NATIONAL PEACE CORPS
Edna Kallon 

A native of a small village in Bangladesh who grew up in Africa within Yonibana in Sierra Leone, Edna Kallon also spent time in Pakistan, Kenya, and Uganda while her father worked for the United Nations. Edna became a Dean’s List student at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where she majored in psychology with a minor in art history. Edna had a past internship with the U.N. World Food Program where she conducted research on female AIDS victims in Uganda and wrote a report on her findings. At Franklin and Marshal, Edna belonged to the African Dance Club, was an assistant at Martin Sciences Library, a resident assistant and head house advisor, and an intern at the Tommy Foundation for autistic children. Edna headed Tommy’s advertising and fundraising committee and the Sun-Rise Program (for personal therapy); she also tutored children in English at Lancaster Literacy Council. She applied to the Washington Internship Program in March requesting an internship in human-rights law and public relations. Edna was placed in May at the National Peace Corps where she worked from June through August. Edna is among the most impressive international interns WIP was privileged to host over the last two and-a-half decades; here is her paper:
           
“When Lev Berenbaum came to Franklin and Marshall College to recruit for the Washington Internship Program, he was articulate about the benefits of WIP. In his speech, he told us that the program costs $3,400. For a college student living from paycheck to paycheck, such an amount seemed astronomical. I fought the urge to discard the notion of possibly being part of the program. As I listened to Lev, I was furiously thinking of ways to apply without my parents writing the check. After the recruiting session, I asked Lev if WIP had a way to help students with interest, drive, and passion for such opportunities who could not financially afford to participate. Unfortunately, he told me that WIP had no scholarships but it had reduced the cost of the program initially from the much higher fees charged by two other such programs that charge three times the amount. I was saddened because the deadline had already passed for the majority of scholarships for which I could apply as an international student on my campus. Nevertheless, I took the application package along with me just in case a miracle happened or I could formulate a plan to afford the program.”

            “Well, I got my miracle as well as a plan. After a month of contemplating other options for summer work, I decided on the Washington Internship Program. I didn’t yet know how I was going to budget my summer. I knew that WIP secured contracts with organizations that insured substantive work for all interns rather than letting placements relegate just administrative tasks to students. I didn’t want to fetch people coffee all day or file documents; I hoped to get my hands dirty with meaningful work.”
 
“My plan was simple but effective. To pay for the internship, I asked for help from my uncle, who is single and works with the U.N. in Uganda. He gave me $2,000, and then I asked my dad to cover the remaining $1,400. Taking into account housing and other living expenses, I realized that my father would probably have to pay about $5,000 for the summer, which I sought to avoid. I knew that I couldn’t afford WIP’s housing, so I tried looking for some college dorms with which WIP is affiliated, but then another miracle happened. At about 12:00 one afternoon, I was walking into the library when I came across a friend named Erin. She asked me about my summer plans, and I told her. Erin’s eyes lit up, and she uttered the sweetest words: ‘Edna, you can live with me this summer in Arlington, Virginia because I’m going to work in D.C., too!’ At the time, I didn’t know that Erin was also going to be part of the Washington Internship Program. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I graciously accepted the invitation to live in her home for the summer at no cost. I now view Erin’s parents as my adopted family in the United States.”

            “My troubles did not end with this housing solution. I was asked to submit a writing sample for some of the applications for internships. I sent Dr. Bayer at W.I.P. a paper I tried to edit to the best of my abilities. She E-mailed back the partially edited paper with corrections and comments she wanted me to apply to the rest of the piece. One comment shook me to the bones. She bluntly stated: ‘You lack the basic skills to be a good writer.’ I was distraught because I thought of myself as a fairly good writer. I told myself that although I was a wreck at writing essays in the present, I was going to be better in the future. I spent hours in the library learning to improve my writing. Diane Hacker’s grammar book, the dictionary, and a thesaurus become my closest friends as I struggled to apply Dr. Bayer’s guidelines. I spent about two hours a day mastering grammatically correct, clear, and forceful writing. I sent my paper back to WIP, and Dr. Bayer responded that I had improved. Then I wrote another paper reflecting on my junior year in college and my work in service of human rights worldwide. Dr. Bayer again corrected half my work, told me not to worry about content, and asked me to focus on grammar and word choice when applying the rules she sent to the second half of the essay. I edited the remaining portion and E-mailed it to her. Dr. Bayer corrected the rest and sent it to me with the comment: ‘Thank you for allowing me to read such a gem!’ I realized once again the importance of hard work. I sincerely thank Dr. Bayer for being brutally honest with me and, above all, for being an educator. She coached me through the writing until my results were excellent.”

            “On May 28 I moved to Arlington, and on the first day of June I started working for the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA). I had made it! I learned that the only person to be disappointed in the future – if I did not take full advantage of such an opportunity – was me. The NPCA is not the Peace Corps. The former organization deals with returned volunteers from the Peace Corps, and it continues to educate Americans about other cultures. An advocate for international development, the NPCA is not a government organization and thus has more freedom of action. I worked on five different projects at once. As a development intern, my tasks for the summer were to develop a strategy for increased membership, fundraise for the creation of a vibrant Internet community, and improve the utility of the organization’s online career center. I wrote proposals for grants and interim reports on funds received by the organization. I was also required to write a monthly newsletter for the Director’s Circle – members who annually donate a thousand dollars or more to the organization.”

            As a development intern, I had the opportunity to sit in on several meetings where I was able to voice my opinion. The first was a strategizing session for a film to be produced for the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps in 2011. Several important people were at the meeting, including: Ken Hill, chair of the NPCA board; Barbara Anne Ferris, co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund and president of the International Women’s Democracy Center; Matt Losak, director of communications for the National Labor Coalition; Karen Dewitt, a reporter who worked for the Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today; and Dick Richter, a writer and producer for CBS News, executive producer of the Public Broadcast Laboratory at ABC, and the producer of many documentaries. Richter is currently the president of Radio Free Asia. I also had the pleasure of being introduced to Harris Wofford, author of the book The Kennedy’s and Kings, in addition to having lunch with him. It was thrilling to talk to him about his being a former assistant to Martin Luther King, Jr. I felt great to be among such esteemed individuals as they exchanged ideas about the film.” 

            “I also attended several discussion groups held in D.C. The first was a two-hour session at the United Nations Foundation Center where three speakers addressed the United Nation's and the International Labor Organization's mission to stop child labor. These lecturers spoke about the correlation between poverty and lack of education and the need to create legislation to fix both problems in the context of eradicating child labor. I also went to a meeting about child marriage and women’s rights. The last event I attended was Senator Barack Obama’s articulate speech on the importance of public service, which was held at the Annual Washington Interns Event. Television journalist Tim Russet from Meet the Press interviewed the Senator. I loved gaining knowledge from these activities because I am passionate about international human rights.”

           “What I value most about my internship was not the people I got to meet or the talks I heard but the person I became in the process. I gained a new understanding of myself and the world in which I am living. I must give credit to my internship because it set the stage for the personal growth I craved so much. This experience is definitely worth every dollar I paid for the Washington Internship Program. It was an endeavor that showed me the way to my future.” 

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