What volunteers have done has been to help people who face adversity everyday, see within themselves that they shouldn't give up, that with hard work their change will make small differences in their lives and those of others. Volunteers have given hope to people in towns where hope does not exist. This hope is not necessarily a new job or better house, but just a small lift from despair. It is true that poverty weakens people and creates apathy, and Honduras is one of the most apathetic countries when it comes to change. Volunteers alike become jaded when things become difficult and change is hard, and some give up, but those volunteers who didn't and persevered did something that is very hard to do. They helped show people who have been let down their whole life by leaders that they can achieve something and make a difference. That is what Peace Corps was to me. It was making small changes that cannot be tracked or put on to paper or into a graph.
In my grad school class we discussed humanitarian work and humanitarian privilege.The people receiving help are always victims and suffering, they are trapped in their world and cannot leave. However the humanitarian can leave when things get hairy, he or she can jump into one world and into another, leaving the old world with hope that the people and friends they have left behind will be ok, but not knowing how. I personally feel this privilege and it has been one of the hardest things I have dealt with since I have been back. I hate that I can not do more and while my life is moving ahead, I feel like things are just getting worse in Honduras. Below I posted an article that critiques the Post article. Read it, see what you think, my thoughts and love goes out to everyone who considers themselves catracho, even if it is only at heart.