Elizabeth Owens '06 teaches English to Ukrainian children through the Peace Corps.
Brittanie Wyko '11
Elizabeth Owens '06 takes a break from
exploring a National Park in Ukraine.
The Peace Corps is a world renowned organization that sends active and passionate volunteers to more than 74 countries aiding in education, youth outreach and community development, the environment and technology. Volunteers are as young as 18 and as old as 80. Students, teachers, ministers, married couples, college graduates and so many others come together for a cause - to help mankind.
Closer to home, Elizabeth Owens '06, joined the Peace Corps after graduation in hopes of fulfilling a dream that she has had since a child – helping others. Having had both parents in the Peace Corps, Owens was active in local community service throughout her teenage years.
"I always wanted to do the Peace Corps from the time I was a child," said Owens. "The Peace Corps was my next step in my desire to reach out to communities that ask for help."
In the village of Babyn, located in the Chernivtsy Region of Ukraine, Owens has made great waves as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). She teaches grades 2nd through 10th and helps children learn how to read, write and speak English. Along with teaching, she has created a Spanish club and an English Olympiad, which is "like the National Spelling Bee, starting in school and working its way National. The Olympiad tests students on writing, speaking, reading, and listening in English," said Owens.
Outside of teaching, Owens is also highly involved in working with HIV/Aids and Multicultural Awareness, as Ukraine has the highest growing number of people with HIV/Aids in Europe.
"The Peace Corps was my next step in my desire to reach out to communities that ask for help."
- Elizabeth Owens '06 Growing up, Owens was exposed to traveling abroad at an early age because her father works in the field of Foreign Disaster Assistance. For the first 12 years of her life, she lived in Honduras (where she was born), Jamaica, Nicaragua and Barbados. She has also traveled to Latin America, Mexico and Western Europe. While attending Virginia Wesleyan, Owens studied abroad in Valencia, Spain, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, Political Science and Spanish.
As a Peace Corps volunteer, Owens experience has broadened her awareness of humanitarian, political, cultural and global issues. Teaching in an ex Soviet-block country, Owens said her awareness of international politics has especially risen.
"It's very astonishing to find that so much of your livelihood, so much of the peoples livelihoods depend so much on the swing of politics here and in other countries," said Owens. "Life was never felt that way in the [United] States."
Humanitarian wise, Owens said "I thought I knew all about community service back home, but coming here and actually living in the very communities that I was helping, living the same type of life as them, shows me the value of what I do."
11.28.07