UC Grad Begins Peace Corps Service in Ethiopia

Samantha Rhodes has been accepted into the Peace Corps and left for Ethiopia June 30 to begin training as a secondary education English teacher. Rhodes is a 2012 graduate of UC’s English Department.

Rhodes will be teaching conversational English and developing teaching materials with local teachers in rural Ethiopia. Rhodes will also help with various community and school-based projects, according to a Press Corps news release.

“I've always been interested in learning about other cultures, be it through reading or travelling,” Rhodes says. “I think we learn a lot through other people, and I think that understanding of others creates a more compassionate world.”

“While at the University of Cincinnati I had opportunities to study in England and India, fueling my international interests,” she says. “In India, I worked with rural women farmers to record the change in their lives through the efforts of a local NGO.”

During the first three months of her service, Rhodes will live with a host family in Ethiopia to learn the local language and integrate into the local culture. After acquiring language and cultural skills, Rhodes will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Ethiopia where she will serve for two years, according to the Peace Corps.

She will work in cooperation with the local people and partner organizations on sustainable, community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in Ethiopia.

“I want to understand the circumstances of women in rural Ethiopia,” Rhodes said. “It's a very poor country, and I imagine that its people are striving to make it less so. What can we do to help? Are there barriers preventing girls from attending school? Are women able to earn their own income by working? What does their method of agriculture look like? How can I learn to live a more sustainable life through their practices?”

Rhodes joins the 290 Ohio residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 7,009 Ohio residents have served as volunteers since the agency was created in 1961. Visit Visit www.peacecorps.gov to learn more about the organization, its history and mission.

The Peace Corps contributed to this story.