Being a Teine

Recently, in America, there has been a lot of talk around gender equality. Women have come a long way in terms of equality, but have far to go. Being a female is a large part of my identity. Anytime someone has tried to help me carry or fix something, I have always thought it was because I was a female and refused the help. I wanted to prove that being female doesn’t mean I’m weak.

Being in Samoa, being female has continued to be a strong part of my identity and something that I am constantly reminded of. Gender inequality tends to be more prominent here with clear gender roles. Obviously, there are always exceptions to the rule, but gender inequality is something I have noticed and been subjected to since being here.

 

During pre-service training, my host family would not allow me to go anywhere alone. I always had to have someone go with me, even if I was just going down the street to the shop. The majority of the male volunteers did not get subjected to this same treatment. I know that part of it was about my safety, but I also felt like I was being treated like a dainty little flower, which I am not.

In my village, I have a lot of freedom. I can go mostly where I want and mostly when I want. This was a nice change of pace. I do, however, end up doing a lot of chores at my house. I clean and do my own laundry and cooking. I know several other female volunteers who do chores at their houses as well. I do not know as many male volunteers who even do their own laundry. 

 

When it comes to clothing, women are expected to cover up in Samoa. While in my village, I can run and walk in leggings and a t-shirt, however, any other time, I am expected to wear a lavalava in my village. I even wear a lavalava when I bike. I am typically expected to keep my knees and shoulders covered when out in my village. Males, in general, as well as male volunteers can easily walk around their village in shorts and tank tops (or no shirts) without anyone saying anything.

 

While this has not happened to me, I know other female volunteers who have had the experience of a male volunteer coming to visit her school and the male will get automatic respect. Male teachers at my school are called Mister, yet female teachers are never called Miss or Mrs. This ties in with the fact that in some villages, females are not allowed to get matai (chief) titles. Typically males hold matai titles and even when females have a matai title, they do not out number the males.

 

Gender inequality is more pronounced here than I am used to. This is not to say that women have no power or authority in Samoa. I believe, in fact, that women have more power than the majority of the males even realize. Samoan women are some of the strongest women I have ever met and I have no doubt that one day, things will change and women will be seen more as equals.

Government Issued Friends

When you join the Peace Corps, you automatically make friends with people who you probably never would have met otherwise. You all chose to go on this journey of Peace Corps service for 27 months. Because of your similar passions, you are forced into these friendships. I don’t use the idea of forced friendships or government issued friends in a negative way, but rather as a very realistic way of looking at how friendships are formed amongst PCVs. 

 

My group is the 88^th group of volunteers to come to Samoa. Samoa is the smallest Peace Corps post in the world. We come in groups of 16-22ish people in each group.  Group 88 went to staging in Los Angeles with 21 people. During training, one person left and we swore in as volunteers with 20 people in my group. Over the past year and a half, some people have left early for medical or personal reasons and we are now down to only 16 people in the group. These 16 people (and even some of the people who have left) have been my greatest support system while serving in the Peace Corps. They are the only people who understand 100% what I am doing and going through whether good or bad.

I am not saying that everyone in my group is a best friend, but we all respect each other and support each other. We have celebrated each other’s accomplishments, birthdays, and random little successes. We have also been listening ears when things have not been going well. My group will always mean the world to me. I have even had the privilege of traveling with some of them!

 

While I am closest with the people who I came to Samoa with, I have also been able to make friends with volunteers in both the preceding group and the group who came in more recently. Samoa receives a new group of volunteers every year so each group spends a year with the previous group and another year with the next group. Last year, I had a site mate who was from group 87. She was an amazing support for me and we still often talk even though she is doing great things back in the states and I am still in Samoa. I helped to train group 89 so I had the opportunity of getting to know a lot of them and there are some really amazing people who I enjoy spending time with in that group. 

 

 

In a typical friendship, people slowly get to know each other and it takes some time to really talk about very personal things. PCV friendships are quite different. During pre-service training, we spend almost all day and almost every day with people from our group. We quickly start talking about almost too personal of things. It is not uncommon to talk about bowel movements with another volunteer.  One of the volunteers in my group who previously served in another country always says that PCVs talk about three things: food, sex, and bowel movements. That is pretty accurate. 

 

I may not have chosen who would be in my group when joining Peace Corps Samoa, but I would not have it any other way. They are amazing people and I look forward to seeing where life takes each one of them. To my government issued friends, you are amazing!