A family vacation to an upscale island resort impressed a youthful Dylan Porter.
“I was probably 11 or 12 at the time,” he said. “And I saw this extreme poverty as we were making our way to our very nice hotel. And I realized, that’s not right.
“Even at that young age I knew I was going to help those people. I didn’t know how, but I had made up my mind that I couldn’t have a job just to make money.”
On June 8, Porter, now 24, will take a big step in that direction as he begins a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in the Eastern European country of Moldova.
Never heard of it?
“Neither had I, until I got a letter in the mail,” notifying him of the assignment, he said.
The Maryland-sized country declared its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. It’s nestled between Romania and Ukraine and was called Moldovia when it was a part of the U.S.S.R.
Founded in the 14th century, Moldolva now has the unfortunate distinction of being the poorest country in Europe. With that comes an antiquated educational system that has held on to a dictatorial style more in line with high boots and comrades.
Porter’s job with the Peace Corps will be to teach Moldovan teachers how to ease from an authoritian style of instruction to a more Westernized approach in which teachers are seen as facilitators of learning.
He’ll concentrate specifically on how to teach English as a foreign language.
The Peace Corps — a federal program created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy — sends volunteers abroad to help countries develop their technology, agrarian and educational systems.
Porter is well-qualified for the challenge.
In 2009, he received a degree in elementary education from the five-year University of Kansas program, and is only hours away from completing his master’s degree. He also is qualified to teach English as a second language (ESL).
This past year he has done his practicum, including student teaching at two schools in Lawrence — third grade at Schwegler Elementary and sixth grade science at Pinckney Elementary.
He is a 2004 graduate of Iola High School.
He’s also worked in Peace Corps-like situations. In 2007, he spent a summer working in Kenya building dormitories for an orphanage under the program Operations Crossroads Africa in connection with KU.
“I enjoyed the experience,” he said, though the conditions were “sad.”
“In its school was one text to teach all subjects,” he said of his teaching experience there. “It was incredible to come up with lessons out of nothing and have the children enjoy them. Sadly, I wasn’t there long enough to make the impact I would have liked.”
In college, Porter studied Swahili, the language native to Kenya.
