2023年6月27日
Although Phoebe Kurien ’19 Marshall’s Peace Corps experience didn’t end the way she expected it to, the lessons she learned in Malawi continue to support her in her career today.
After graduating from Susquehanna with a degree in 生物医学科学, 马歇尔动身前往马拉维, 降落在Ntonda村, 在恩楚州, where she lived among the Ngoni people. Marshall served as a community healthcare specialist. 虽然, she developed educational programming that focused on HIV p牧师ention, 疟疾, 营养, 水卫生和个人卫生.
当她到达时, she underwent intense training that included daily language and cultural lessons, as well as meetings with nongovernment agency and nonprofit officials, 社区领袖和村长, and connected with different mothering groups, 学校和其他社区合作伙伴.
“Malawi is an incredibly beautiful country. I genuinely was in awe of how beautiful my village was every single day,” Marshall said. “We lived by a mountain and the soil was rich, so we had decent greenery that just exploded when the rain came. Ntcheu was known for their rich harvest, and I lived right next to a trading market where every Tuesday massive trucks from far and wide would come to trade vegetables, 鱼, Chitenje(传统织物), 陶器和各种各样的商品.”
After about a two-month training period, she was sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer in an elaborate ceremony.
“Malawian government heads of departments attend, as well as the U.S. 马歇尔回忆道. “We were even visited by the Gule Wamkulu, a secret society that performs ritual dance traditional to the Chewa people. It was a memorable send-off to my community.”
Covid将马歇尔送回美国.S.
但随着2019年进入2020年, the world was raising alarm bells about Covid-19, and even remote Ntonda could not go untouched. 只有一天的时间收拾行李, Marshall was whisked out of Malawi – projects left unfinished and promises broken, 她说.
“There were many additional projects and initiatives I was very much still in the process of that I abruptly ended,”她说。. “I had a lot of hopes shared with me from my community, like building a dorm and starting youth camps, 我没能帮上忙. So many of those projects ended entirely. I didn’t even get to say goodbye because of how quickly I had to leave.”
Despite her truncated Peace Corps experience, Marshall said she still uses lessons she learned from her time in Africa in her career today. She most recently worked as a pre-implantation genetic testing laboratory technician for patients seeking in vitro fertilization. She hopes to pursue her doctorate in molecular biology.
“Peace Corps is often said to be the toughest job you’ll ever love. 这是真的. 我希望我能完成我的时间. But I’m so grateful for what I did get and the wonderful connections I made,”她说。. “Being a returned Peace Corps volunteer has helped me become more comfortable with the uncomfortable. Things aren’t always uphill, and Peace Corps taught me to be resilient.”