“Hearing Kelly read and watching her write full sentences makes my heart flutter, knowing that only a year before, she was sitting in the back of a classroom pretending to write.”
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Dr. Remidene O.F. Aboko-Cole Diakité, Peace Corps Response Volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean
“Every year, during the second term of school in St. Lucia, schools island-wide focus on infiltrating sports into their daily schedule. This becomes a big deal because the students are separated into houses and compete, at the end of the term in a school wide “sports day.” At sports day, various competitions, races are held inviting families and community members to join in the festivities. Children run barefoot and scream for their houses, waving flags and dressing in their respective colors. This student, was not able to compete or acquire “house attire” but I caught her at a moment where she picked up red pom poms and started twirling around the field all by herself. I was so struck by her joy and with such utter simplicity that this photograph has become one of my favorites of my whole experience.”
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Little did I know that three decades later I would be a Peace Corps Volunteer on a tropical island, watching the Space Station go over my head, along with about 15 screaming children from my village.
These kids in the Eastern Caribbean just saw @nasa’s International Space Station fly overhead for the first time!
“This photo was taken in Grenada. This project was a transition program to help girls prepare for life. In this photo, one of the girls holds up an affirmation mural the girls worked on together to hang in the hallway of their bedrooms to remember to think positive.”
“On the island of St. Lucia it is very common to find vendors, farmers and shop owners both on the streets of the capital and in tiny alcoves of communities. Dozens of women sit under tents or umbrellas in the Caribbean sun selling everything from fresh bakes (fried dough), hair ribbons, bath products or Lucian sweets. One of the most common local treats is a tamarind ball.
In this photo, one of my third grade students is holding a tamarind ball that he made himself. That day the entire class, along with myself and my co-teacher, collected tamarind and made tamarind balls to exhibit the importance of following step by step instructions. We also used this activity to highlight the concept of sequencing, which served very well as this was a hands-on experience, literally. All over the room the children’s hands were filled with sugar from rolling the fresh tamarind to form the balls and took them home in tiny bags.”
“This photograph is from Grenada’s inaugural Camp G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World) 2012. The mornings began with outdoor yoga. In this photo two campers are working together to achieve a partner pose.”
“I took this photo on a outing with at the preschool where I volunteer once a week. We were at a national park in Dominica. This was some of the preschoolers time at this particular park, and it was an exciting time for many of them. At the time, these three girls were relaxing in the shade, watching their fellow classmates run some of their energy out in the sun.”
“I took this photo at a local flower exhibition on Dominica Island in the Eastern Caribbean. Two fellow peace Corps volunteers helped with this flower show.”
“I teach art in primary school on Dominica Island in the Eastern Caribbean. For the local carnival celebration, the children and I created these colorful carnival masks with paper, scissors and glue.”
“I took this photo on a outing with the Mahaut Preschool, where I volunteer once a week. We were at a national park in Dominica. This was some of the preschoolers time at this particular park, and it was an exciting time for many of them. At the time, these three girls were relaxing in the shade, watching their fellow classmates run some of their energy out in the sun.”
A Peace Corps Volunteer helped create this beautiful reading area for a library in her Dominican Republic community
(Source: peacecorps.gov)
By popular demand, we’ve updated our Volunteer homes Flickr set. Check out these PCV cribs from around the world!