Burkina Faso is a small country, comparable to the size of Colorado, in western Africa with a population of more than 12 million. It is considered one of the poorest countries in the world. The village that Isanhart calls home is Bondigui. It’s a village with a population of 3,000, where none of the luxuries of modern civilization exist. There is no electricity, no running water and no industry. Only a few have televisions, which can be watched only with the aid of a car battery for power. The nearest telephone is 18 miles away. "It’s a real pain when I have to make a call to the Peace Corps director and I travel all the way on my bicycle only to find out that they’re not there," Isanhart said.

Villagers make less than one dollar per day in the agricultural community where eighty percent of the population is illiterate. The fertility and mortality rates in Burkina Faso are high and health care is nearly non-existent. For all of these reasons, the Peace Corps sent Isanhart to help.

Isanhart, who was also an Honors College student, had learned about the Peace Corps during an Honors College High Table discussion her sophomore year. "When I was a junior I realized that I was getting closer and closer to graduation and I wasn’t sure what type of work I wanted to do when I got out of school," Isanhart said. "I remembered listening to the Peace Corps recruiter who came to campus and I decided to apply."

After much discussion with her parents, Doug and Mary Jo Isanhart, she began the application process. Because the process can be lengthy, Isanhart applied a year and a half in advance. "I knew I wasn’t ready for grad school and since I didn’t know what type of work I wanted to do, I figured that the Peace Corps would help me develop my skills and decide what type of work I wanted to do." 

Once she was accepted into the Peace Corps, she went through three months of intensive training in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city. There she learned the language, cross-cultural training, and health education. "You get to pick a region of the world where you’d like to serve," Isanhart said. "My first choice was Africa." Isanhart got her wish and was assigned to go to Burkina Faso. "I was placed in West Africa because the predominant language is French and I had taken a couple of semesters of the language during high school," she said. "I also had some experience with AIDS awareness education and my area of study was economic development, and so my skills and abilities were matched with Burkina Faso."

Isanhart has completed a little more than a year and a half of her two-year service and she is already considering extending her stay. "I’m considering requesting an extension of one year," Isanhart said. If she decides to stay, she will no longer work in the village, but will work with other developmental agencies in the area. One of the reasons she wants to extend her stay is because the third year would give her to opportunity to enhance her skills in economic development.

Isanhart said that a year ago she would not have thought she would be considering an extension. "The first year is really, really hard," she said. "You’re exposed to a new culture and a new language. It takes a lot of determination to keep pushing through." After the first year was complete, Isanhart began having a change of heart. "I went through a big turn-around as I think every Peace Corps volunteer does."

Visit UCA Today next week for Part 2 of UCA alumna Leia Isanhart's story.