The purpose of this research study was to analyze the success of the Peace Corps' Municipal Development Program in its role as a change agent in the empowerment of rural Guatemalan women, and includes an exploration into the intercultural factors that may have affected the outcomes. I used my Peace Corps site of Santa Cruz El Chol, Guatemala as the case study for this research. I reviewed literature in five areas to use as a foundation to guide my research. This included literature regarding Guatemalan history and Guatemalan women's issues, women's empowerment in the international development context, Peace Corps, change agentry, and intercultural relations. I obtained data from four different groups. I interviewed a focus group of female leaders from El Chol, obtained questionnaires from 42 rural women from El Chol and its surrounding villages, interviewed three Peace Corps Guatemala staff members, and gathered surveys from 18 returned Peace Corps volunteers. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered via open-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, and scale-based questions. An analysis of the findings revealed implications in three areas. The first area focused on Guatemalan women who are especially vulnerable to institutional and domestic violence, which leads to a lack of educational and economic opportunities and continues to prevent their empowerment. Next, the Peace Corps volunteers were generally satisfied with their service, but felt traits of Guatemalan society and culture prevented them from positively influencing women's empowerment. Additionally, findings revealed that Peace Corps volunteers served as change agents in that they saw themselves and were seen by others as positive role models for the Guatemalan women with whom they worked. Finally, time management styles, differences in perception of gender roles, and direct versus indirect communication styles sometimes clashed to cause issues in U.S. American and Guatemalan abilities to work effectively together.

During the span of 27 months, Peace Corps volunteers live and work in different countries and cultures all over the globe. The various projects that Peace Corps volunteers work on together with their host country nationals can prove extremely challenging due to many cultural differences. This research assessed the influences of cultural differences on Peace Corps projects that volunteers experienced while working with Guatemalan nationals. The literature review examined the issues of cultural differences and the effects 6 and influences that they could have on projects of host country nationals and Peace Corps volunteers. I have examined literature focusing on intercultural communication, cultural group membership differences, cultural identities, value orientations, and organizational value dimensions. I have also looked deeply into many of the differences between the collectivist culture of Guatemala and the individualistic culture of the United States. I have compiled data from interviews with Peace Corps volunteers that I served with in Guatemala from August 2007 until November 2009. During their service, the volunteers worked in the programs of Municipal Development and Agricultural Development. I hope for this research to provide detail into the influences of cultural differences between Peace Corps volunteers in Guatemala and Guatemalan nationals. I hope that this study can better prepare Guatemalan nationals and Peace Corps volunteers to have a superior understanding of each other's cultural identities to ensure that positive communication can lead to good outcomes for projects in the future. I also hope that Peace Corps facilitators and trainers can use the findings in this study for workshops and training sessions on intercultural relations not only in the Peace Corps Guatemala program, but for all other countries where volunteers are currently serving.