Katherine Gehron, 21, of Falls Church, has been accepted into the Peace Corps and will depart for Burkina Faso this week to begin pre-service training as a Rural Development Peace Corps volunteer. Upon graduation from volunteer training in September, Gehron will plant approximately 5,000 trees a year, prepare and maintain a model field, improve post-harvest storage and complete other agricultural projects.

Gehron is the daughter of Nancy and Michael Gehron, both returned Peace Corps Volunteers themselves, and is a graduate of the International School of Tanganyika in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. She then attended The College of William and Mary, where she earned a degree in international relations and French in 2012.

During the first three months of her service, Gehron will live with a host family in Burkina Faso to become immersed in the country’s language and culture. She will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community in Burkina Faso, where she will live and work for two years.