Arlington Resident Wins Peace Corps Photo Contest

A lifelong Arlington resident who spent two years volunteering with the Peace Corps in Peru recently won an award in that organization's photo contest.

Alison Foley's photo, "Mundo Plays Baseball" — shown above — won third place in the Peace Corps photo contest's technical merit category.

"I volunteered with Peace Corps to really gain a global perspective," Foley told Patch in an email. "I lived there for two years in a town called Pariahuanca, teaching students a wide variety of subjects and training teachers in non-formal education."

Foley worked primarily with women and children, according to a news release. Her photograph was selected from hundreds of entries.

"The photo shows the final party of MUNDO — a geography program my friend Keren Eyal and I ran for kids in my town and our neighboring town San Miguel de Aco," Foley said. "In the photo we were teaching our students and their parents how to play baseball and our favorite lady, 'Pizza' is hitting a home run!"

The photo contest, held this summer, commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Peace Corps’ Small Project Assistance program, a small grants and training program for communities with Peace Corps volunteers that enhances the skills of local community members and launch sustainable projects that continue in the community long after volunteers have completed their service, the news release states.

"Peru taught me so many things and totally did change my outlook on the world," Foley told Patch. "I now understand what real hard-work is, but also how to slow down and enjoy just being in the moment."