EMERSON, N.J.—Omana Douce-McDermott, 23, of Emerson, has been accepted into the Peace Corps and will depart for Guyana in June to begin training as a health volunteer.
She said her dream has always been to have a career that allows her to travel abroad to developing countries and promote health through education and sustainable program implementation.
“I was attracted to the Peace Corps because it allowed me the perfect opportunity to follow my passions and make a difference the way I always hoped,” she said in a Peace Corps press announcement.
Douce-McDermott is the daughter of Colette and Mike McDermott of Emerson and a graduate of Emerson Jr./Sr. High School. She attended The College of New Jersey in Ewing, where in 2018 she earned a bachelor of science in public health.
Prior to joining the Peace Corps, she worked at Holy Name Medical Center and Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart.
During the first three months of her service, Douce-McDermott will live with a host family in Guyana to become immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the necessary skills to assist her community, she will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Guyana, where she will live and work for two years with the local people.
“I want to be pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged so that I may become better equipped to handle whatever circumstances life puts me in,” she said.
She emphasized, “Most importantly, I hope to make a positive impact and create a lasting impression in the lives of the people I am serving.”
Douce-McDermott will work with the local people and partner organizations on sustainable
community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in Guyana and help her develop leadership, technical and cross-cultural skills that will give her a competitive edge when she returns home.
Douce-McDermott joins 165 New Jersey residents serving in the Peace Corps and more than 5,400 New Jersey residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961, the organization said in its press release.
It added that more than 60 volunteers in Guyana are working with their communities on projects in education, health, and the environment. During their service in Guyana, volunteers learn to speak Creolese. More than 950 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Guyana since the program was established in 1966.
Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 235,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide.
For more information, visit peacecorps.gov.