Arguably one of the worst global health crises in the 21st century, there are currently over 80,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus worldwide. While vast regions in China, Korea, Japan and even Italy are being shut down in an effort to contain the spread of the virus, here in the Midwest, much of the news about Coronavirus has become background noise. 

In fact, even the most well intentioned of us are struggling to keep up with the emergence of new epicenters, fear mongering and economic consequences. But for William Jewell College alumna Kellsie Herrmann (‘19), the Coronavirus has been all too real. 

After graduating last May, Herrmann accepted a volunteer position with the Peace Corps and committed to spending two years in Chongqing, China teaching English and American culture to college students. 

During her first eight months on the ground, Herrmann enjoyed getting to know local customs and trying local foods, as well as seizing the opportunity to travel through China and other Asian countries. 

However, 2020 has proven tumultuous. With very little warning, the Peace Corps volunteers in China were sent back to the United States, and Herrmann’s time in the country was cut short. 

In mid-January, during annual In-Service Training, volunteers received two startling announcements. First, the Peace Corps headquarters had decided to “graduate” the China program, meaning they intended to phase out the program over the next 1.5 years, officially ending service in China in 2021. Second, there was a weird new virus in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province.

At the time, Peace Corps volunteers didn’t spend much time dwelling on the Wuhan virus, and the news of the program’s “graduation” was much more devastating. Volunteers had become closely attached to the program and were committed to the mission of building authentic relationships between Chinese and U.S. citizens. 

As the outbreak began during school-holidays, Herrmann’s day-to-day life was minimally impacted, and the threat of the virus hardly felt real. 

“I just…wore a mask when I went out, used more germX […] no restaurants were open,” Herrmann said. “In Xi’an there’s this big muslim food street, and it’s super famous. It was open the first day, but not at all busy, and the next day it was closed down.”

Yet for Chinese people who are entirely reliant on the local economy and don’t have the safety net of the U.S. government – like the Peace Corps volunteers – the effects of the virus were more immediately devastating. 

“Stores were closing, their businesses… they couldn’t open them, or didn’t open them,” Herrmann said. “[Many of them] didn’t leave their house, still don’t. School has been pushed back until probably March, usually it’s started already.”.  

Despite rumors, Herrmann and the other volunteers found solace in the fact that they would be permitted to finish out their term and remain in China until the summer of 2021. 

Just weeks later, the Peace Corps team were again met with startling news. As the Coronavirus continued to spread, all volunteers in China were to be evacuated to Bangkok, Thailand to the regional Peace Corps office. Initially this was believed to be a temporary measure, but within three days in Thailand, Herrmann and her team were told they would be sent back to the U.S. by the end of the week. 

“People who are more pessimistic, like me, thought it was going to happen…” said Herrmann. “But others, they were still trying to think positive.”

In the past – namely during the SARs pandemic – the Peace Corps simply suspended the service of volunteers for approximately 1.5 years and then resumed operations in China. That was the timeline Herrmann had in mind, so the rapid decision to close the volunteers’ service was shocking for even the pessimists of the group. 

“Three days after everyone had consolidated in Bangkok they did a video conference with our country director, who was still in China, and he was like ‘yeah, we are going to go ahead and close your service’ […] ‘this is now a C.O.S. [Close of Service] conference,’” recalled Herrmann. “They helped [us] with our resumes, they tried to help us figure out how to tell our Peace Corps story for future employers, but also for friends and family. There was a lot of reverse culture shock, especially for us because things were so sudden.”

Herrmann, who was already in Thailand traveling with a group of friends when they received the call to consolidate in Bangkok, reflects on being completely torn from the work she was doing. 

“It’s tough, we didn’t get to say goodbye [and] there’s no closure.” said Herrmann. “All of my stuff – my computer, my clothes – is still in China […] I probably won’t see that for five to six months.”

For Herrmann, while the sudden end to her service in China has been uprooting, she reflected that for the people still on the ground the impacts have been immeasurable. 

“The disruption that Chinese people have, and still are, going through is outrageous,” Herrmann said. “People in America can’t really relate because we’ve never been told: ‘don’t leave your house, there isn’t any food available, if you do leave your house wear a mask. People think of it in terms of the numbers, like the amount of people who are infected or who died. When in reality, yes that’s bad and important, but it’s like people’s lives – they can’t work, they can’t take care of their family, they can’t go to school… they’re sitting at home, in tiny little apartments, for days and days and days. I can’t imagine how terrible that is [and] there’s no end in sight.” 

For Herrmann, the people she left behind are the people she’s thinking about as the Coronavirus contains to spread. 

“I think about my students and my colleagues a lot, because…I could leave and they can’t,” she said. 

As of Feb. 27, over 83,000 cases of the Coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. Of those cases, 2,856 people have died and 36,424 have been declared completely recovered from the virus. Updates on cases recorded can be found through the online tracker provided by John Hopkins university.

The process for acceptance into the Peace Corps is a long and strenuous one. Jessie began working on her application in August. It is necessary to be very knowledgeable on the Peace Corps and the country in which you will work in order to create a legitimate application. After about five months of working on it, Grosshart submitted her application in December and waited until she heard back. Grosshart interviewed for a position in early February. And then, one day in late February, she was sitting in the dining hall and received a phone call from a Peace Corps representative, informing her that she had been accepted.

Jessie tells me that this was the best phone call of her life. Growing up, she knew she wanted to work overseas.

“I knew that I wanted to do some sort of service abroad. When I was little I thought that would be through missionary work but as I’ve gotten older I’ve kind of realized there are some problems inherent in some kinds of missionary work,” said Grosshart.

She described missionary work as operating on an “us and them dichotomy” which she dislikes. The Peace Corps, however, has a very different approach.

“Peace Corps really fights against that. It’s based on a cultural exchange,” said Grosshart.

She admires this and it was important to her in making the decision to pursue a career in the Peace Corps.

“You are helping in something that is needed and has been asked for as opposed to a need that you see yourself,” said Grosshart.

Grosshart is not yet sure what town she will be living in but she does know that she will be teaching English to kids who live in whatever village she is assigned to in South Africa.

Two aspects of the Peace Corps and its objectives are to spread “American goodwill” and to provide a “cultural exchange.”

Spending 27 months in South Africa, Jessie hopes to accomplish more than just teaching kids English.

“I really want to get that understanding of the culture there and I want to be able to provide that understanding to the people around me [especially those in America],” she said.

Grosshart has a desire to show South Africans the better nature of the United States as far as its willingness to help others, but she also hopes to show them a personal goodwill that transcends nationality. She ultimately hopes to be able to spread a mutual understanding and help those in her life to embrace differences.

Although the application process took a while, the process from here starts picking up. She has already begun to prepare herself for the experience, doing some online training and web seminars. She will ship out on July 5 and begin a three month training period. After this, she will begin working. Grosshart will be living with a family in South Africa and will be fully immersed in the culture. She will soon embark on her new career, doing what she has always wanted to do.

After her 27 months of service is up, Grosshart says she plans to either apply to graduate school or renew her service in the Peace Corps.