For Robert Sarwark, joining the Peace Corps just made a lot of sense.
As an undergraduate, the UW-Madison English/Creative Writing major (’06) had studied abroad in Spain, where he discovered a deep love for international travel. A year or so after graduating, he heard a friend talking about the positive experiences he’d had with AmeriCorps. Sarwark liked what he heard, but really wanted another international experience, which led him to apply for the Peace Corps.
Sarwark spent two years (2008-10) as a volunteer in the tiny nation of Cabo Verde, a chain of islands off the western coast of Africa. After swapping assignments with a friend in his training group, he ended up using his knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese, the country’s official language, to work at the University of Cabo Verde, doing everything from teaching linguistics classes and collecting materials for the university’s library to preparing students to travel abroad to the U.S. That experience helped ignite his current career: Today, Sarwark is a Knowledge Management Specialist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, collecting and maintaining resources for the Fed’s team of research economists and all other colleagues who need access to relevant information for their work.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” says Sarwark, who went on to earn advanced degrees in Portuguese and Library Sciences. “I discovered there was a strong link between my goals and values and what the Peace Corps actually is.”
Sarwark’s story is emblematic of the long and storied partnership between UW-Madison and the Peace Corps, a service program established by former President John F. Kennedy that is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Every year, UW-Madison graduates make up a big percentage of new Peace Corps volunteers, and for the past four years, UW-Madison has boasted the largest number of graduates volunteering for the Corps. Many of the 3,300 UW-Madison grads who have joined the Peace Corps since 1961 hail from the College of Letters & Science. While current Corps volunteers were sent back home in March 2020 due to the pandemic, that relationship is showing no signs of flagging.
Lenai Johnson was one of the Peace Corps volunteers whose experience was cut short by COVID-19. The UW-Madison Psychology and Legal Studies graduate (’18) had opted to go to the Philippine Islands, drawn to the program’s focus on human rights. She, too, had experienced international travel as an undergraduate, studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Considering the Peace Corps?
Lenai Johnson:
"Do your research. Know your strengths and the type of work that allows you to tap into your strengths.
Focus on relationships. You are going to be a much more successful volunteer if you develop solid relationships with people in your community, at your work, and in your host family.
Ask lots of questions. UW-Madison has a vast network of Retired Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who have served all over the world. I am sure many of them would love to discuss their experiences with you if you ask. Remember: you will be going into your community as an outsider. Humility is key.”
“My experience there really pushed me to consider what a career in international affairs could look like,” she says. Today, she’s working toward obtaining a master’s degree in Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, with a focus on International Peace Studies.
During her time with the Peace Corps, Johnson worked at a shelter for survivors of gender-based violence, creating a behavioral management program for the center, facilitating life skills lessons for the women and girls at the center, designing therapeutic activities and assisting with advocacy sessions throughout the province.
One of the biggest lessons she learned in the Peace Corps was to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“Ultimately, living in a different country, speaking a different language and coming face to face with cultural differences on a daily basis, a little bit of discomfort is inevitable,” Johnson explains. “I learned that I could either focus on these moments, or I could learn to be comfortable within them, finding the positives and learning to love them. Some of the smallest moments ended up being the most impactful and really became the foundation of my Peace Corps service.”
When COVID-19 hit, Johnson was in the middle of her second year with the Corps. She ended up having less than 24 hours to get packed and make it to an evacuation boat. Having to say goodbye to her host family and friends so abruptly was heartbreaking for her.
“More than anything, this experience really demonstrated to me the depth of relationships that I had developed within my community,” she says.
Sarwark developed quite a few himself. At the end of his second semester of teaching in Cabo Verde, his students threw a passeio to celebrate, a sort of picnic/potluck that often also includes passing around an acoustic guitar. Sarwark, who, at age 26, was younger than some of his students, felt like he belonged among them. Since returning to the United States, Sarwark has encountered, conversed with, and befriended several Cabo Verde citizens or descendants of Caboverdean people living in the U.S.
“The joy they showed when I spoke their language was deeply moving,” says Sarwark. “There are always ways the Peace Corps experience can open up doors.”