Alumni Spotlight: Zach Crawford in Benin
Editor’s Note: the following content was provided by the Peace Corps.
The Peace Corps today announced its 2015 rankings of the top volunteer-producing colleges and universities across the country. This year, Boston University ranked No. 24 among large schools, with 30 alumni currently volunteering worldwide.
BU alumni are currently serving in Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Macedonia, Madagascar, Micronesia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda. They work in sectors including agriculture, education, environment, health and community economic development.
One such is Zachary Crawford, alumnus of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. Crawford, who graduated in 2013, serves as a health extension volunteer in the African nation of Benin. Benin recently sat down with the Peace Corps and described his experience.
Where are you living and working?
ZC: I live and work in the small village about 16 kilometers from the Togolese border, which is also about 50 kilometers away from where my father served as a Health Education Volunteer from 1980-82 in Togo!
What is your main project? Do you have a secondary project?
ZC: My main projects at the moment center around group education work with women, men and youth. Primarily, I meet with a group of ten women about twice a month where we discuss various topics such as malaria prevention, exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months, family planning, hand-washing and nutrition. Each woman is then responsible for going into the community and re-teaching each lesson to ten additional women, reaching a total of 110 women with every lesson.
I also work with a men’s group (the 10 women’s husbands) on similar topics but from a financial perspective, as men usually have control over the family’s finances. In addition to these two groups, I also work alongside a group of students to go into the community and educate ‘descholarized youth’ – or people under 25 who for one reason or another dropped out of school – on safe sex and family planning methods.
My colleagues and I are also in the planning phase for starting a pilot program in Benin to test and treat entire communities against malaria.
What college did you attend and what year did you graduate? How did your college education and experience prepare you for Peace Corps service?
ZC: I graduated from Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies in May 2013 with a B.A. in International Relations.
Studying international relations and my accompanying internship and study abroad experiences have absolutely contributed to and helped shape my desire to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. I don’t think anything can really prepare someone for their service – and all the unique uncertainties, troubleshooting and frustrations that come with it. But, I do believe that Boston University nurtured the critical thinking, global mindset and sense of community that has guided me through these first seven months of my service in Benin, and for that I am grateful.
What is your favorite part of your service or location?
ZC: There are so many things that I love about my post and my work, but above all it’s the people I work with and see every day that keep me going. The people in my village keep me laughing, motivated and inspired, and without their welcoming support my service would feel incomplete.
How are you making a difference for your Peace Corps host community?
ZC: In my village, I strive to make a difference in the domains of maternal and child health, nutrition and malaria prevention, but my effectiveness has everything to do with my work partners and their willingness to improve the overall health of my host community. Alongside them, I feel secure in our work and can see the difference we make every day, whether that be encouraging women to vaccinate their children or teaching schoolchildren about the importance of sleeping under a mosquito net.