Maria Corrao leaves next Wednesday for a two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Dominican Republic
Corrao in Peace Corps
In Dominican Republic
Randolph Center’s Maria Corrao leaves next Wednesday for a two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Dominican Republic, where she will be a health worker in a "child survival project."
Dominican Republic, a Spanish-speaking island nation in the eastern Caribbean, has "an extremely high infant mortality rate," the 25-year-old Corrao said this week.
After a two-day orientation in Coral Gables, Fla., Corrao and other volunteers will fly to Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic capital, for three months of intensive language and job training.
Her Spanish skills are already strong, but Corrao noted that she has no background in health care work.
Following her training, she’ll be relocated to another site— hopefully in the cooler mountains —where she will help pregnant women, new mothers, and children with basic health issues, such as nutrition and hygiene. Like other Peace Corps programs, hers will also have an AIDS/HIV prevention component.
What brought her to the Peace Corps, Corrao said this week, is a strong interest in other countries and a personal commitment to being a good "global citizen."
"In this day and age, we can’t pretend to live in our own domestic world—we really live in an international world," she commented.
"With everything that’s been going on, and the fear of other people and other countries, it’s important to learn about other cultures," she added.
Corrao, a 1997 graduate of Randolph Union High School, credits social studies teacher Roger Ennis with sparking her interest in the wider world. His "World Problems" course drove home the point that global issues have local effects, she said.
Corrao, who graduated as a history major from University of Vermont in 2001, also studied Spanish at college. On the side, she got involved "in a lot of activism and organizational work," including an internship as an union organizer for the AFL/CIO, and volunteering in a "campaign against sweat-shop labor."
Making a Difference
"I was trying to figure out how students and people my age could make a difference, on a grander scale," she said.
Her Spanish skills helped her land a job as a contract specialist at an "international development consulting firm" in Burlington, after graduation.
Some of her co-workers at Associates for Rural Development, Corrao noted, had served in the Peace Corps. Their stories inspired her to apply.
After more than two years of working in an office, Corrao added, she is eager to experience "field work."
Although Corrao is not certain about what she’ll do after her Peace Corps duty, she remains committed to working "on an international basis" for the long-term.
Dominican Republic, which achieved its independence in 1884, occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola (the western third is Haiti.) The country, about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, has a population of 8.8 million.
Corrao said she is eager to receive mail from friends. Her address will be: Cuerpo de Paz (that’s "Peace Corps" in Spanish), Apartado Postal 1412, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
She is the daughter of Kathy and Mark Corrao.
By Sandy Cooch
