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| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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PBI is a team-based organization. Volunteers live, strategize, draft reports, and travel together. Prior to acceptance, each applicant's teamwork abilities are reviewed and judged. Every three years, a meeting is held, attended by members of every level of the organization, to analyze and modify the direction of each country's program. PBI attracts volunteers from diverse backgrounds. The United States, Germany, Spain, and Japan--among many other countries--have been represented among PBI's volunteer pool. Potential volunteers must be 25 years old, strongly committed to nonviolence, and fluent in Spanish (for the Latin American programs), Nepalese (for the Nepal program), or English (for the Indonesian program). All applicants must attend two training sessions (usually held in a European country and The United States) where they learn the philosophy of nonviolence, nonviolent strategies, and team dynamics. An applicant may not be a citizen of the country they desire to work in. The possibility of violence exists for volunteers. In 1989 in Guatemala, a grenade was thrown into a PBI house. Three months later, three volunteers were stabbed walking home. In neither attack were there serious injuries. In El Salvador, five volunteers were arrested and temporarily held until being asked to leave the country. One volunteer was severely beaten. In 1983, the PBI's first team was sent to Nicaragua during the Contra war. They currently have projects in Colombia , Guatemala , Indonesia , Nepal ,and Mexico . They had projects in the Balkans , Sri Lanka , Haiti , and North America ( Canada and the USA ). About 200 volunteers have been sent abroad. Volunteers escorted Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú back to Guatemala on her return from exile. EXTERNAL LINKS |