Canton Woman Headed to The Gambia with Peace Corps

Katrina Alber will spend two years in the Republic of The Gambia as a health extension volunteer. (Photo submitted)

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A Canton woman will be leaving Oct. 10 for the Republic of The Gambia, where she will begin training as a health extension volunteer for the Peace Corps.

Katrina Alber, 25, will live and work at the community level to raise awareness of malaria and prevention, in addition to improving water and sanitation practices and systems in the tiny West African country.

“I have felt compelled to be a public servant my entire life, and to help those who do not yet have the resources to help themselves,” Alber said in a statement. “I believe the entire goal of my education is to provide the knowledge and tools that people need to be healthy. Health is a human right.”

Alber is the daughter of John and Jovon Alber of Canton and a 2008 graduate of Plymouth High School of Canton. She graduated from the University of Toledo in Ohio in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in general studies, then went on to receive her master’s degree in public health at Case Western Reserve University in 2015.

While in graduate school, Alber also received clinical experience working with HIV/AIDS patients.

She said her post-graduate study was “immensely helpful in preparing me for Peace Corps with knowledge about infectious diseases, educational approaches and community-based intervention techniques.”

“I can only imagine how helpful this knowledge will be throughout my service,” Alber said.

During the first three months with the Peace Corps, Alber will live with a host family in The Gambia to learn the local language and integrate herself into the culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills, Alber will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in The Gambia, where she will serve for two years.

Alber will work in cooperation with the local people and partner organizations on sustainable, community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in The Gambia and help Alber develop leadership, technical and cross-cultural skills that will give her a competitive edge when she returns home.

The Peace Corps says its volunteers return from service as global citizens well-positioned for professional opportunities in today’s global job market,

“Being encouraged by my professors and friends while I was in high school, college and graduate school gave me the push I needed to apply for the Peace Corps,” Alber said. “I am ecstatic about completely immersing myself in another culture. People fascinate me, and I am always eager to learn new things.”

Alber joins some 233 Michigan residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 7,107 Michigan residents have served as volunteers since the agency was created in 1961 in President John F. Kennedy. Since then, more than 220,000 Americans of all ages have served in 140 countries worldwide.

She will be one of 70 Peace Corps volunteers working in The Gambia on projects in education, health and the environment. During their service in The Gambia, volunteers learn to speak local languages, including Jola, Mandinka, Pulaar, Sarahule and Wolof.

More than 1,700 Peace Corps volunteers have served in The Gambia since the program was established there in 1967.