We’re teenagers. We roll into class with dark circles under our eyes, tall cups of Dunkin Donuts coffee in tow, and copy down what we see on the board, word for word. While we live this, day after day, we struggle to see how any of what we’re learning in school will ever apply to the future “real world”. Okay… how is knowing that the Moors crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 711 going to help me pay my taxes one day? (Sorry, Mr. Ziccardi). 
Victoria Lin was once a teenager as well. She spent four years in high school, just like all of us. She spent every day sinking into a staticky, blue, plastic chair, and jotting down seemingly random dates and names, just like all of us.
But, would you look at her now? In 2017, Victoria Lin is a volunteer for the Peace Corps, working overseas in Burkina Faso to teach English to French-speaking African children. The best part is that Victoria’s large leap and immense success roots all the way back to her high school French class!
Although Victoria graduated from Parsippany Hills High School, not Mountain Lakes, one crucial aspect of her education might sound familiar to you all. The very French teacher who inspired her was MLHS’ own Madame Gomez! Madame Gomez taught Victoria for three years, and their class even took a trip to Paris together. Regarding Madame Gomez’s influence on her, Victoria said, “[Madame Gomez] is largely responsible for my Francophile tendencies and where I am today (cheesy, I know, but completely true!)”.
Now that Victoria is working with the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, she has been given the chance to correspond with an American teacher and their class. Fortunately for us, she has chosen to write to Madame Gomez! So, for the next two academic years, Madame Gomez’s French classes will be communicating with Victoria, and hearing about her exciting, new experiences all the way over in Africa. The main reason that Burkina Faso peaked Victoria’s interest, in the first place, was that it was a French speaking country.
The Peace Corps organization aims to provide interested countries with volunteers, who then come in and do developmental work. A huge part of the Peace Corps’ goal is to share some of the amazing cultures that volunteers encounter with our American culture, and vise versa. This is where Victoria’s letters come in handy!
It has been so interesting to hear about Burkina Faso, especially since it is so far and so different from Mountain Lakes. For those of you who have been out of ninth grade World Cultures for a while, Burkina Faso is a small country in West Africa, between Mali, Niger, and above Ghana. Victoria described the country as being small, and roughly the size of Colorado. Specifically, Victoria is working in a little village of about 1,000 people called Tioyo.
She is currently living in a small house with no water or electricity, and lots of crickets. While she’s over there, Victoria will be teaching English to local middle schoolers, and working on some additional projects, related to “economic development, food security, female empowerment, prevention, etc.”. Isn’t it incredible that, by simply sending someone passionate and hardworking like Victoria over there, so many people in Burkina Faso will get the help and care that they deserve?
Through our communication with Victoria, we have learned about Burkina Faso’s flat and rainy climate, their international art festival, their education system, and more. Going along with Victoria’s interest in photography, she also sent us some pictures from the village, of the kids and the villagers cooking.
So, yes, that fifteen page reading assignment feels pretty pointless right now. But, if it wasn’t for the work that Victoria had to do in her French class, she never would have made it out to Burkina Faso. Just think of all the people she can help and learn from, simply because she followed her interests! Oh, and with a little help from Madame Gomez’s amazingness.
0
0
Average Rating