2010.12.25: December 25, 2010: Bethany Jenkins was assigned to the village of Byera Hill, a small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, located in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean
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2010.12.25: December 25, 2010: Bethany Jenkins was assigned to the village of Byera Hill, a small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, located in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean
Bethany Jenkins was assigned to the village of Byera Hill, a small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, located in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean
"It was a really amazing experience," Jenkins said. "Saint Vincent is a really wonderful country." Though the Byera community is marked by high rates of illiteracy, teenage pregnancy and drug use, it is unmarked by some of the negatives of modern society. "The beauty of the island is still completely untouched," Jenkins said. "It is a really, truly wonderful place to live." As part of her work with the native residents, Jenkins established a remedial reading program for the children at the local elementary school and gave professional development training to the school's teachers. She also facilitated a life-skills class for teenagers in Byera and created a Brownie troop for some of the girls in the village. Jenkins also taught about 30 children the basics of athletics, heath and nutrition, and coached them through several 5K races. One of her athletes later won an international 10K race in Barbados.
Bethany Jenkins was assigned to the village of Byera Hill, a small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, located in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean
Butler alumna has giving spirit all year long
Published: Saturday, December 25, 2010, 6:30 AM
By Crystal Bonvillian, The Huntsville Times
Caption: Bethany Jenkins, center, poses with some of her students at the initiation of a Brownie troop she established in Byera Hill. Jenkins, a Peace Corps volunteer, worked in the small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for about two years before returning to Huntsville last month.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Bethany Jenkins has helped a lot of people in her young life.
The 24-year-old Butler High School alumna recently returned home to Huntsville after serving two years in the Peace Corps.
"I've always wanted to do the Peace Corps, specifically," said Jenkins, who moved to Huntsville in 2001 as one of four children in a military family. "It's helping people to help themselves.
"It's all about sustainability," Jenkins said. "The whole idea of the Peace Corps is that eventually, your help won't be needed. I like that."
Jenkins was assigned to the village of Byera Hill, a small farming community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, located in the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.
"It was a really amazing experience," Jenkins said. "Saint Vincent is a really wonderful country."
Though the Byera community is marked by high rates of illiteracy, teenage pregnancy and drug use, it is unmarked by some of the negatives of modern society.
"The beauty of the island is still completely untouched," Jenkins said. "It is a really, truly wonderful place to live."
As part of her work with the native residents, Jenkins established a remedial reading program for the children at the local elementary school and gave professional development training to the school's teachers. She also facilitated a life-skills class for teenagers in Byera and created a Brownie troop for some of the girls in the village.
Jenkins also taught about 30 children the basics of athletics, heath and nutrition, and coached them through several 5K races. One of her athletes later won an international 10K race in Barbados.
Before joining the Peace Corps, Jenkins graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, earning a degree in international studies. During her school career, she volunteered with a crisis hotline and Choose Life Save a Life.
Working with others is something that has always interested her, Jenkins said.
She also got more than a taste of travel growing up as she, her mother Jennifer, and her siblings followed her father through his military assignments. Now retired, Col. Don Jenkins said he is very proud of his daughter.
"She's always been just absolutely engaged in life," Don Jenkins said. "Whenever and wherever she was, she would offer her help to those who needed it."
Now that she is back in the United States, Bethany Jenkins said, she hopes to find a job.
"I'm hoping to get a job in the school system," Jenkins said. "And I want to go back to graduate school to be a counselor."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: December, 2010; Peace Corps Saint Vincent; Directory of Saint Vincent RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Saint Vincent RPCVs
When this story was posted in March 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
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