SUCCESS STORY | CAROLYN ANDREWS Her mission: making a difference

The volunteers had four hours of language class every morning.
By MARY ELLEN PELLEGRINI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
FOUR YEARS AGO, CAROLYN ANDREWS OF Warren was about to trade a comfortable lifestyle for an uncertain existence far from the protective arms of family and friends. The retired director of educational services at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital was pursuing a long-standing dream to join the Peace Corps.
"I thought about the Peace Corps over the years, but didn't do anything about it," said Andrews.
A newspaper article seeking recruits spurred her to act. "The Peace Corps piqued my interest because I like to travel. I worked in a situation where you dealt with people who needed help, plus I had a sister who was severely handicapped and through her learned compassion for people," explained Andrews.
Applying
She began the competitive application process in August, 1998. Andrews submitted a lengthy application form detailing her professional skills as well as her role and accomplishments in numerous community organizations. Then, she underwent extensive medical evaluations, fingerprinting, background checks and an interview with the Peace Corps' regional director in Chicago.
"The Peace Corps looks at your education and experience and matches that to experiences they are looking for in different countries," explained Andrews. The educator's administrative work, community service, cultural sensitivity and adaptability paralleled the Peace Corps' goals. "You have to be a person willing to accept change, the customs of the country and their way of doing business," she noted.
The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 27; most join right out of college. Andrews was 62 when she began her stint, one of only 7 percent of recruits over 50.
Andrews was originally scheduled to leave for Morocco in July, 1999, but a paperwork snafu left her behind. She was reassigned to her first choice, the Ukraine in Eastern Europe.
Andrews arrived there Feb. 2, 2000, not speaking a word of Russian. Getting off the plane, she observed, "everything was gray cement. It was cold. There was ice everywhere."
Learning the language
The American took up residence with a Ukrainian family while she underwent three months of intensive training at the Peace Corps Training Center in Cherkassy. "We had four hours of language class every morning, and in the afternoon would practice what we learned," explained Andrews.
At night, her host family would take kitchenware from the cupboards, name items in Russian while Andrews supplied the English equivalent. "By the time I left their home, we had graduated to the weather," she said.
Upon completion of her training, Andrews moved to Donetsk, a city of 1.2 million in southeastern Ukraine. She lived in a third-floor walkup apartment, walked 13 blocks to work and then up four flights of stairs to her office. "You become physically fit whether you want to or not," Andrews laughed.
Dobrota
Andrews' administrative experience paired her with a city charity fund, Dobrota, which means kindness. Dobrota was started by two Ukrainian doctors to provide food and medicine for hospitalized children.
"Under Communist rule, the government took care of everything. People aren't conditioned to make choices or direct themselves," said Andrews. The Peace Corps employed her as a business facilitator to augment business and problem-solving skills for Dobrota.
"I helped them develop a strategic plan, budgets, job descriptions, things they had never done before," she said. Andrews also utilized her public relations skills to raise awareness of local needs.
She toured businesses, and in the process promoted the mission of Dobrota. "Usually when we told them what we were doing they were willing to help," Andrews said.
Along with assembling local resources, she conducted in-service training in project development and fund raising for Dobrota. "I would get on the Internet and see what charity organizations in our [Youngstown-Warren] community were doing and share that information with Dobrota," she said.
Not an easy experience
Andrews thoroughly enjoyed the people and cultural experiences. She said, however, "Things weren't always easy for me. I had to wash my clothes by hand in a bathtub and dry them on a balcony in the middle of winter. I was cold a lot." She dodged open manholes while walking down darkened streets at night and endured two "very frightening experiences" trying to locate her apartment.
Along with the physical hardships, Andrews said it was emotionally draining. "You see an orphanage with all these children and no hot water." But she added, "Never once did I say to myself 'I wish I hadn't gotten into this.'"
Success came because "I am a very positive person, usually looking at things in a positive way. I'm a goal achiever."
Andrews started three soup kitchens, provided unsold newspapers as reading material for hospitals and prisons and instituted a successful charity art auction among many other projects.
Her proudest collaboration improved living conditions at a boarding school for 312 blind children. The facility was run by a "very kind staff" but lacked basic necessities. Andrews linked the school with Dobrota, solicited donations of medicine and supplies and bought needed beds herself.
"It was very gratifying to be able to do something about all these different needs. I left the Ukraine feeling I made a difference," said Andrews.