Andrew Townsend leaves this month for a two-year stint in Burkina Faso with the Peace Corps
Yorker lives a dream
Trip of a lifetime
By MEGAN SHIREY For The York Dispatch
York native Andrew Townsend has found a way to combine his two favorite experiences into a new job.
He leaves this month for a two-year stint in Africa with the Peace Corps.
Townsend traveled to Belgium as an exchange student in 1996 while a student at York Suburban High School. He enjoyed learning about a new culture. As a student at York College, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and saw that there are many people who need assistance.
Later, while attending Brooklyn Law School in New York, he worked at The Legal Aid Society over the summer.
"I enjoyed serving lower-income people with less opportunities," the 26-year-old Townsend said. "I wanted to take it a step further and help in other ways. I also wanted to revisit cultural experiences I had while abroad in Belgium."
Drawing on his experiences, Townsend has decided joining the Peace Corps was the best thing for him. He dropped out of
law school and applied to join in August 2003.
"It's been a dream of mine for many years," he said.
Townsend, who speaks French, requested to be sent to a French-speaking African country as a health extension volunteer.
Going to Africa: Only about two months ago, Townsend learned from the New York Regional office of the Peace Corps that he would be leaving for Peace Corps training in the African country of Burkina Faso on July 28.
"I was pretty eager when I found out I was leaving in July," he said. He will be gone for two years, returning in November 2006.
During the three-month training, Townsend will learn at least two native languages and will be taught cultural awareness and the health functions he will be performing. He will stay with a host family in the city of Kaya in Burkina Faso. After his training, Townsend said, he will be assessed and sent to a location in Burkina Faso that is in need of his skills. All he knows is that he will be sent to a rural village.
"It could be 10 hours from the nearest city," he said. He said he will live alone in a house made of mud brick with a thatched tin roof. He will not have access to e-mail and will have no electricity or running water.
"I think I'm going to have to write a lot of letters," he said.
Hopes for medical school: Townsend chose the health-care field because he hopes to go to medical school when he returns. He'll work on administrative tasks and implement a program that teaches people about health-care issues such as AIDS and malaria. He'll also train local people to run the program on their own.
While he's interested in health care, the Peace Corps assured him of one thing: He will not deliver babies.
"I guess everything else is game," he said.
Worries about change: Townsend is not worried about adjusting to the lack of luxuries he is used to in America.
"The hardest part will be adjusting to the culture and new surroundings," he said. Still, he is also concerned about changes.
"The most difficult is the uncertainty of not knowing how I'm going to change and perceive the world because of this experience," Townsend said. He is worried how he will relate to his friends when he returns because of their differing perspective of the world.
For now, Townsend is trying to visit with as many friends and family as he can. He said his mother is excited about his decision, and Townsend said he thinks she is living somewhat vicariously through him.
He leaves for Philadelphia on Sunday for vaccinations and other health-related measures. He is excited about what is to come.
"I've been counting down the days," Townsend said. "I can't believe it's so close."
-- Reach Megan Shirey at 854-1575 or news@yorkdispatch.com .
