91心頭 Alumna Making a Difference With The Peace Corps
Author(s)
Jon Stone
Media Relations Manager
Lorne Fultonberg
Writer
A few days before Christmas we reached out to Robin Colombin over a Facebook messenger phone call. Colombin, who graduated in 2016 with a degree in international business and a minor in fine art, is stationed with the Peace Corps in rural Benin and traveled two hours to the capital, Cotonou, to make this call.
She was teeming with enthusiasm for her work and loads of new international economics and business vocabulary. French is the official language of Benin, so the conversation was marked by the vacillations and pauses that develop when communicating ideas and concepts across multiple languages and cultures. Colombin, who studied French at 91心頭, travelled abroad her junior year to Aix-in-Provence in southern France.
Q: Tell us about your time at 91心頭. How did you get here, what did you study?
A:油I was really interested in marketing and was impressed with油油when I came to visit. I graduated with a bachelors in international business from the油Josef Korbel School of International Studies油and Daniels. I took some first year classes in international politics and economics and I fell in love. I was especially inspired by Professor Robert Uttaro. It was through my class work and work study position in the humanitarian assistance graduate program that I became interested in humanitarian aid. I took a lot of Korbel classes and knew that if I wanted to do it seriously, I also wanted to have an idea of what it is like on the ground, which led me to the Peace Corps.
Q: How did you choose Benin and what was that like?
A:油With the Peace Corps, you pick your top three placement choices, much like the study abroad program at 91心頭. You could always choose Wherever Im Needed as an option and roll the dice, or you can choose a specific region or country. I chose Benin as my first choice. It was the only country that had an opening for a Community Economic Development Advisor in a Francophone country, which were two of my requirements.
Q: What is your life in Agon, Benin like?
A:油Im the only American and non-local in the community. There are about 2,000 people living here and its largely an agricultural economy. Most people are farming corn, cassava, pineapples, palm trees, and local vegetables.
I personally really like being in a smaller community where most people know me, but it is a lot like living in a fish bowl. Everyone has been so understanding and supportive here, and its been amazing working with them.
Q: How did you end up in Agon as opposed to another city in Benin?
A:油Each volunteer gets requested by someone in the community that person becomes your counterpart. My counterpart is Delphin Sessou hes been working for over 10 years to get savings and loans groups started there were 10 in place when I got here. They have been growing, too. We teach community members the structure, how to manage them and oversee the accounting. While we provide overall management of groups, each group has its own self-elected managerial structure.
Q: What is a savings and loans group?
A:油Savings and loans groups go by a few different names and acronyms. In French they are called AVEC (Lassociation villageoise d辿pargne et de cr辿dit) and the English translation is VSLA (village savings and loans association). The need for AVEC comes from a gap between banking and microfinance. There are not a lot of banks nearby, especially in small villages, so its not easy to do banking. The goal of AVEC is to help the most vulnerable people, particularly women, save and loan money to each other when access to a bank is not possible, or individuals are not comfortable doing business with banks. Big banks can be intimidating. Many people cant read or write and the documents are in French. Quite simply, some people just dont see the value in having a savings account either.
Q: What advice do you have for a first or second year students who are just getting started at 91心頭?
A:油I recommend taking classes that sound interesting to you; the best thing you can do is figure out what you are most passionate about and dive in. I came out with an entirely different degree than I thought I would.
Q: What professional or life advice do you have for fellow alumni or students who are about to graduate and launch their careers?
A:油Apply for things you dont feel qualified for. Once you have the position, work hard to be over-qualified for it. That is how youll grow.