A Volunteer reflects on planting 2,000 trees in Nepal
प्रकाशित मिति : माघ १९, २०७७ सोमबार
– John Buscarino
I had been interested in serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer at various points in my life. One of my professors in college talked about his time in the Peace Corps and had encouraged me to consider it, but I was uncertain about committing two years of my life to living in another country and communicating in a foreign language.
The deciding factor for me was my best friend from college, who served in the agriculture sector in Togo starting in 2015. At the time I was working in farming and permaculture and looking for ways to find solutions to environmental, social justice and quality of life issues.
I served as an Agriculture Volunteer in Nepal from 2017 to 2020. My community was like a big family, despite all the cultural and linguistic barriers and many other differences. The way they invited me into their hearts and homes with such familiarity, ease and generosity routinely humbled me to the core.
I lived in a small village of around 60 households and about 300 people. My community counterpart was one of the most incredible examples of leadership I have ever experienced. He helped me from day one and was there without fail anytime I needed him. He simply saw a need and did what had to be done. I had never seen that kind of selflessness before, and I can’t imagine my community or my service without his contributions. The difference one person can make is truly incredible.
Our primary project in Nepal focused on improving dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes for small-scale farming families. To this end, I worked on establishing nurseries to produce fruit and nut tree seedlings as well as vegetable seedlings. I worked with farmers who wanted to grow lower maintenance, higher value crops for home consumption and market sale. I trialed many new varieties of fruits and vegetables to discover which ones had potential to improve crop diversity and provide income-generating opportunities. I also established connections with local restaurants and helped train my village in market gardening for the sale of high-value salad greens and culinary herbs.
I am most proud of planting over 2,000 trees in my community. I helped introduce at least a dozen varieties of trees and vegetables to the community, and several new techniques. I am proud of the relationships formed in the process, and of the people that were inspired along the way.
The most important thing I learned was the value of community, of direct democracy, of collectivism and working together. The value of trusting your intuition in challenging circumstances.
It is still less than a year since my service ended abruptly because of the evacuation due to COVID-19, and much of life has been on hold since because of the lockdown. However, I feel like a completely different person because of my service and I know almost all of my life decisions will be influenced and informed by my time in Nepal in one way or another.
Peace Corps gave me the confidence to know I can live somewhere else in the world, learn another language, and be successful in what I do. I feel Peace Corps offered me the opportunity to be the most incredible version of myself. I am currently in the process of starting my own farming/gardening/nursery business.
(John Buscarino served as an Agriculture Volunteer in Nepal from April 2017 through March 2020, when Peace Corps Volunteers were evacuated worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He attended University of North Carolina in Asheville, where he earned a B.S. in music technology in December 2018. John currently lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia, but calls Asheville, North Carolina, his home.)