Garden City Alumni: Where Are They Now? Eileen McCormick

Eileen McCormick (Garden City High School 2005) is one of the youngest Peace Corps volunteers from Garden City. At 24 years old, she is a Peace Corps volunteer with the non-governmental organization, SISHA (South East Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities), located in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

When McCormick was in high school, her math teacher, David Izzo, imparted some wise words on his own life journey on how you take the opportunities you are given: “Sometimes things just happen and new paths are there and you just take ‘em. That’s how life is.”

With that in mind, when McCormick was in college she had the chance to help build a school in Jamaica and jumped at it. She came away from the experience realizing how important it is to help others.

McCormick double majored in women’s studies and criminal investigation at West Virginia University. After graduation the two majors meshed perfectly when she realized there was a dire need to provide staff training, in order to deal with rape victims in Cambodia’s health centers.

Since she arrived in July 2010, McCormick’s project has been to establish a pilot program event in Phnom Penh called “Take Back the Night,” similar in structure to what we have with United States college campuses. TBN tries to eliminate sexual violence in all forms through legal assistance and education, as well as supporting the survivors.

“Cambodia ranks 95 out of 138 countries on the Gender Inequality Index. This is due in large part to the lack of public awareness on the subject. It is something I hope the ‘Take Back the Night’ event can fight, as well as provide my hospital staff with training. The project has allowed me to work with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs that has allowed me to really get to know what the ministry is up against, as far as changing the perception behind gender ... The notion of women not only being abused but taught to be complacent in their abuse has left me no other moral choice but to fight this injustice,” McCormick said.

McCormick lives with a Khmer host family with no running water and limited electricity. However, she feels her problems are nothing compared to the hardships Cambodian women face every day with being physically and emotionally abused.

McCormick hopes to eventually work for the United Nations in women’s development.

Residents can send a contribution to McCormick for her project by contacting her at PCVemccorm2@gmail.com. For more information about SISHA visit www.sisha.org.

(Editor's Note: 2011 marks the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps. Several Garden City High School graduates have been part of this great government organization.)