Although all 8 of us have the same title, we have all had our own unique experiences as AgriCorps Fellows. In the past year we have laughed, cried, been angry, happy, and every other emotion you could ever imagine. We have gone through loss with each other and experienced new life. We have grown, both […]
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I walked up to the farm that I had been working on for several months, just like I did every other Monday. I had just come back from Christmas break and was going around to check on some farmers that I had been working with. This day, however, the young man who works the farm […]
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I grew up on a farm in southern New Mexico and later, in Arizona. My father has been a vegetable farmer for almost 40 years. He too grew up on a farm, as well as his father before him. When I began to take on my first real responsibilities of irrigating fields, I was around […]
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I didn’t always love Mama Liberia. And if you asked me now I would probably deny it. But there are moments I catch myself, appreciating the life I’ve curated here, and it has made the growing pains of this journey all worthwhile. Before I board the plan in exactly two months I thought it be […]
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I awoke to nothing. No clucking chickens or bleating goats. No creaking cars on the rough roads. No 5am voice yelling “PROMOTION, PROMOTION!” Finally, for the first time in such a long time, there was complete peace and quiet. A gentle breeze welcomed me as the glaze over my eyes became clear. I opened my […]
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My heart started to race and I could feel the excitement building inside of me as Trent McKnight spoke about AgriCorps to our internship group in Greenfield, Indiana in August of 2016. I had heard about AgriCorps when I was a sophomore at NC State University, and it sat in the back of mind for […]
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The Fellows and I were sitting at our dining table and the new year had just begun. We were all brainstorming trying to create visions for what we wanted to do in the last 6 months in our communities. Then I spoke up and said, “I want to have a LEAD (Leadership, Education, Agriculture, and […]
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One aspect of being an AgriCorps Fellow is to work as an extension agent with local farmers and with Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) extension agents in our surrounding areas. Because of my role as an extension agent, I have had the pleasure of working with one particularly spunky MOFA agent named Victor Mensah. […]
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Before I came to Liberia, so many people told me, “Oh, you are going to go there and gain such an appreciation for how good we have it here.” Or a variation of the sort. I’ve always carried that with me in the back of my mind accompanied by a snark, “you don’t quite get […]
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It is a typical Wednesday in the Upper Manya Krobo district. I do not teach today; instead, I dedicate my time to MOFA (Ministry of Food and Agriculture – USDA equivalent) and the extension portion of my job: visiting local 4-H Clubs, visiting farms and consulting extension agents on various facets of tropical agriculture. I […]
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