Peace Corps Volunteer Profile:
Name: Kara Widergren
Age: 21
Hometown: Kennewick, Wash.
Alma Mater: University of Puget Sound, Foreign Language and International Affairs, 2012
Country of Service: Namibia
Assignment: English Teacher
Departure: July 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON July 24, 2012 — Kara Widergren, 21, of Kennewick, Wash., has been accepted into the Peace Corps.
Widergren will be departing for Namibia in July 2012 to begin pre-service training as a English Teacher Peace Corps volunteer.
During her first three months of service, Widergren will live with a host family in Namibia to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist her community, she will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community in Namibia, where she will live and work for two years with the local people.
Widergren is a 2012 graduate of University of Puget Sound, where she earned a degree in Foreign Language and International Affairs.
Widergren joins the 372 Washington residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 8,631 Washington residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.
About Volunteers in Namibia:
Volunteers work in the areas of education, community health and HIV/AIDS, information technology, and small business development.
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.
Peace Corps volunteers spend their first three months of service in training, living with a host family and studying the local language and culture.
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. Apply online.
For more information and online applications, please visit www.peacecorps.gov.
###
Media Contact: Jeremiah McDaniel of Peace Corps 310.356.1119 or jmcdaniel@peacecorps.gov
