Denise is also a health and education professional and has worked as a patient care associate at Ohio State University Hospital East for the past four years. "Her heart is in Africa," said Veronica Lee, Hilliard's sister, who lives in Columbus. "And she wanted to deal with the under-served population." According to Christine Torres, Peace Corps public affairs specialist, this will be Hilliard's third assignment with the group. She has previously served as a volunteer in Honduras and Guatemala. "She is now embarking on her third volunteer assignment as part of the first wave of Peace Corps volunteers going back to Liberia to assist in the country's education reconstruction," Torres said. "Hilliard will be working with the Ministry of Education in Liberia as a mentor to training field coordinators." Torres said the volunteers will be part of Peace Corps Response, "a unique Peace Corps program that mobilizes previous Peace Corps volunteers for short-term humanitarian service assignments worldwide."
Peace Corps Volunteer Denise Hilliard helps bring Peace to Liberia
Volunteer brings Peace to Liberia
November 5, 2008
Caption: Hudson native Denise Hilliard poses for a picture with her fellow Peace Corps volunteers Oct. 27 at the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia. Hilliard is in the back row, third from the left. Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter is on her left, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is in the center. Photo By Special to Record Publishing Co.
by Tim Troglen
Reporter
Hudson -- A 33-year-old native is among the first wave of U.S. troops to hit the shores of war-torn Liberia since 1990.
However, Denise Hilliard is not a member of an armed forces branch, and the weapons she will use are not bombs or guns, but peace.
Denise was one of 12 former Peace Corps volunteers sworn in Oct. 27 in Monrovia, Liberia, by Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Denise was in Liberia and could not be reached for comment.
Denise is also a health and education professional and has worked as a patient care associate at Ohio State University Hospital East for the past four years.
"Her heart is in Africa," said Veronica Lee, Hilliard's sister, who lives in Columbus. "And she wanted to deal with the under-served population."
According to Christine Torres, Peace Corps public affairs specialist, this will be Hilliard's third assignment with the group. She has previously served as a volunteer in Honduras and Guatemala.
"She is now embarking on her third volunteer assignment as part of the first wave of Peace Corps volunteers going back to Liberia to assist in the country's education reconstruction," Torres said. "Hilliard will be working with the Ministry of Education in Liberia as a mentor to training field coordinators."
Torres said the volunteers will be part of Peace Corps Response, "a unique Peace Corps program that mobilizes previous Peace Corps volunteers for short-term humanitarian service assignments worldwide."
The Liberia volunteers, ranging in age from 24 to 68, bring a variety of professional expertise and experience to their service.
Lee said her sister decided she wanted to help people at an early age because of another family member, their sister Anna, who is quadriplegic.
"Anna was her inspiration," Lee said.
Lee said Anna has also helped inspire the entire family to go into service for others.
"She has opened so many doors for us and helped change our lives," Lee said.
And while Lee said her sister's tour in Liberia is "scary," the family is "really proud of her."
"She is smart enough that she is not going to put herself in a dangerous situation," Lee said. "Her whole point of it is to go, make a difference in their lives and be a better person for it."
Lee laughingly added that Denise, who also taught Spanish at Western Reserve Academy, chose this time of year to go because "she cannot stand Ohio's winters."
Her mom, Millie Hilliard , who lives in Hudson, said she is "extremely proud" of her daughter.
"But I'm also a little worried because of the location," Millie said. "But, this was Denise's choice and she's always made great choices."
Millie said her daughter "has always been a people person," but she will still be excited to see her come back in June.
Millie, who volunteered for the Peace Corps in the 1960s before quitting to raise a family, said when Denise in on an assignment she "absorbs the culture and lives like they live."
"That is incredible to be able to adapt like that," Millie said.
Torres said while Denise is among the "first group of volunteers in Liberia who will serve for eight months," by the end of 2009, a total of 22 volunteers are expected to join the program, bringing the total number of volunteers up to approximately 34 by the end of next year."
She said more than 4,400 Peace Corps volunteers served in Liberia from 1962 until 1990, when the program was suspended due to the Liberian civil war.
"This is something the family has always supported," Millie said about her daughter's volunteer efforts. "And she doesn't try to change herself and she has never complained about it."
The Peace Corps is not Denise's first job of volunteering. She has been a translator for the Down Syndrome Association; an English tutor for Catholic Workers in Akron; a hospice volunteer in Ravenna; a respite volunteer in Mantua; and a field supervisor for the Ohio chapter of the international non-profit group Amigos de las Americas.
"Hudson has certainly raised an amazing woman in Denise," Torres said.
E-mail: ttroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146
