Peace Corps Volunteer Profile:
Name: Teresa Schweitzer
Age: 47
Hometown: Bodega, Calif.
Alma Mater: Ohio State, Astronomy, 1987
Country of Service: Ghana
Assignment: Agroforestry
Departure: October 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON June 5, 2012 — Teresa Schweitzer, 47, of Bodega, Calif., has been accepted into the Peace Corps.
Schweitzer departed for Ghana in October 2011 to begin pre-service training as a Agroforestry Peace Corps volunteer.
Schweitzer says she was motivated to join the Peace Corps because of “a desire to work with meaning and impact, and to continue a shift in career towards environmental and agricultural work.”
During her first three months of service, Schweitzer will live with a host family in Ghana to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist her host country, she will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community where she will live and work for two years with the local people.
Schweitzer is a 1987 graduate of Ohio State, where she earned a degree in Astronomy.
Schweitzer joins the 1,202 California residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 27,913 California residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.
About Volunteers in Ghana:
More than 4,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Ghana since the program was established in 1961. Ghana was the first country in the world to receive Peace Corps Volunteers. Volunteers in this West African nation work in the areas of education, environmental and agricultural conservation, health and HIV/AIDS awareness, water sanitation and hygiene promotion, business development, and information technology. Volunteers incorporate unique educational techniques by teaching visual arts in sign language at schools for the deaf. Many Volunteers working on HIV/AIDS prevention and care receive support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. Currently, 162 Volunteers are serving in Ghana. Volunteers are trained and work in the following languages: Buli, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ewe, Fanté, Ga, Ghanaian Sign Language, Gonja, Guruni, Hausa, Kasem, Kusaal, Likipakpaalu, Likpakpaln, Mampruli, Nzema, Sisaali, Taleni, Twi, Waale.
About Peace Corps:
More than 200,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in 139 countries since President John F. Kennedy established the agency in 1961.
Through their service, volunteers increase awareness of America around the world and help our country gain an understanding of other cultures beyond our borders. Currently, 9,095 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 75 countries.
Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment. Volunteers live and work with a community overseas to reach goals in education, health, business, agriculture, the environment, youth development and more.
Volunteers receive many benefits, including transportation, a living stipend, medical care, graduate school opportunities, student loan deferment, $7,425 upon completion and much more. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens, at least 18-years old, and in good health. There is no upper age limit and no cost to participate.
For more information and online applications, please visit www.peacecorps.gov.
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Media Contact: Jeremiah McDaniel of Peace Corps 310.356.1119 or jmcdaniel@peacecorps.gov
