As Shanya McWhinney recently turned 26, she celebrated under the starry skies of South Africa.
Just being there was a gift in itself for the Conyers native whose passions have always included traveling and serving others. Celebrating both her birthday and New Year’s Day in the southernmost country on the African continent was a special time McWhinney said she will remember forever.
South Africa was just the latest stop in the journey she began two years ago as a volunteer for the Peace Corps. For more than 60 years, the Peace Corps and its volunteers have worked in pursuit of world peace and friendship. One of the signature achievements of the late President John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps is an agency that provides an opportunity for Americans to serve their country and their world.
It was a natural fit for McWhinney, who describes her high school and college years as being busy doing community service activities and working with her high school club to reach out to the community. During one such project, she and her classmates helped host a Valentine’s Day dinner for residents of a Conyers retirement home. She and the others made sweet cards for the residents and spent time visiting with them and asking about their lives.
“It made me feel really good to be a part of that,” McWhinney said. “We had the caterer for the food and cake and had a really nice time. We let the elders know how much we appreciated them.”
Credit: Shanya McWhinney
Credit: Shanya McWhinney
Meanwhile, there were many other interests coming to the forefront of her young life. She worked in her school’s Interactive Club and Art Club and played golf for the school sports program. She was also learning about fashion marketing at the Rockdale College and Career Academy, as well as learning more about the health care field. She volunteered at a retirement home and volunteered at the library where she helped children learn to read. More and more, McWhinney was becoming interested in becoming a leader in global and public health. She also worked part time for a local dental office.
“I’ve always had a heart for health care and community service,” McWhinney said. “That has always been a drive for me.”
Growing up in Rockdale County, McWhinney went to C.J. Hicks Elementary, Conyers Middle School and Rockdale High School. After high school, she went to Georgia State University where she got her associate’s degree in chemistry before transferring to Mercer University in Macon. She started out as a chemistry major, but during her sophomore year, McWhinney decided she wanted to do something based on research, traveling, international development and says that is when she “fell in love” with global health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in global health from Mercer. During her college years, McWhinney worked as a certified pharmacy technician for Walgreen’s.
“I wanted to be a pharmacist,” she said. “That was my passion. But with COVID and the affect globally, it gave me a change of what I wanted to do.”
The pandemic and a trip to Jamaica also helped her realize where he career path was headed.
McWhinney’s family is of Jamaican heritage and she said she is the first generation in her family to graduate from college. In 2019, she went to Jamaica for the first time to see where her family came from and she came back with some “powerful inspirations,” she said, adding that she visualized all the challenges they had to overcome to provide a bright future for the next generation of children. It inspired her to learn more about other cultures and in particular, health care in other places.
When an opportunity came along to apply for the Peace Corps, McWhinney was excited. It was during COVID and it would be a year before she heard back from the agency. She and eight others went through extensive training for three months. McWhinney was assigned to go to Botswana, becoming the only health volunteer and only Jamaican American to be part of the Botswana team at the time.
“It was beyond what I was hoping for,” McWhinney said. “I didn’t really expect what I was getting myself into, but I’m very blessed in my heart for going into the Peace Corps, going to Botswana and serving my people. I’m a health volunteer who works under the ministry of health, specifically the health management team. We do health promotions, deliver health supplies, such as needles, gloves and medications and make sure all the clinics and the hospitals have all the supplies they need. We also help with transportation and inform the community of health information.”
Credit: Shanya McWhinney
Credit: Shanya McWhinney
After her birthday and New Year’s visit with friends in South Africa, McWhinney will return to Botswana where she has enlisted to serve for another year. She describes Botswana as the size of Texas with about 2.4 million people.
“It is such a beautiful country,” she said. “The habitat, the resources, the people, music, food and the culture are absolutely beautiful ...It has beautiful gardens. The mango season is from December to March, so I can’t wait for that. I love mangoes.”
Once her tour of duty ends in November 2025, McWhinney wants to go back to school to get her master’s degree in epidemiology. During the recent holidays, she came home to Conyers where she visited family and friends. But her thoughts were never far from Botswana and the people who benefit from the help she is able to give them. She said serving in the Peace Corps has given her a lot, as well.
“I was a student, very reserved, very shy, not the one who raised my hand,” she said. “The Peace Corps gave me the opportunity to express myself. Knowing I’ve got this, it helped build confidence with my work and the ideas I have ...If you’re interested in traveling, learning different cultures and not afraid of challenges outside of your comfort zone, the Peace Corps is the way to go. You’ll be surprised at the connections you’ll make, how much you’ll have (in common) with colleagues and connect with more people than you expected ...No matter what the future holds, I will continue to do community service. I’ve always had a passion for it. Community service will always be in my heart.”
Credit: The Citizens
Credit: The Citizens
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