Kristin Hund accepts a position with the Peace Corps to serve as forestry agent in Zambia, part of Sub-Saharan Africa



“I wanted to use what I learned and apply it in a way that could help others,” she said. “I have always been interested in Africa and I know they have a great need for better living conditions, health care and education.”

Kristin Hund accepts a position with the Peace Corps to serve as forestry agent in Zambia, part of Sub-Saharan Africa

Howell grad eager to make impact in Africa

By Lon Medd

DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Kristin Hund wanted to make an impact on the world.

She had just graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in zoology, with a concentration on environmental studies and African studies. Unlike others who have received their degree, she had no desire to simply look for a job that paid the most money.

“I wanted to use what I learned and apply it in a way that could help others,” she said. “I have always been interested in Africa and I know they have a great need for better living conditions, health care and education.”

So Hund accepted a position with the Peace Corps to serve as forestry agent in Zambia, part of Sub-Saharan Africa. For the next two years, she will be working with people in the region on environmental education and how the environment affects their lives. She leaves for Africa on June 5.

“I’ll be teaching farmers what to plant without depleting their soils,” she said.

She will also teach women about marketing, such as how to sell what they’ve created.

Hund, a 2002 Howell High School graduate, has previously done service work in Belize, San Francisco and Mississippi, as well as in Livingston County. This will be her third trip to Africa.

Her other experiences include camping in Kenya for three weeks in 2003 as part of a program through MSU, where she studied the ecology and behavior of African mammals. Last year, she went to Tanzania for two months for a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program through the University of Georgia, where she took an intensive Swahili course.

“I fell in love with Africa right away,” she said. “This something I’ve always wanted to do.

“I’ve always enjoyed volunteering and enjoyed traveling,” Hund added. “I still have that anxiety about how good of a job I’m going to do.”

There are more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 77 countries, working to bring clean water to communities, teach children, help start small businesses, and stop the spread of AIDS and HIV.

Since President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 155,000 Americans have joined the organization.

Originally published May 29, 2006

When this story was posted in June 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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