Peace Corps Glossary

• Assignment: The location and job the volunteer is placed in.
• APCD: Associate Peace Corps Director. A host-country national in charge of that region's program.
• CD: Country Director. The one in charge of the volunteers in that country.
• COS: Close of Service. The end of a volunteer's service.
• Country Desk: The department representing regional countries, at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington D.C.
• ET: Early Termination. Leaving, for whatever reason, before COS.
• Homestay: Part of training where the volunteer lives with a member of the community (the owners of the house are often referred to as "family," i.e. mother, brother, etc.).
• HCN: Host Country National. A person from the Host Country.
• Host Country: The country where the volunteer is serving.
• Host Family: Most volunteers in Senegal live within an existing family compound. Mine is relatively small and is comprised of one father, one mother, 5 sons, and one daughter. Many of my PCV friends have multiple moms as well as extended and/or multiple families within one enclosed area (each adult generally has their own hut or room or shares with one or two other adults; children sleep where they can).
• Invitation: A formal summons to serve in a specific job/country after receiving medical/legal clearance, which marks the beginning of one's official Trainee status.
• IOS: Interruption of Service. When local political or environmental conditions require the entire program to be pulled from an area.
• IST: In-Service Training. A training event that happens during service; for Senegal PCVs a 3 week IST takes place after the first 2-3 months at site, and another 1 week IST takes place about mid-service.
• LCF: Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator. Trainers responsible for language and culture sections during PST.
• Medevac: Medically Evacuate. To return a volunteer to the States for medical treatment, usually because they have an injury/illness that is untreatable in-country.
• Medical Separation: When a volunteer cannot complete service due to a medical problem.
• Nomination: A proposed invite to a very general region and job area made during the early application process, pending medical/legal clearance; highly subject to change.
• OMS: Office of Medical Services
• PC: Peace Corps
• PCMO: Peace Corps Medical Officer. The nurse or doctor in charge of all that country's volunteers
• PCT: Peace Corps Trainee. Volunteer's title during training and before becoming an official volunteer
• PCV: Peace Corps Volunteer
• PO: Placement Officer. Person in charge of officially placing each volunteer in an assignment worldwide. Based in the Peace Corps D.C. Headquarters
• PST: Pre-Service Training. The training program, usually 2-3 months long, that teaches volunteers language, cross-cultural sensitivity, and job skills before they begin their official service
• Recruiter: Locally-based representative in charge of providing information on Peace Corps to potential applicants and screening applicants during the initial stages. The "voice" of the PC
• RPCV: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
• Site: The location where the volunteer lives and works for 2 years
• Staging: The first day of training, held in the U.S., before flying out to the host country
• Swearing-In: The ceremony that accompanies transition from PCT to PCV
• VAD: Volunteer Assignment Description. The lengthy document given to applicants describing an assignment in detail. Part of the official Invitation