Article from my high school newspaper

Written by Hanni Reynolds

Many countries around the world are in need of assistance, and America found a way in the 1960s to give a hand. According to www.peacecorps.gov, Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship called the Peace Corps (PC).


Keith Gough, a 2002 graduate of MHS, is currently in Ukraine volunteering for the PC.
In Kennedy’s famous inaugural speech, he stated: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Gough said that the Peace Corps is one example of how to fulfill that idea.


“I first considered Peace Corps during a course at Indiana University called Human Impact on the Environment where the instructor taught about effective agricultural practices by presenting his experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South America,” Gough said.

Gough, who has been volunteering since October 2007, said that the goals of the PC are to provide countries with trained and capable workers who will pass on skills and information to help the host community grow, promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served and to promote a better understanding of the people served part of Americans. “I have met amazing volunteers who have already done more with their lives than I could ever imagine. I've made lifelong friends with Ukrainians and Americans and no two days here are the same,” Gough said.

Gough was studying Social Studies education and he thought the Peace Corps would be good way to relay information about history, culture, geography and more through first hand experience. "There is only so much you can learn from a book and from a classroom and I thought about how much volunteering would help as an educator,” Gough said.

Before taking part in the PC, Gough volunteered locally. He attended Indiana University and volunteered working as a tutor for children from domestic violence backgrounds. He also worked in a crisis shelter, and was a mentor for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. “Peace Corps was a way I could take volunteering to the next step and learn skills that would continue to benefit me as a teacher and a human for the rest of my life,” Gough said.


In high school, Gough did not care much about anything. He said he wasn’t the best student and should have done more in school. “I was an average student in high school and didn’t take advantage of the opportunities available, especially at MHS,” Gough said. “So I always felt guilty that my parents paid for my schooling when I never felt like I earned a free ride.” He said the Peace Corps was a way he could earn an achievement on his own and be more independent.

It was very difficult to stray far from his family even when he liked the independence.
“Saying goodbye to my friends and family was very difficult, especially since I’ve traveled very little and my only time away from home was during college,” Gough said.

He said it was very hard for him to leave, but he received only love and support from all of those who were closet to him, including his first host family in Ukraine. The first three months of volunteer work were training. The PC training includes learning languages and jobs, health and safety, and crossing culture.

“Volunteers live in a training site during this time with other volunteers who share all the same training sessions,” Gough said.

For three months, Gough had five hours of Russian language every weekday.
“Russian is a very difficult language to learn, but living here means I have to speak it whether I’m buying train tickets or haggling in the bazaar (an open market),” Gough said. He has passion for the PC and suggests that it would be a good idea for students to consider volunteering one day. If high school students are interested in Peace Corps, he recommends reading about the programs.

“Try to find opportunities to volunteer in your community as America is greatly in need, Gough said. “Find opportunities to travel if you can or to work with those from different countries. All these things will prepare those who are interested in applying for the Peace Corps.”

Although the Peace Corps is mainly for college graduates, it is still a goal that high school students may achieve.

During his experiences overseas as a Peace Corps volunteer, he believes he has grown in so many ways. “I am no longer afraid of making mistakes,” Gough said. “If I was, then I wouldn't be able to do or accomplish anything here.”

“I've also become more aware of my own ignorance, about politics, culture, history and so forth. Americans often think things work the same everywhere in the world, and that simply isn't true.”
Gough said that the schools are so much different from America that it is hard not to think of things in terms of right and wrong simply because things differ from what I am used to.

Gough is a member of PC Ukraine’s Environmental Working Group and he just finishes writing a President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief grant to fund an HIV AIDS awareness project that plans to educate thousands of adolescents about HIV prevention and transmission. “I’m trying to dispel myths and arm students and teachers with information that can save lives.” He is still in Ukraine, and will be until December 2009. He is continuing his passion and says he is loving every moment of his experiences.

“After reading the book ‘Three Cups of Tea’, the biggest thing I took away from volunteering overseas is not exactly what you do, but how,” Gough said. “Tasks cannot be on an American timeframe or completed in the same way as in the States, and it is very important to work with your community in a familiar way to make them comfortable. These are all things I would not have been able to perceive before being a PCV.”