Safe and Secure in the Peace Corps

There are usually a lot of “Why?” questions that many applicants, and a lot of Invitees get  before actually departing for service in the Peace Corps. There are also  many well-intentioned questions from family and friends alike about whether it is safe to serve somewhere in the world whose location is known only to the cartographers. Such questions and concerns are understandable, given some tragic things that have happened to some Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and the amount of negative news coverage about those terrible events. Although not reported in the news, the Peace Corps has been enacting some significant improvements in how they address their organizational responsibilities regarding the safety and security of thousands of volunteers serving all around the world to work toward the PC’s three goals.

The Peace Corps has become so intent upon assuring the safety and security of volunteers that here in Macedonia, at least, there is even a special office and staff, approaching the equivalent of cabinet level just to deal with everything it takes to achieve this goal.

The machinations to make certain that PC succeeds in attaining this goal start at Staging and continue through Orientation and Pre-Service Training (PST). Throughout PST Pre-Service Trainees (PSTs) are given presentation upon presentation about maintaining vigilance, understanding how to best avoid becoming a victim, how to obtain help if necessary and what it takes to maintain a safe and secure domicile. Near the end of PST and before being officially sworn in as a PCV, each one is given, at one time or another:

• A portable radio, complete with batteries to tune in emergency news in the event of some large-scale problem and local power is not available.
• A smoke alarm, including a battery.
• A fully charged fire extinguisher.
• A flashlight and batteries.
• A First Aid kit.
• A whistle to carry to use for frightening off any attacker or intruder and/or summon help if necessary.
• A book containing the official Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for dealing with every imaginable threat to our safety and  well-being. This included emergency evacuation procedures and consolidation locations in the event of civil disturbance, or environmental disaster/catastrophe (such as an earthquake, for which this area is considered a high risk).
• Numerous presentations on how to not become a victim and how to make our apartments secure, including being implored numerous times to use a peep-hole in an apartment door before opening it and to have a security chain in place on the door at all times while in the apartment.

Like most of my fellow PSTs, I listened to all of the presentations and even made an occasional note because, hey, who doesn’t want to feel safe and secure?

When I finally got to see my assigned apartment, I wondered whether it had been necessary for me to have devoted so much time on the topic of maintaining a safe and secure apartment.

After all, the PC has assigned me to live inside a bank vault.

Perhaps concerned that living in a bank vault wouldn’t be safe enough, they found one for me to live in that is also above a Court House.

It’s true!

Look at the photos.

Court House (left), Bank (right) and my apartment at the top above the bank.

However, it is a strange arrangement.

I am on the fourth floor, 75 steps above the bank which is at street level. Why a bank ever had a vault four floors above their main lobby area is beyond me.

This is the inside of my bank vault / apartment door:

FIVE (5) deadbolts into the steel door frame (Left), TWO (2) deadbolts into the steel door frame (top) and TWO (2) deadbolts into the floor (bottom). All thrown simultaneously with the twist of what might have once been a key to a castle.

The key to my apartment is one-of-a-kind; there are no back-up copies.

Cannot leave without it and cannot get back in without it, but what a pain it is to carry this all day. Here it is contrasted with a typical door key, which is actually for the lock below the door handle. Not really much need to use that one, is there?

However, there is no refuting that it is safe living inside a safe!

Now, if I can just figure out how to also address the need to be an accessible member of my community . . .