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Psychology and philosophy graduate Julie Castner ’04 was given the honor of addressing a prestigious group at the swearing-in ceremony for new Peace Corps health workers in Madagascar: the ambassador to the United States, the ministers of foreign affairs and health, the second-in-command of the national police, representatives from UNICEF and the United States Agency for International Development, and about 350 Malagasy.
“She did a fantastic job and appeared on national TV and was in all the newspapers,” says William Bull ’85, director of the Peace Corps program in Madagascar, noting that Castner was chosen after learning the local language in just 10 weeks.
Castner is based at a hospital in Tanambe of the Lac Aloatra region. She teaches Malagasy about health and nutrition, including “how to be healthy on a budget of a about 50 cents a day for a fairly large family,” as well as prevention of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and diarrhea, which kills many children in the country.
“I am loving my experience here so far,” says Castner, whose service at Lafayette included participating in Alternative School Break Club and teaching GED classes at the Third Street Alliance for Women and Children. She gained experience living abroad by spending a summer in Italy with George Rosa, associate professor and assistant head of foreign languages and literatures, studying for a semester in Australia, and taking an interim session course in Kenya and Tanzania with Kofi Opoku, professor of religious studies, and Rexford Ahene, professor of economics and business.
She notes that her college roommate, anthropology and sociology graduate Olivia Tusinski ’04, is serving with the Peace Corps in Mali.
The Peace Corps has given Bull another tour of duty, extending his stay in Madagascar until November 2007. Peace Corps staff have a five-year maximum term, with the exception of workers rated in the 15% percent, who can continue for up to 7½ years. Bull, however, will have served almost 8½ years.