September 2008

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

New Alum Launches Career in Mongolia with Peace Corps

Imagine waking up with the sunrise, folding up your bedding, and throwing a fresh scoop of dung on the fire to warm your hut before having breakfast with a family that doesn’t speak any English. Welcome to the morning routine of Emma Archer, CAS/MA ’08, since graduating from AU in May.

Just weeks after crossing the stage and receiving her diploma at AU, Archer found herself flying across the ocean to the exotic land of Mongolia, embarking on her two-year term as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Along with 11 other volunteers training in the Mongolian town of Xutul (pronounced “Hutul”) through the summer, Archer prepared for her service by taking four hours of language class and two-to-four hours of cultural and technical training per day.

In late August, Archer moved to her new home in Mandalgobi where she's a teacher trainer at a school with 1,600 students and nine English teachers. She teaches 5th through 9th grade students and works with the teachers to explore new teaching methodologies and develop resources for the school. The days are long; school runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the region she's in has made quite an impression.

“Mongolia has many faces, and it would seem that Mandalgobi is her Old West,” notes Archer. “I can’t properly describe it, but it’s on this strange boundary between desert bareness and sheer beauty.”

Archer is the first to proclaim that she has had some amazing experiences already in the first few months of her two-year appointment. “Learning about the riots in Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital, was unnerving, and being stopped by the side of the road by an old man so we could help his granddaughter with her English homework was heartwarming.”

She also had the honor of dancing the Mongolian reindeer dance in front of the American ambassador, complete with a furry orange costume, as part of her official volunteer ceremony.

Yet, Archer definitely misses a few comforts from the states. “I miss cheese, coffee, salads, and Mexican food.” As a vegetarian, several of Mongolia’s traditional dishes such as roasted goat intestines and mutton dumplings hold little appeal, but others are growing on her, including fermented mare’s milk (called “airag”), and Mongolian yogurt. Archer is jumping right in and trying it all. “I even lick my yogurt bowls clean in true Mongolian fashion,” she remarks.

Through her experiences in Mongolia, Archer has been continually amazed by “the sheer beauty of this country” and its people. “They’re unbelievably kind and hospitable,” she remarks.
“I have great hope that we’ll be able to have a positive impact on the community through our service here. It’s exciting.”

AU ranks seventh in the nation for mid-sized universities with the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers. More than 700 AU alumni have joined the Peace Corps since it’s inception in 1961; more than 45 alumni are currently volunteers around the world.

- Heather Buckner

Back to newsletter