Sidebar #92 - Gonging Out

In Costa Rica, volunteers hit a gong to symbolize that their Peace Corps has formally concluded. I’ve seen volunteers in other countries ring a bell or strike a tire, so there’s no uniform practice that each post uses; however, just about everyone participates in an official ceremony to mark the end of service. For us, our program managers said a few words about each volunteer before the volunteer had a short speech in Spanish and struck the gong. Afterwards, there was a brief cafecito allowing volunteers and staff to catch up. Mainly, we as volunteers had to meet with specific staff members (Country Director, Program Manager, Doctor, Finance Team, etc) to make sure all documentation was in order before flying home.



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