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LAS CRUCES PEACE CORPS

Las Cruces Peace Corps volunteer evacuated from Dominican Republic amid COVID-19

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“It wasn’t supposed to end this way,” said Jessica Woodard, my daughter, who was in her second year as a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) in the Dominican Republic, just six weeks away from finishing service.

Thanks to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Jessica received urgent March 14 message that she and 148 other PCVs had only 16 hours to pack and be in the capitol of Santo Domingo to return to their “homes of record” in the United States.

In an unprecedented move, more than 7,300 PCVs were evacuated from their posts in 61 countries. After leaving most everything behind, the PCVs were returned to the U.S., jobless, ineligible for unemployment, without cars and forced to self-quarantine for 14 days. Some PCVs had to self-quarantine alone in Airbnbs or motels to avoid possibly carrying the virus to high-risk family members.

“The hardest part was not being able to say goodbye,” Jessica said, “knowing how devastating this virus will be if it spreads through my community and feeling like I was abandoning them during their time of need. I hope Peace Corps can reopen all their posts once we’ve recovered from this pandemic. The work we are doing around the world is so valuable and the connections we make last for a lifetime.”

Jessica, a graduate of Las Cruces High School, New Mexico State University (bachelor’s in linguistics and German) and the University of New Mexico (master’s in German studies), completed 10 weeks of intensive training and was assigned to serve as a Spanish literacy promoter in the Dominican Republic. She was inspired to serve in the DR, because she sponsored a boy named Miguel through Compassion International and learned of the country’s literacy issues through her correspondence with him. During her tenure in the DR, she was able to visit Miguel and his mother twice.

The first year of her service, Jessica observed classes and evaluated third-grade literacy levels. She formed tutoring groups for 21 students who scored lowest on the evaluation. After eight months, she reevaluated those students and found all had improved.

In her second year, she began establishing an accessible school library. The school already had a library space, but it was closed most days and used primarily for meetings. After soliciting and receiving a donation of books from the Rotary Club and Darian Books, she developed a cataloging system for the library.

Because there was no designated librarian, she knew each individual teacher should be trained to use the library. Jessica facilitated workshops with the first- through sixth-grade teachers, and together they created a vision for the library and scheduled weekly visits for their respective students. The library proved popular with students and teachers alike, and Jessica initiated several projects to build excitement and participation, including a world map mural, a Family of the Week program to encourage family involvement, an environmental club and reading competitions.

“When the order to leave came, we were in the middle of a reading competition between the fifth- and sixth-grade classes,” Jessica said. “The students were extremely motivated, and the teachers were visiting the library every week, eager to see whose class would earn the most points. Now the remainder of the school year has been canceled, and my students who have worked so hard will not be able to finish their competition.”

Now that she is back in Las Cruces, like other resilient PCVs across the country who are finding ways to help their communities during this pandemic, Jessica is volunteering at Casa de Peregrinos food program and at East Mesa Baptist Church’s food pantry while she waits for the job markets to open up again, so that she can seek a position where she can use her cross-cultural, multi-lingual experience.

Sandy Montoya is senior publications editor, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range. She also is a former Las Cruces Bulletin photographer.


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