by Bailey Musselman ‘18

After initiating transformative projects in their given countries through the Peace Corps, three Knox College alumni came back to campus to share their experiences with current students and others in the Knox community.

Nearly eight years ago, Knox College was the first college to participate in the Peace Corps Preparatory Program. Through this program, both Celestina Agyekum '12 and Samantha Claypool Temple '11 gained interest in the Peace Corps. Agyekum spent her time in Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in west Africa, and Temple was assigned to Magagura, a small village in Tanzania. Catherine "Kiki" Cohen '13 said her Peace Corps involvement in Armenia was influenced by her study abroad experience in Barcelona, Spain.

"The purpose of Peace Corps is to integrate yourself within a community," said Temple. "It's about making a home in a foreign place." All three women agreed that it took about a year to adjust themselves to their assigned countries, and the rest of the time was spent on making an impact in their communities.

Temple went into the Peace Corps under an agriculture initiative with her husband, Luke Temple '08, and completed four assignments. One was a five-day training program that taught villagers how to better raise chickens.

"I didn't know anything about chicken farming prior to the Peace Corps," Temple said about her experience. "You learn so much." 

Temple also helped coordinate more accessible and clean water resources for people living in Magagura. She continues to fundraise for the Magagura Electrical Training Institute, a local electrician program for village youth that she helped create during her time in Tanzania.

Agyekum had a similar experience when she immersed herself in a community with a population of less than 300.

"I needed to understand in order to know how to help," said Agyekum when discussing her first year in Burkina Faso. During her time in the Peace Corps, Agyekum assisted in building 59 latrines in her surrounding village. Along with the latrine initiative, Agyekum used her skills as an education major to teach numbers and basic conversation in French and English to students in Burkina Faso.

Cohen also utilized her education major and taught students in Armenia about health, the environment, and food sanitation through the B2B (border to border) program. She also assisted in holding hip-hop seminars for her students in hopes of getting to know them better.

"My Peace Corps experience was more about building relationships, not projects," she said. 

By the end of her time in Armenia, Cohen helped write a $10,000 grant with her community. First, however, the community had to come up with $2,500. Cohen helped make that happen, and the community ended up receiving 10 new computers, 35 chairs, 10 tables, two murals and newly painted walls for the school.

Like Temple and Cohen, Agyekum said her Peace Corps experience was life-changing.

"To solve a problem, you must engulf yourself in it," said Agyekum. "They have nothing, and they give you everything."