The Global Scholars program hosted Guest Speaker Phoebe Crowe on December 13th. Phoebe is our first guest speaker who is actually a Mukwonago alumni. While she is not a graduate of the Global Scholars program she seems she could be an honorary Global Scholar, we simply did not have the program yet when she graduated Mukwonago in 2015.
Phoebe got her taste for global citizenship when she was at Mukwonago when she completed her junior year as a study abroad student in Italy. She loved the experience and shared with other students upon her return by speaking to International Club, World Geography classes and really anyone who would listen. After graduating and moving to Arizona, Phoebe completed her college degree and just recently joined the Peace Corps. This was the focus of her talk and students really enjoyed her presentation style and experiences she shared.
Phoebe is currently serving in Fiji as a Peace Corps volunteer. She completed her three month training and was then relocated on Viti Levu, the largest island in Fiji. Her role within the Peace Corps is to help improve economic development within her local community. This will involve getting to know the small business owners and help them set goals, plan financing and work on business plans to help them make well informed economic decisions. One aspect of this is she will be teaching financial literacy classes to help encourage people to keep track of their finances so they can budget their spending and plan for their future.
Phoebe spoke with us from her home in Fiji through her computer, which gave students the great opportunity to see her living conditions. Phoebe made it quite clear her conditions are very good in comparison to many areas other Peace Corps volunteers are placed. She walked around her home with her computer see we could see everything. Her living space (bedroom, living room) was all one room. A second small room with a hot plate for cooking and a bathroom with a real toilet and shower with an actual shower head (cold water only). She mentioned the importance of always having extra water on hand in case the water gets shut off so she would still be able to cook and wash. Some of the other luxuries that she had, thanks to a generous Christmas gift from her parents was an electric blender and small refrigerator that would be common for a dorm room. The source for her electricity is an extension chord that runs from her neighbors house (important to keep a good relationship with that neighbor).
The cultural challenges/adjustments that Phoebe is adjusting to are many, and it sounds like community members are not afraid to let her know when she commits one of these errors. For example, when walking through a room and walking around somebody
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