Peace Corps volunteers near war zone airlifted to safety



An Arroyo Grande woman waited Saturday for additional word about the safety of her sister, a Peace Corps volunteer in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Peace Corps volunteers near war zone airlifted to safety

Arroyo High grad near war zone airlifted to safety
The Peace Corps volunteer in the former Soviet republic of Georgia was learning the language to teach English
By Stephen Curran

Kirsten Kensinger

An Arroyo Grande woman waited Saturday for additional word about the safety of her sister, a Peace Corps volunteer in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Kirsten L. Kensinger, 24, departed in June for the Eastern European country, where she was learning the language and cultural skills she would need to teach English, said her sister,

Margaret Kensinger-Klopfer. Kensinger, an Arroyo

Grande High School alumna, has since been airlifted with other volunteers to a safe but undisclosed location, and she called home late Friday night, Kensinger-Klopfer said.

Georgia has inched closer to full-blown war with neighboring Russia in recent days, as Russia has embarked on a bombing

campaign amid an attempt by Georgian forces to overtake the separatist region of South Ossetia. Georgian officials told The New York Times that hundreds of civilians have been killed.

“I don’t think she was personally concerned,” when she arrived, Kensinger-Klopfer said. “I don’t think she knew of the immediacy of anything.”

Kensinger graduated in 2007 from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., with a bachelor’s degree in humanistic studies.

In a written statement Saturday, Peace Corps officials said the agency does not operate in South Ossetia and that volunteers have been required to stay in their host communities and are in regular contact with local Peace Corps representatives.

Thirty-eight Peace Corps volunteers and 47 volunteer- trainees are now serving in Georgia, typically for two-year terms, according to the agency.

The Georgia program was established in 2001 and more than 275 volunteers have served there, the statement said. Volunteers work primarily in English-language education, business and social entrepreneurship programs.

Peace Corps representatives did not respond to a phone call from The Tribune on Saturday afternoon.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: August, 2008; Peace Corps Georgia; Directory of Georgia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Georgia RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers