It was just a normal Monday morning, and Brad Christin was getting ready to go to work. Suddenly, the quiet morning was interrupted by an onslaught of texts and emails on his phone.
Christin, 23, a Peace Corps volunteer, was living in Capitán Miranda, Paraguay. But on that Monday in March, as COVID-19 Coronavirus made its way across the globe, Brad knew from the countless texts and emails that his 27-month service in the Peace Corps was going to be cut short after only 18 months. He was leaving South America and going home.
Back in the United States, Brad’s grandmother, Irma Lee, a Sun City resident, got updates in real-time on Christin’s whereabouts through her daughter, Brad’s mother. Lee prayed for her grandson’s safe arrival back in the U.S. as his travel plans seemed to be changed almost hourly.
(Here and right) Christin is featured preforming various roles in his South American Peace Corps effort.
“Due to changing flights and new restrictions, I’d hear I would leave Thursday—no, Sunday—no, Saturday,” says Christin. “It was changing non-stop, just because of the situation. No one could really prepare for that.” Ultimately, Christin boarded a charter flight out of Paraguay, because no commercial flights were available.
Christin, originally from Crystal Lake, Ill., flew into Miami, then went straight to his parent’s home about an hour outside of Los Angeles, where he’s remained in quarantine ever since. Despite having a few days of fever and some lung pain initially after his return, he has not shown any other symptoms of having contracted the virus.
Environmental Educator
Christin joined the Peace Corps after completing degrees in Geography and Spanish with a minor in Environmental Studies from Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. Once he arrived in the small Paraguayan town of Capitán Miranda, Christin worked alongside the town hall as an environmental educator, assisting them in pursuing a special environmental certification from the Chilean government.
He partnered with a local organization that distributed thousands of eucalyptus trees to rural farmers. The fast-growing trees grow to maturity in 8-10 years and provide much-needed income for families. Eucalyptus wood is used for building materials or making paper.
A majority of his work involved visiting area schools and teaching the students about environmental issues like biodiversity, conservation, and recycling.
A project Christin is particularly proud of: a Jeopardy-type tournament that he designed, resulting in friendly competition between nine schools and about 200 9th graders. In some of the remote villages where Christin traveled, students had never seen someone from outside their own country, much less from a different continent. Many students hadn’t studied or even seen a map before.
“I think it was really eye-opening to teach them current environmental issues in the world,” says Christin, “and about different countries and cultures.”
As Christin spoke to countless groups, ranging from preschoolers to adults, he felt his fear of public speaking fade away.
“I used to be really afraid of public speaking, but I’ve given so many presentations in Paraguay that it’s nothing for me anymore,” he says. “I spoke in Spanish, and sometimes even in the indigenous language, Paraguayan Guarani — I don’t speak it well, but I tried to speak as much Guarani as I could in the rural areas, because that’s what they speak.”
‘She’s an inspiration’
Back in Huntley, Irma Lee stays in close contact with her adventurous grandson. She regretted not seeing him over the Easter holiday during this unusual time of social distancing. Still, grandmother and grandson keep in touch by phone.
“Grandma’s been to all seven continents,” says Christin. “There’s not a lot of people who have done that! Growing up, I would always see different pictures of her travels and I’d be fascinated with the different countries and I would ask her, ‘What language do they speak there?’ ‘What are the people like there?’ He recalls being curious about photos of vistas across Europe and Asia, or lions and zebras from Africa.
Like his grandmother, Christin also hopes to travel to all seven continents in his lifetime.
“She did inspire me to travel,” he says. “I feel like when she showed me those pictures she opened me up to the world. It’s been fascinating to hear all her stories.”
“He seems to think he got his wanderlust from me,” says Lee, with unmistakable pride in her voice. “We definitely have that in common.”
