Ti-Patrice is heading to Senegal in March to become an environmental education and agroforestry volunteer
Finding the right path
Ti-Patrice, or Ti (pronounced "tie") Lavers, 22, from Bristol, Ind. (near Elkhart), graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in May 2003 with a degree in environmental management. She said she previously had thought about joining the Peace Corps but didn't decide to serve until she had difficulty finding a job after graduation.
She also wanted some volunteer experience at an international level, so she's heading to Senegal in March to become an environmental education and agroforestry volunteer.
Lavers speaks French well and studied a year in France, but she knows Peace Corps doesn't compare.
"I think it will be different from Europe because it won't be in a developed setting," Lavers said. "It will be more rural, less of the services we expect in developed countries."
She said she can't wait to meet people from around the world and to learn about different human lifestyles, but she hasn't prepared for the stressful part yet.
"I haven't started packing," Lavers said. "I am going to Mexico for a month before I leave. My boyfriend is taking me on a brief tour of the country before I go."
She said she and her boyfriend won't break up when she leaves; they simply will be on individual paths separated by land and sea.
"I am sure I'll miss him, but we have our things to do and we both recognize that," Lavers said. "We're not going to push the issue and make it harder while we are apart."
Speaking of apart, Lavers' mother, Christy Lavers, routinely expresses her concerns.
"Every morning, my mother has a new natural disaster that hits Senegal, telling me not to go," Lavers said. "Yesterday it was a glacier. I just shake my head because every day it's a new one."
