Couchsurfing for Peace Corps Volunteers
The CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.
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Welcome!
Firstly CouchSurfing would like to warmly welcome all P.C.V.’s to join CouchSurfing. As a community we would love to have cool Americans such as yourselves participating in making the world better – one couch at a time. Now what exactly is CouchSurfing? Well currently it is the world’s largest hospitality exchange network. What the heck does that mean? Basically it’s the world’s largest pay it forward system. You stay with people when you are traveling, and when you aren’t traveling you allow travelers to stay with you. It’s as they say in Espanola – Mi casa es su casa – My home is your home.
If you need to find out more information about Peace Corps it can generally be found on their website[1] or on the Peace Corps Couchsurfing group [2]
If you look at the Peace Corps 3 goals[3]:
- 1. To help people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women.
- 2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
- 3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
And then if you look at CouchSurfings mission [4]:
CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding.
As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal.
CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents, cultures, genders, races and any other type of border. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!
It would seem that they are on the same wavelength.
Why you should sign up
Besides all the personal reasons for your COS trip (or heaven forbid, ET) there are other reasons as well. Instead of having to leave your community and go into town for a taste of ‘western lifestyle’, the chance to speak English, to catch up with the world or just to avoid getting cabin fever– why not let all that come to you? Let the intrepid traveler come to your place and dazzle you with their tales and woes from the road.
By signing up for CouchSurfing you will also be showing people from the world that there are Americans on the ground actively trying to make improvements, that not all Americans are as big of hypocrites as their government. This ties back into Peace Corp’s third goal.
Couchsurfing has most of its membership outside of areas that Peace Corps operates, so for any travel on the way back to the States consider couchsurfing. For traveling in areas near you are placed there is no easy way to easily get in touch with PCV´s in other countries. Couchsurfing is probably the easiest way to find people to stay with in nearby areas.[5]
You will also be participating more generally in cultural exchange – showing people from the ‘Developed World’ how things actually are in the ‘Developing World’. A lot of misunderstanding in the world could be cleared up if people from the “Developed World’ actually had an understanding of the “Developing World”. Why not help be part of this?
Read about what couchsurfing has to say about travel in developing countries,[6] and discussion about it here [7].
Filling out your profile
When you do sign up for CouchSurfing there are a few things you should keep in mind when you are filling out your profile.
Firstly, you are in no way obligated to host anyone. CouchSurfing understands that if you live in a rural community they probably could not handle too many travelers randomly showing up. Instead, pace yourself. Feel out what is acceptable in your community and maybe only host once every month – or less. CouchSurfing understands that you have a reputation to maintain in your village.
As such, please feel free to select the ‘preferred gender’ on the couch description to the same sex as you. If you do host someone of the opposite sex, explain to them that they may have to sleep outside your house (i.e. in a tent) because the villagers will not understand that you are ‘just friends’ and that even with someone sleeping outside the locals will probably still ask about the boyfriend/girlfriend afterwards.
Communication in rural areas is always tricky – and in rural areas in the developing world it can be next to impossible. When you are filling out ‘contact method’ – do not feel obligated to put your phone number – although if that is the best way to get a hold of you then by all means do so. If you prefer to be contacted by email – then be clear about how often you check your email. Most probably you should say: email one month in advance from xx border or yy town – then email the week before to confirm. If you think they are serious then give out your phone number. To avoid getting spammed by people who think they might drop by, but then never do, use html tags < b > but with no spaces around the ‘b’ to make yourself extra clear (remember to close the tag with < / b >.) Also consider asking people to give you exact arrival dates. Although often not possible, it may also help weed out people giving you vague notions of staying with you, at some point in the future.
Transportation is always an issue in the developing world. Some of you may be 10, 20 even 30 kilometers off the ‘main road’. It is probable that only intrepid travelers will actually figure out how to get to your place. If you want to baby-step someone to your place- by all means give them detailed instructions. But if you are vague, saying ‘get dropped off at x village, walk to y village and then ask for the foreigner’ – then most of the people that actually do make it to your place will be a seasoned, traveler – conversely, increasing the probability of them being a good surfer.
You do not have to mention anywhere on your profile that you are a P.C.V. CouchSurfing understands that while your house is your own and while you can do anything you want with your house – there is still potential for random surfers to impair your ability to work in the community. Please follow the above advice and give your surfer a crash course on being cultural aware in your village.
Security
Many people are concerned about letting strangers stay in there house – and telling people that ‘strangers are just friends you haven’t met’ is not enough to convince them that this is safe. So there are many precautionary measures that have been taken by CouchSurfing.
Firstly, there is the actual profile of the person requesting to stay with you. Obviously someone can write whatever he or she wants, but it is much harder to continue a lie when you have written a lot on the profile. So look at the profile and see what the person has written, as well as what picture they have chosen to represent themselves. You should select ‘only people with complete profiles can contact you’ – that way you eliminate potential problem surfers who have completely blank profiles.
