Meghann Dallin is a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon,who helps locals in Djalingo learn more about agriculture and habitat enrichment



Meghann Dallin is a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon,who helps locals in Djalingo learn more about agriculture and habitat enrichment

Magdalena Peace Corp volunteer completes second year in Africa

Lisa J. Tabet El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

LTABET Jolinda and Bob Dallin, of Magdalena, are very proud of their daughter, Meghann.

Meghann is a Peace Corps volunteer. She has been in Djalingo, Cameroon, Africa, since September 2002. Dallin, 26, helps locals in Djalingo learn more about agriculture and habitat enrichment. She teaches women how to farm better, and how to grow better mangos and peanuts, the two main crops in Cameroon. She also helps set up orchards and teaches farmers how to graft trees.

There is a mixture of Christian, Islamic and native religions in Djalingo. Recently, Meghann Dallin has become involved in a project with the Catholic Diocese in Garouna. The project was designed to educate women on both farming and, more importantly, how to care for their children.

Jolinda Dallin said there are high incidences of Malaria and AIDS in Cameroon. She said many parents don't have the money to transport their children to a medical facility.

Jolinda Dallin said Meghann met a woman in Djalingo named Christine who had a small daughter who died from malaria. Wiping away tears, Dallin said it would have taken only $30 to save the child.

The Women's Educational Workshop works to educate mothers on how to take care of their sick children, since they can't afford to take them for medical care.

So far, Meghann has raised about $75,000 for the project. To donate to the project visit the Wells Fargo Socorro Branch and ask about the Cameroon Education Fund.

Jolinda Dallin said her daughter has always been an animal lover and somebody who is "extraordinarily passionate about people's rights."

Jolinda Dallin said the Peace Corps was the safest place for Meghann to volunteer. "She (Meghann) has seen a lot of wonderful things and she has seen a lot of very sad things," Jolinda said.

Meghann graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in Environmental Science. She will be returning home in December of this year.

ltabet@dchieftain.com

When this story was posted in November 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Your vote makes a difference Make a difference on November 2 - Vote. Then take our RPCV exit poll. See how RPCV's are voting and take a look at the RPCV voter demographic. Finally leave a message on why you voted for John Kerry or for George Bush. Previous poll results here.

Kerry reaches out to Returned Volunteers The Kerry campaign wants the RPCV vote. Read our interview with Dave Magnani, Massachusetts State Senator and Founder of "RPCVs for Kerry," and his answers to our questions about Kerry's plan to triple the size of the Peace Corps, should the next PC Director be an RPCV, and Safety and Security issues. Then read the "RPCVs for Kerry" statement of support and statements by Dr. Robert Pastor, Ambassador Parker Borg, and Paul Oostburg Sanz made at the "RPCVs for Kerry" Press Conference. RPCV Carl Pope says the key to winning this election is not swaying undecided voters, but persuading those already willing to vote for your candidate to actually go to the polls. Take our poll and tell us what you are doing to support your candidate. Finally read our wrap-up of the eight RPCVs in Senate and House races around the country and where the candidates are in their races.

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Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before. Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security.

Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny?

Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and can you come up with a Political Funny?

Read the stories and leave your comments.