are relevant to Earl Brown's role as our country director. My quarrel not only lies with issues faced by our volunteers but also the Guyanese staff. He treats of all of us equally--simple-minded and reprehensible. I've witnessed several accounts that his has not only been condescending but also vulgar toward the Guyanese staff members. In some of our interviews, Earl Brown told us that our trainers thought we were "cocky". Surpirsed by this, some of us approached our trainers with the inquiry, and none of them knew what that word meant; in fact, they had mistaken it for a sexual term during their discussion with Mr. Brown. Not only does that display his lack of sensitivity and understanding of this culture, but the lengths he would go to defile us. Moreover, his coarse nature has been observed on at least two separate occasions, which were offensive to HCN. The first involved a dog barking when Earl Brown was trying to give a speech prior to our sites being announced. He demanded that the facilitators to "shut that dog up!" Now if he had any notion about Guyana, he'd have to know it's a noisy place. At any given time you can hear music blaring, roosters crowing, horns honking, people having conversations, and-yes!-dogs barking. It doesn't matter if you're in Georgetown or in the country. So the audacity to ask a Guyanese person to quiet down an animal is, beyond a doubt, a failure to come to grips with this society. Yet I AM deeply offended by how he treats the nationals here. I've seen him at trainee social events literally BRUSH them aside, as if they weren't human beings but a mosquito or pesky fruit fly. Is that how a representative from America is supposed to treat the very people we have come to help? The second goal of the Peace Corps mission states, "To help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the people served." Well I'm embarrassed by Earl Brown's behavior with our HCN. These people work so hard to ensure our assimilation and security. If it wasn't for them, 23 trainees would not have sworn-in and protested on August 16, 2002. In all honesty, if it wasn't for our Guyanese trainers pleading with us and coaxing us into the auditorium, there would have been a mass exodus of Guy 10 trainees. The Guyanese people have been our stronghold during our training, and the only reason why any of us stay. However, does Washington look favorably on Earl Brown's ethics and tactics?

From my perspective, he has gone out of his way to humiliate and provoke us. I can comfortably speak on behalf of all current volunteers that none of us expected to be treated in such a disrespectful and degrading manner. If I could state one further example, one that really gets to the core of this grievance: during our reports of our site visits, when we all thought Earl Brown was taking notes on our housing situations, he was actually scribbling down defamatories. I, among others nearby, saw him write down things like, "HUMOR???? and SLOPPY?", about others who were eagerly giving their accounts of their first encounters of their new communities. He doesn't even know any of US to make those assessments. And honestly, how would that make you feel after 8 weeks of training to see that written about your peers? The word DEBASED comes to mind.

If my letter puts me in a position to be "canned" then so be it, but you might as well "can" the whole program because my opinions are not unique. Earl Brown jeopardizes the integrity of this program. We have already voiced our complaints in writing (Guy 10 evaluations of training) and verbally (during VAC meetings) and we have seen no change. I understand that Earl Brown is in "the twilight of his career" (as he puts it), but then he should know better. Earl Brown confesses that we are in the "People business", however seems to lack interpersonal skills. Hence the reason why I have come forward with this information.

It is my sincere wish to serve the Guyanese community and to uphold the virtues of the Peace Corps. I will strive to achieve the goals of the Peace Corps mission. However I won't have a clear conscious unless I relate this travesty to you. I wish I could offer a plausible solution. The only thing that came to mind was to write this letter; and, I hope for the sake of Peace Corps Guyana, that you take what I've divulged seriously. We are ALL hoping that you act immediately; since he has disregarded our input given to him, we are hoping that a message from his superiors will help him to modify his behavior.

I know you're busy, but I do appreciate your time and effort regarding this affair.

Sincerely,

Hidden Name
Guy 10