Secondly, there is the actual request that someone sends. If someone sends a three line request going something like this: “Hey, I’m going to be coming through you area in a week, can I stay with you for 2 days? Thanks” then they are probably a freeloader and not interested in cultural exchange. If someone has taken the time to find out your name (not very hard), read your profile and commented on what you have written and tells you something about themselves and why they want to stay with you – they are a much better candidate to be a good surfer. Please read the guides to how to be a good host [8] and how to be a good surfer [9].
Thirdly there are references. After each hosting/surfing experience both the host and surfer are supposed to write each other references. It is not required but highly recommended, this being one of the best ways of keeping CouchSurfing safe – an aside, please be HONEST when you write references, otherwise it undermines the whole purpose of references. You should read each potential surfer’s references and see what previous hosts have said about him/her. Many people are afraid to write the truth in references so please read between the lines.
If someone has no references, normally it is recommended that you meet up with them for coffee or in some public area prior to hosting them. Obviously this is not possible for nearly all P.C.V.’s. So all you can really do is try to have more in-depth communication before hosting them to try to determine if they are ok. If you are still unsure – then politely tell them you do not feel comfortable hosting them.
Fourthly, there is the vouching system. Unlike references, if you host/stay with someone and through the experience you get to REALLY know and trust someone you can vouch for them. People you would vouch for with certainty would be friends and family that you have outside of the CouchSurfing community. If you meet someone for coffee and have amazing conversation for three hours, it is still not enough to vouch for him or her. You just haven’t seen them in wide enough variety of situations to be able to truly judge their character. If you have spent a few days and had some amazing experiences that have allowed you to truly get to know the person, then you MAY be able to vouch for them. Normally you only vouch for someone on CouchSurfing that you have met repeatedly in a variety of circumstances that have allowed you see how they interact/respond in different situations.
Finally there is the verification system. This is basically a way of determining that you are exactly who you say you are. It relies on the authenticity of your credit card details. Basically you enter your address as it appears on your credit car, authorize a payment of a 25USD (verification costs vary depending on country but costs 25USD in the United States) and then you get sent a letter. You then sign the letter confirming that this is in fact your address and mail it back. When you have entered your address you are verified Level 1, when you have made the payment you are verified Level 2 and when you have mailed back the letter you are fully verified at Level 3.
Obviously it is not practical (and in most cases not possible) to become verified when on service – but it is something to consider upon return to America. Verification is more useful to tell you information about potential surfers. It allows you to: firstly be sure they are who they say they are, secondly that they have a stable home address and thirdly that they are serious about CouchSurfing!
-- Despite the website prompting you – verification is in NO WAY MANDITORY!!! --
After all of this there will always be an element of risk in allowing a stranger into your house. Many people relate allowing people to CouchSurf with them to like picking up a hitchhiker. There is always the chance the stranger could be an axe-wielding murderer. But with all of the precautions available on CouchSurfing it is not really a fair comparison – CouchSurfing is FAR safer than hitchhiking.
Bear in mind that at the end of the day it is still your home, and they are your guest. If they ever do something that makes you feel uncomfortable it is well within your rights to ask them to leave.
What next?
Please join the CouchSurfing P.C.V. group found here [10] so you can network with other P.C.V.’s - future, past and present.
Also please consider telling everyone you know that you think would both benefit and be interested about CouchSurfing. When you start your service make sure your neighboring P.C.V.’s know about CouchSurfing. If they’re any locals in your area who reside part-time in the city (and have internet there) please encourage them to check out CouchSurfing as well.
If you are interested in doing more then here’s a novel idea: contact local CouchSurfers from your hometown and ask them if they are interested in fundraising to directly pay for a small project (or big). It would be like PCPP (Peace Corp Partnership Program)/SPA (Small Project Assistance) except that the money would go directly to you.
A project like this has already been done on CouchSurfing; it’s called the Water buffalo project. [11] In this project a group of Belgium CouchSurfers got together and every time someone surfed their couch, they would donate 1 dollar as well as their surfer. The money they raised was then used to buy a water buffalo in rural china. There was a CouchSurfer working for an NGO there who facilitated the exchange.
Why not do something yourself? Contact the local ambassador in your hometown in the United States and see what they think? Go to them with a specific project – whether it’s solar for your school, seeds for your permaculture project or even a new bicycle for an orphan.
Please keep in mind that this would have to be a secondary goal for why you sign up for CouchSurfing. The primary goal of CouchSurfing will always be to facilitate cultural exchange. CouchSurfing has a ‘Terms of Use’[12] that clearly states that CouchSurfing is not about making money. If you sign up with the express purpose of fundraising your profile will probably be flagged and it may be deleted.
Hope this brief guide helps. Please help break down the developed world’s misconceptions about the developing world – and the rest of the world’s misconceptions about Americans.
Happy CouchSurfing!
--Disclaimer--
This guide is in no way endorsed/supported/recognized by CouchSurfing International Inc. OR Peace Corps.
But hopefully it helps.
