Volume 18, Number 1, Fall 2007

From Amble to Albania
A Member of the Peace Corps Remembers His 4-H Roots

Jessica Dudenhofer

This summer, Matthew Newman missed his first Montcalm County 4-H Fair in 18 years. And he wouldn’t have dreamed of missing it if he hadn’t been serving his country on the other side of the globe.

Originally from the small town of Amble, Michigan, the 25-year-old has been working with the Peace Corps in Albania since March 2007, conducting seminars, designing lesson plans and working with classrooms and individual students in an effort to help improve the quality of English education in Albania. He has enjoyed the opportunity to interact with people from different cultures and has already developed a new-found appreciation for opportunities and conveniences available in the United States.

Before trading Amble for Albania, Newman was an active member of the Winfield Hustlers 4-H Club in Montcalm County. Though Newman has fond memories of his days at fair, he also recalled that it was only through the force of his mother that he gave 4-H a chance.

“I joined 4-H because my mom told me to,” Newman said. “I actually didn’t want to join. I never could have anticipated then just how dramatically different my life would become from that point on.”

Newman enjoyed showing livestock, creating still exhibits and even served a two-year term as president of his club. It didn’t take long for him to find his niche—in the swine building.

“My heart has always been with the swine project,” Newman said.

He won Reserve Grand Champion Pig his first year showing—only to spend the next 10 years trying to figure out how that happened. But it wasn’t just the pigs that kept Newman in 4-H. Memories were formed every summer at fair, and as the years went by, his club became more than just a club to him.

“I found the experience of coming together with friends to achieve a common goal to be the real reward,” he said.

After learning to serve others with his “head, heart, hands and health” in 4-H, Newman found it a natural transition to join the Peace Corps.

“I joined because I wanted to take the skills and lessons learned from countless teachers over the last 25 years and use them to serve and contribute to something greater than myself,” he said. “The only thing limiting one’s enjoyment of both 4-H and the Peace Corps is ambition. Both programs are what one makes of them.”

Newman realizes that the lessons he learned through 4-H apply to his everyday life, even as he works over in Albania.

“When I was younger I thought I was going to the fair to win a pretty ribbon,” Newman said. “I look back now and realize that in reality I was learning about myself and others, gaining valuable knowledge on cooperation and friendship.”

Newman plans to be heavily involved in 4-H when he returns to Michigan in 2009. He encourages those interested in 4-H to go ahead and try it. That’s what he did back in 1990, and he’s been hooked ever since.

“Whatever interests you may have, whatever skills, there is something for everyone. 4-H makes people better because of its diversity, and conversely, 4-H is made better by the diversity of the people who join.”

For more information on the Peace Corps, visit their Web site at www.peacecorps.gov.