2007.04.05: April 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Gabon: Birth Control: The Daily Princetonian: Victoria Chang GS found herself in a classroom in West Central Africa teaching teenagers how to use birth control
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2007.04.05: April 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Gabon: Birth Control: The Daily Princetonian: Victoria Chang GS found herself in a classroom in West Central Africa teaching teenagers how to use birth control
Victoria Chang GS found herself in a classroom in West Central Africa teaching teenagers how to use birth control
"I was based in the village talking to young moms and pregnant women about maternal/child health," Chang said. "I also did presentations for youth about HIV, AIDS and reproductive health." Though the work was hard, Chang said the need to disseminate health information inspired her to make the best out of her situation. "[In Gabon,] sex is a taboo subject. But kids are kids everywhere. They just want to ask questions. I loved giving these presentations and opening up the floor so that kids could ask me questions," Chang said. "They want this information, and they really can't get it elsewhere."
Victoria Chang GS found herself in a classroom in West Central Africa teaching teenagers how to use birth control
From the Peace Corps to Princeton
By Catherine Mevs
Princetonian Staff Writer
One month after graduating from Harvard in 2001, Victoria Chang GS found herself in a classroom in West Central Africa teaching teenagers how to use birth control.
The Peace Corps had taken her to Gabon for two years to serve as a community health educator, an experience she said eventually led her to Princeton.
"I was based in the village talking to young moms and pregnant women about maternal/child health," Chang said. "I also did presentations for youth about HIV, AIDS and reproductive health."
Though the work was hard, Chang said the need to disseminate health information inspired her to make the best out of her situation.
"[In Gabon,] sex is a taboo subject. But kids are kids everywhere. They just want to ask questions. I loved giving these presentations and opening up the floor so that kids could ask me questions," Chang said. "They want this information, and they really can't get it elsewhere."
Chang is one of multiple Wilson School graduate students who devoted two or more years of their lives to the Peace Corps before coming to Princeton. Of the approximately 60 first-year graduate students pursuing MPAs, three are former Peace Corps volunteers.
"People who serve in the Peace Corps are very likely to be looking for careers that relate to development work," said Karen McGuninnes, associate dean for graduate education of the Wilson School. "I think it indicates a dedication to public service, and that's what we're looking for in our graduate students."
Randall Blair GS agrees. Blair said he considers his Wilson School graduate studies as a way of "applying the perspective and intuition you get on the ground, but now attacking the problems on a higher level."
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Story Source: The Daily Princetonian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Gabon; Birth Control
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