2009.02.16: February 16, 2009: Headlines: COS - Mali: Agriculture: Columbia Missourian: When the Peace Corps sent Nate Jensen to a tiny West African village in 2005, a parasitic plant known as striga or witchweed was plaguing farmers
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2009.02.16: February 16, 2009: Headlines: COS - Mali: Agriculture: Columbia Missourian: When the Peace Corps sent Nate Jensen to a tiny West African village in 2005, a parasitic plant known as striga or witchweed was plaguing farmers
When the Peace Corps sent Nate Jensen to a tiny West African village in 2005, a parasitic plant known as striga or witchweed was plaguing farmers
Armed with nothing but a physics degree and a desire to help, Jensen, now 29, offered veteran farmers struggling to adapt to a global economy one thing they couldn't get for themselves: access to the latest research and knowledge. "I was the Internet for these guys," Jensen said. "They used me instead of Google." In Mali, Jensen's main function was to transfer knowledge from the outside world to Missadiebougou.
When the Peace Corps sent Nate Jensen to a tiny West African village in 2005, a parasitic plant known as striga or witchweed was plaguing farmers
MU attracts Peace Corps vets with Fellows program
Peace Corps Fellows program funds postgraduate studies of returning volunteers.
Monday, February 16, 2009 | 7:55 p.m. CST
[Excerpt]
COLUMBIA — When the Peace Corps sent Nate Jensen to a tiny West African village in 2005, a parasitic plant known as striga or witchweed was plaguing farmers.
Intensive cultivation in Mali encouraged by haphazard westernization and international market forces had given the small green nutrient-thieving plant the upper hand.
In the village of Missadiebougou, it had been a long, frustrating battle between the parasite and nutrient-rich millet.
Armed with nothing but a physics degree and a desire to help, Jensen, now 29, offered veteran farmers struggling to adapt to a global economy one thing they couldn't get for themselves: access to the latest research and knowledge.
"I was the Internet for these guys," Jensen said. "They used me instead of Google."
In Mali, Jensen's main function was to transfer knowledge from the outside world to Missadiebougou.
Now, he and several other returned Peace Corps volunteers have come to MU to transfer the knowledge and perspective they gained in Mali, Kyrgyzstan and Lesotho to the campus community and city as a whole.
"Maybe I can't apply all this practical stuff I learned in Mali," Jensen said, "but it changed my perspective." That new perspective — on agriculture, economics, development, the discomfort of camel-back riding and a sea of other subjects — is what Jensen hopes to share.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: February, 2009; Peace Corps Mali; Directory of Mali RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Mali RPCVs; Agriculture
When this story was posted in March 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez. |
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Story Source: Columbia Missourian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Mali; Agriculture
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