Peace Corps Acronyms and Vocabulary

Peace Corps lives for acronyms. Learning the most common (and not so common) Peace Corps jargon is an important part of becoming a PCV, so here’s a comprehensive list of the organization’s acronyms, most of which I will be using in my posts.

PC- Peace Corps
PCV – Peace Corps Volunteer
RPCV – Return Peace Corps Volunteer
PCT – Peace Corps Trainee
PST – Pre-Service Training
CL - Cultural Liaison
LF - Language Facilitator
CD - Country Director
IST – In Service Training
MSC – Mid Service Conference
COS – Close Of Service
PACA – Participatory Analysis for Community Action
VRF - Volunteer Report Form
PSN – Peer Support Network
VAC – Volunteer Advisory Committee
SSM– Safety and Security Manager
PDM – Project Design and Management
ET – Early Termination
ID12- 12th Group of Volunteer in Indonesia, aka my group!
CP- Counterpart
TEFL- Teaching English as a Foreign Language
SMA – Sekolah Menengah Atas (High school)
MAN – Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (Islamic high School)
SMK – Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (Vocational high school)
MTsN – Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri (Islamic middle school)
SMP – Sekolah Menengah Pertama (Middle school)
SD – Sekolah Dadar (Elementary school)
TK – Taman Kanak-Kanak (Kindergarten)
MoRA – Ministry of Religious Affairs
MoEC – Ministry of Education and Culture
IGLOW- Indonesian Girls Leading Our World, camp for women with various activities, including self-defense, inner beauty, nutrition, and women's health
IBRO - Indonesian Boys Respecting Others, camp for young men

Here's some Indonesian vocabulary to start you off on your journey to fluency! Only kidding, but here's some words I use in most blog posts:

Bule- foreigner (read: albino)
Bapak - Father
Ibu- Mother
Bu- Ma'am
Pak- Sir
Desa- village
Kota- city
Jawa Timur- East Java, where my site is
Terima Kasih- thank you
sekolah- school
kepala sekolah- headmaster, principal

This list will be updated and changed during service, so be sure to keep checking every so often.